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Friday, March 10, 2006
Denogean: McCain leads the offense on immigration

ANNE T. DENOGEAN
adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com

If Sen. John McCain were a lesser man, he'd be making a run from the border.

Instead, the Arizona Republican is leading the pack on the explosive issue of illegal immigration.

Late last month, McCain launched a national campaign to push for passage of a comprehensive overhaul of our country's immigration policies.

He has headlined rallies in Miami and New York City, educating the public on the complexities of illegal immigration and the need for reform that acknowledges those complexities.

The McCain-Kennedy Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, introduced last year, is viewed by many as the most balanced approach to the problem. It includes provisions to enhance border security, while creating a guest worker program and a pathway to permanent legal residency.

The Senate is debating a more stringent proposal by Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., that would allow illegal immigrants here before 2004 to obtain temporary worker status but wouldn't provide new channels to a green card or citizenship.

Specter has said he considers his bill a framework, not a final product.

It would be easy - and safe - for McCain, who is assessing a run at the presidency in 2008, to take a low-profile role on immigration or to pander to the "let's get tough" crowd.

Law-and-order solutions always play well in heartland America and to McCain's natural conservative constituency.

Instead, McCain is showing true grit in trying to craft a real solution.

McCain's efforts "fit into his reputation of being more interested in good policy than good politics," said Doug Rivlin, a spokesman for the National Immigration Forum, an immigrants advocacy group In Washington, D.C.

"He has often stuck his neck out on things that probably a political adviser would say, 'Why are you doing this, John?,' " Rivlin said.

"You think about campaign finance reform. You think about taking on the government's use of torture. You think about a number of issues that McCain has been quite outspoken on.

"This is a real tough issue. People see immigration as out of control, and the only alternative policy they've been presented with is, 'Lets get tough.'

"What McCain is saying is, 'Let's get tough and smart at the same time. Let's not just do enforcement. Let's do enforcement plus fixing the system so these people aren't walking through the desert in the first place. And let's deal with the fact that there are 11 million people in our country who don't have papers and they aren't going to go anywhere,' " Rivlin said.

Margaret Kenski, a Tucson-based Republican pollster, said whoever manages to capture the immigration issue and to be identified with a solution is going to benefit.

If that ends up being McCain, "it would further enhance his reputation as an independent thinker, because he is, and as a problem solver, which I think people would like to see more of in office," she said.

Kenski acknowledges that the issue could draw positive publicity to McCain that could boost his presidential aspirations, but said she doesn't think that's his motivation.

"He always gets plenty of media attention because he's always himself," she said.

The word courageous is tossed around too lightly. But it is certainly daring of McCain to take on the risk of alienating the vocal contingent of Americans that thinks a fence along the border lined with heat-detecting sensors and armed soldiers is the the only answer to illegal immigration.

They are in the minority but they have until now held the microphone on this issue.

McCain, a common-sense senator with faith in the common sense of the nation, is taking it back.

Note: In Tuesday's column, I misidentified the direction of a street where Las Artes murals are to be installed. It's West 29th Street.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767. Her columns run Tuesdays and Fridays.