McCains Have Mixed Feelings About Ariz. Immigration Law

(April 26) -- Comments about Arizona's new immigration law from Sen. John McCain and his daughter Meghan indicate the issue isn't as simple as it might appear from outside the state. They also suggest it must ultimately be addressed from outside -- by the federal government.

Thousands of people rallied Sunday in Phoenix to protest the law, which gives police the power to question those they suspect of being in the U.S. illegally and arrest them if they don't have the proper documents. Civil rights activist Al Sharpton threatened to lead marches in Arizona. Critics likened the state to China, fascist Europe and the United States during segregation.

McCain defended Gov. Jan Brewer's decision to sign the bill, but stopped short of saying he supported the law as written during a town hall meeting Saturday in Tucson, KGUN-TV reported.

"That's a state decision. I have not had a chance to take a look, but the fact is, the state is acting because the federal government hasn't," he said. But McCain also acknowledged that he wasn't sure "whether all of it is legal or not," Politico's Ben Smith noted.

McCain's GOP primary opponent, J.D. Hayworth, is a vocal supporter of the crackdown on illegal immigrants. And McCain -- who once backed comprehensive immigration reform and reminded critics that "these are all God's children" -- is now calling for thousands of troops to be sent to guard the border.

"The politics of the issue are simple in a Republican primary, and McCain, fighting for his life, has gone where the votes are," Smith wrote. "But the exchange [at the town hall meeting] hints at a bit of reluctance to leave behind his career as a key broker of compromise on the question of immigration."

With no re-election worries of her own, Meghan McCain was free to call it "a bad law" and "essentially a license to pull someone over for being Hispanic" in her Daily Beast column Monday.

"But I also understand why this law came into existence in the first place," the senator's daughter said. She cited "the continued failure of the federal government to secure Arizona's borders" as well increased violence -- especially last month's killing of prominent Arizona rancher Robert Krentz, who was allegedly shot by an illegal immigrant.

Meghan McCain complained that there are no winners in the fight over the new law, saying immigration has become "so politicized" that she doubts a solution will be found. Meanwhile, Latinos have "yet another reason to distrust the Republican Party" -- and the state where she was born and raised gets more bad publicity, she wrote.

Cries of "boycott Arizona" have echoed across the Internet and at demonstrations through the weekend. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill., is urging people to cancel vacations in Arizona. Some truckers are vowing to bypass the state. The Nation's sports editor, Dave Zirin, is even boycotting the Arizona Diamondbacks because of the law, which he said "has brought echoes of apartheid to the state."

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said "several convention groups (he didn't want to name them) have contacted him to say they were considering taking their business elsewhere." Time reported. Gordon also expressed concern that Hispanics, legal and illegal, might leave the city.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio -- a champion of tough immigration law enforcement -- argued the opposite point on the "Today" show.

"I think more people will move here, since when we raid private businesses and arrest illegal aliens working there with the majority with phony identification, we're making more job openings by getting rid of those that are here illegally, and maybe people here that are legal will be able to find a job," Arpaio told NBC's Matt Lauer Monday.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., is among those calling for an economic boycott of his own state. The loss of business from a boycott in the late 1980s forced a statewide vote that reversed the governor's decision to scrap Arizona's Martin Luther King Day holiday. Grijalva hopes the same thing will happen with the immigration law. But the result of such a vote might not be what Grijalva wants. Power Line's John Hinderaker pointed to polling that shows 70 percent of Arizonans support the law.

The question could end up going before judges instead of voters. Legal challenges are in the works. Commentators such as Andrew Cohen of Politics Daily predicted the law would be struck down as unconstitutional.

While Sen. McCain and his daughter approached the issue from different angles, both blasted the federal government's failure to control illegal immigration. Now, Washington involvement in the Arizona dispute might be inevitable, especially since the Obama administration has suddenly moved immigration reform higher on its priority list.

"Mr. President, are you listening?" asked Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts, who appealed for him to "button up the border."

"If you or your predecessors had done something to close the nation's backdoor, we wouldn't be in this fix, where U.S. citizens are left to wonder whether they'll be asked for their papers simply because of the color of their skin. Where our ranchers live in a war zone and our largest city is the kidnapping capital of the planet," said Roberts.