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McCain Double-Talk on Immigration?

June 20, 2008 12:26 PM

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., met Wednesday evening with Hispanic Republicans in Chicago.

In an Associated Press story  about the meeting, one quote jumped out at me: "He's one John McCain in front of white Republicans. And he's a different John McCain in front of Hispanics," Rosanna Pulido, a Latina who heads the Illinois Minuteman Project, told the AP. "He's having his private meetings to rally Hispanics and to tell them what they want to hear," she said. "I'm outraged that he would reach out to me as a Hispanic but not as a conservative."

Pulido seemed to be in a rather interesting position to talk about McCain and immigration, so I gave her a call.

An advocate and escort for seniors professionally, Pulido told me that she's one of the original Minutemen who stood on the border between Arizona and Mexico in 2005 and she's also Illinois spokesperson for "You Don't Speak For Me, American Hispanics Speaking Out On Illegal Immigration."

Her parents were from Mexico, but she was born in the U.S. (She spent a year in Mexico in the 1980s as a Christian missionary.) Pulido says her activism against illegal immigration stems from her Christian belief system and sense of right and wrong, as well as the unmet needs she sees in the senior population through her work.

"What they're doing is stealing from the American people," she says of illegal immigrants.

Pulido found out about the McCain meeting from a local newspaper, the Beacon News.   She called the McCain campaign contact and let them know where she stood on the issue of illegal immigration, but said as a conservative and a Hispanic, she wanted to attend the meeting. She was curious as to what McCain was going to say.

"I have friends in Washington, DC, on this issue," she says. "We've had conversations on this issue." After comprehensive immigration reform was killed in the Senate and McCain changed his rhetoric on the subject on the campaign trail, Pulido says, "we were hopeful after John McCain started saying, 'I understand where the American people are coming from, there's gotta be enforcement first,' we thought great, he's had a change of heart."

So she went to the meeting, a room full of 150-200 people. "Sure enough," Pulido says, "his mantra at the meeting was comprehensive immigration reform.' And there were cheers and applause whenever he mentioned comprehensive immigration reform."

"Then he said, 'I bet some of you don't know this -- did you know Spanish was spoken in Arizona before English?' And the crowd roared. I was appalled," Pulido said. "He was pandering to these people -- that's what they wanted to hear."

The meeting was jammed up because McCain had attended the Tim Russert funeral that day, and had a fundraiser to attend. He was about 45 minutes late, and only spoke for approximately 15 minutes, she recalls. Originally the plan was for him to take questions, but there didn't appear to be time, she said.

Which is just as well, as far as she was concerned. "The truth of the matter is, I was in the room with 150-to-200 people, and if I'd spoken out I would have been disruptive, which was not what I wanted to do."

"He was telling one group of people one thing and the Hispanics another," says Pulido. "I'm a conservative and I think he's throwing conservatives under the bus."

Pulido doesn't know who she will vote for and says she may not know until election day. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, is not an option. "I'd never ever vote for Barack Obama," she says. "He was an Illinois state senator and unlike the rest of the nation, I know who Barack Obama is, he's too liberal for me."

What she saw of John McCain Wednesday night, however, makes her inclined right now to support Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin.

- jpt

UPDATE: Some posters have inquired about what McCain says that contradicts the message above. The Obama campaign on a conference call just now suggested it might be the January GOP debate at the Reagan Library where the following exchange took place. (You can watch it HERE.)

JANET HOOK, LA TIMES: Senator McCain, let me just take the issue to you, because you obviously have been very involved in it. During this campaign, you, like your rivals, have been putting the first priority, heaviest emphasis on border security. But your original immigration proposal back in 2006 was much broader and included a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants who were already here. What I'm wondering is -- and you seem to be downplaying that part. At this point, if your original proposal came to a vote on the Senate floor, would you vote for it?

MCCAIN: It won't. It won't. That's why we went through the debate...

HOOK: But if it did?

MCCAIN: No, I would not, because we know what the situation is today. The people want the border secured first. ...We will secure the borders first when I am president of the United States. I know how to do that. I come from a border state, where we know about building walls, and vehicle barriers, and sensors, and all of the things necessary. I will have the border state governors certify the borders are secured. And then we will move onto the other aspects of this issue, probably as importantly as tamper-proof biometric documents, which then, unless an employer hires someone with those documents, that employer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And that will cause a lot of people to leave voluntarily. There's 2 million people who are here who have committed crimes. They have to be rounded up and deported. And we're all basically in agreement there are humanitarian situations. It varies with how long they've been here, et cetera, et cetera.

We are all committed to carrying out the mandate of the American people, which is a national security issue, which is securing the borders. That was part of the original proposal, but the American people didn't trust or have confidence in us that we would do it. So we now know we have to secure the borders first, and that is what needs to be done. That's what I'll do as president of the United States.

June 20, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (62)

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McCain the big flip floper, lying again, he had his chances, what did he do, lying to get your vote, vote him in & you'll get another 8 years of the current leader....gas is $4.39, rice is $20 from $7....wants Latino vote, but no reward...fix immigration before election & you'll be elected fair enough..

Posted by: new yorker | Jun 25, 2008 5:02:51 PM

Both presumptive Senator Obama, McCain and then House Speaker Pelosi have a lot to answer for, regarding to illegal immigration.. Their idea of Comprehensive Amnesty last March would have helped to bankrupt the country. Because what illegal aliens cannot get in benefits now, such as free health care, education and a host of benefits from both federal and state programs, they would have inherited after getting legal status.

Posted by: Brittanicus | Jun 24, 2008 4:02:53 PM

As a very serious and conservative Republican, I will vote for Obama because that man said he would honor, obey and enforce the laws of the land. McCain tells us we are better than that and that always means we will pay through the nose for his concept of honorable. It will be interesting to see the contest between Mr. Barrack and the Catholic Church/Mormon Church as they demand we continue with the illegal aliens and staggering welfare payments.

Posted by: Joel E. Wischkaemper | Jun 23, 2008 9:36:24 PM

I think it's pretty funny how Ms. Pulido claims to have her conservative (round-'em-up-and-throw-'em-out) views on immigration because of her religious beliefs. Hasn't she ever read the Christmas story? She's the innkeeper claiming no room at the inn, when the truth is there is plenty of room. What the press never ever mentions is that our economy now DEPENDS on illegal immigrants. Ask any economist, if we were to deport all of them with the snap of a finger, our economy would fall apart. How could anyone advocating tearing apart families and treating fellow human beings like animals call themselves a Christian.

Posted by: GKenyon | Jun 22, 2008 3:06:58 PM

This campaign needs to be called "Apocalypse Now" no matter who wins, they are both about the scariest two people to ever run for President.Both of them are panderers of the worst kind

Posted by: C. Jones | Jun 22, 2008 12:39:54 PM

There are a number of things he's said in addition to this:

1. He said he could not support his own bill.

2. He gave a speech about enforcement first at CPAC.

Posted by: debrazza | Jun 22, 2008 12:01:50 AM

Most everybody in the U.S.A. are immigrants!! Only the Native American Indians are not. The so-called "U.S. citizens" of yore and today merely came ahead of the so-called "illegal immigrants" of today. NO difference. They all helped the U.S.A. become a stronger force than other nations. Cuomo, Kennedy, Obama, Schwarzenegger, McReilly, etc, etc ... these are NOT American last names!! And these are all good outstanding men! Vive le difference! Give the deserving a pathway to citizenship, and right away, the economy will boom, starting with the airlines. 12 million "illegals" will IMMEDIATELY buy airline tickets to visit their native homes which they have not visited for maybe 20 or more years! Then after that will be airline tickets to visit exotic vacation places ... just this area will translate into a great circulation of currency, more jobs, more businesses sprouting up because of the traffic, etc. The benefits are immense. Who truly benefits? America! It will again be the power it was ... blessed by God, the Father of ALL PEOPLE! I pity the bigots ... for they know not what they do.
Cee

Posted by: Cee Zee Burger | Jun 21, 2008 7:53:02 PM

Over 20 million unidentified and undocumented aliens have illegally crossed the Mexican border to wreak havoc across our nation. The damage they have inflected is insurmountable.

There is no higher national priority today than to secure the Mexican border.

Posted by: Panola | Jun 21, 2008 3:55:35 PM

"but she was born in the U.S."

I wonder what this Minuteman lady would do if she was not born in USA??

I leave Judgment to Almighty God, for every Human is Almighty gods child, without borders.
Almighty God did not create Borders, HUMANS DID, The Native Americans had no borders and did not own LAND, They Belonged to this land, The Europeans came and gave them PIECES of PAPER, and took away their land.

Anything built by force will go down by force, for GODS Lives in Every Human Soul. STOP THE HATE.
NO HUMAN IS ABOVE ANOTHER.
WE ALL DIE IN THE END.

Posted by: Truth | Jun 21, 2008 10:11:12 AM

I'm not fond of the emotions that this issue generates and really hope that the country can develop a common sense solution that works. We're not going to get any where with McCain's flip flopping around on this matter like a fish on a boat deck.

I thought this guy used to have some courage. Where did it go?

Posted by: Brooklyn Democrat | Jun 21, 2008 6:07:59 AM

McCain is going to shape-shift between Canada and Mexico several more times before the general election. It should be entertaining to see what he morphs into by then. UhOh..It's a McBush.

Posted by: KC | Jun 21, 2008 4:40:16 AM

Not sure why anybody is worried about immigration.

People came from south of the border to work in the construction industry, building McMansions during the housing bubble.

Construction has gone bust and will be bust for the foreseeable future. And in fact, we are headed into a general recession.

Most of those folks will be returning home, as their jobs have or will have dried up in the near future. And if as is likely we're headed into an inflationary period as well, nobody will want to come and work hard for dollars that are fast losing value.

No need to waste the taxpayers' hard-earned on stupid fences and the like.

People only want to come to prosperous nations. We are bust.

Hope the prospect makes you all happy.

Posted by: Nancy Irving | Jun 21, 2008 3:07:04 AM

Dear Fellow bloggers,

Immigration should not be about pandering, border control, and sending illegals anywhere.

The truth of the matter is that our borders have always been open. Limitations of immigrants were instituted after the Great Depression in the 20s...limitations, not closed borders.

Our forefathers took this nation by terror from the American Indians (the original owners of the land this nation calls the United States of America). I can not imagine what this country would be like if not for people like you and I being immigrants.

I thank God everyday for the freedoms this country provides and that its borders weren't closed in the mid- 1800s when my ancestors came from Ireland and Germany. I know several things about my ancestors when they stepped foot in New York: they couldn't speak much English, they worked their ass off, they had a boatload of children; and integrated themselves into greatest melting pot on the face of God's creation.

Wake up and smell the coffee...any new inhabitants of this great country are seeking the same thing our ancestors did..seek a better life for their families through hard work and dedication.

Why would anyone want to deny any other human being of the same rights our ancestors did and that our forefathers took away from original inhabitants?

Posted by: Michael Huppman (Folsom, PA) | Jun 21, 2008 12:43:34 AM

I am with Pulido 100% on everything I heard from her. She is right on target about what is happening. Our country is being auctioned for the illegal immigrants leftist Republican and liberal Democrats votes. McCain is despicable and a traitor to our country. Like Palido, I also plan to vote for Chuck Baldwin. If enough people see the light before it is too late and vote for him, he could win.

Posted by: Torde | Jun 20, 2008 10:55:19 PM

McCain will lose the hispanic vote but Obama will not do anything about the Immigration either. Get in line like everyone else. Stop coming to this country illegally and you won't have to beg for AMNESTY. Stop the freaking whining already. Before someone response to me I am speaking as a hispanic.

Posted by: Obama the Flipper | Jun 20, 2008 9:19:34 PM

@Sandra Johnson

She's not voting for John McCain because she realized that a vote for John McCain is a wasted vote. A vote for Chuck Baldwin on the other hand is a vote cast for a man of integrity who today holds the same positions that he has held for years. He has not flip flopped as JM has. Just do a google search to find about eight years worth of Chucks writings on a variety of topics and see for yourself.

The Constitution Party has a fantastic candidate in Chuck Baldwin and this will be a break out year for them.

Posted by: Ray | Jun 20, 2008 7:27:58 PM

The direct massive negative consequences on today's and yesterdays economy, has been illegal Immigration. The new President will enact a massive AMNESTY, that promotes an open-door solution for millions more to come; compliments of the Globalists. McCain, the globalist has already stated to the Hispanic caucuses he will promote a path to citizenship. While Obama has never hesitating that he would introduce a new Comprehensive immigration reform package. If McCain or Even Obama thinks he is going to force a massive Amnesty on the hard pressed taxpayers. To support between 15 to 38 million illegal foreign national labor, they are going to have monolithic battle on their hands. Already Americans are forced to pay for free health-care, education, and wide spectrum of cornucopia of state and federal welfare programs. How come citizens and legal entrants who are denied many programs, but illegal squatters in our nation get special preference? Why should American subsidizing a war, be forced to forfeit their meager wages to underwrite the low incomes of illegal aliens who broke our laws. Why should this countries legal population underwrite corporate welfare for business to make huge profits.Our nation already admits more immigrants to this land than any other country, and runs 10 guest worker programs that in many cases are exploited by parasite employers.

A few states now are representing the American taxpayers, such as Arizona, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Rhode Island, instead of the special interest lobby. It's taken forty years of complete inattention or betrayal by Washington and timid Governors, Mayors, judges and their lieutenants. Now they must face up to the fact that the majority of taxpayers are sick and tired, of being a welfare system for big business who hire cheap illegal labor. Read the facts at NUMBERSUSA.

Posted by: Brittanicus | Jun 20, 2008 7:09:42 PM

Nice try, but it doesn't work. You try to lump under Immigration banner the Illegal Migration so as to liken opposition to illegal action opposition to immigration in general. We all know the difference between Legal Immigration and Illegal Migration, try as hard as you might to blur the difference. Remember, Hispanics/Latinos are NOT monolithic. The American people are not fools, but try you must so try again! Yeah, you may whip out the old race card, but fail again you will.

Posted by: SilenceNot | Jun 20, 2008 6:47:33 PM

Mr. McCain is on record supporting comprehensive immigration reform. The bad news is, it's unpopular with conservatives. The good news is, the liberals position is worse. Conservatives are patriotic and will turn out to vote, confronted with the choices, they will hold their nose and vote for Mr. McCain.

Posted by: Independent | Jun 20, 2008 4:04:35 PM

What does McCain stand for? It's good if he's sincerely trying to take steps to clarify his position on immigration. It's dangerous if he's only willing to voice a positive, solutions-based stance in private, closed-door meetings with NO MEDIA.

McCain is not the straight-shooter we need him to be.

I hope Obama keeps a spine to support real solutions for our broken system. We've had enough of the pandering to the anti-immigrant crowd.

Posted by: chicago moon | Jun 20, 2008 3:38:33 PM

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