Orlando Sentinel Wants McCain To Revive Amnesty
07/19/2008
A+
|
a-
Print Friendly and PDF
This is an editorial in the Orlando Sentinel, June 19, 2008
Before the presidential race heated up, Mr. McCain bucked most of his GOP colleagues in Congress and his party's base when he co-sponsored comprehensive immigration legislation with Massachusetts Democrat Ted Kennedy. Their bill would have combined better border security with a path to citizenship to coax the 12 million or so illegal immigrants already in this country out of the shadows. It failed under an onslaught from opponents who branded it "amnesty."

Now, states and localities are creating a hodgepodge of immigration restrictions to try to deal with the chaos left by Congress. As federal authorities selectively crack down on employers, some are struggling to fill jobs. And millions of illegal immigrants continue to live and work on the wrong side of the law.

Meanwhile, Mr. McCain now talks on the campaign trail of somehow securing the borders first, a position much closer to his party's hard liners. In a primary debate, he wouldn't give a straight answer when asked whether he still supported his own bill.[ EDITORIAL We think: McCain needs to reassert his commitment to immigration reform]

They think he needs to go back to amnesty to have consistent principles. But that's not how McCain thinks. In any case, while he is edging in that direction, his basic problem is finding ways to convince actual  Republicans to vote for him, and the Orlando Sentinel's plan would lose him the election.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the demographics of Orlando, Florida on Wikipedia. Thanks to immigration, they are down to 50.8 percent "Non-Hispanic White." They also have a substantial Haitian population. They speak several different languages, and according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office there are 62 active gangs operating in Orange County, Florida, (Orlando's county.) And if McCain passes his amnesty, with the aid of a Democratic Congress, your town can look like that, too!

Print Friendly and PDF