McCain on Immigration Reform

The latest immigration news has often revolved around upcoming political office elections. A politician's stance on immigration reform is an important part of his or her campaign. Arizona Senator John McCain, who ran for president in 2008, had hoped for a complete overhaul of immigration. In fact, before he even ran for president, he joined Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy in pushing a bill called the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act in 2005.

The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act set out to form a worker visa program that would allow American employers temporarily to hire immigrants for jobs that could not be filled by United States workers. Undocumented workers would have been able to sign up for the temporary worker program by paying a fine of $1500. The American employers would have had to prove that the positions were unable to be filled by American laborers. The illegal immigrants who would have been granted temporary worker status would have been able to apply for citizenship.

The bill proposed that illegal immigrants already living in the United States would have the chance to legalize their status without facing deportation. Although many considered this a form of amnesty, McCain argued that the legalized status would not come easily for the illegal immigrants. In addition to paying a high fine, they would have to compete for the legal immigration slots with other foreigners. The fine would come from payment of back taxes following a period of employment.

Both Senators McCain and Kennedy had a high hopes for the bill, which, like others in the past also called for increased border security. This was to be accomplished by an increase in funding for the personnel and technology of the United States Border Control. McCain proposed that by allowing an easier path to citizenship while increasing security would drastically cut down the number of illegal immigrants entering the United States every year. New documentation would have been provided for the immigrants, cutting down on the number of fake Social Security numbers, identification cards, and driver's licenses.

NEXT: Bush on Immigration Reform