McCain Defends Immigration Bill

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney called the Senate bill a “mistake.” He said one of its biggest problems is the z visa it provides to illegal aliens. “What is allows is people who’ve come here illegally to stay here for the rest of their lives,” he said. Romney explained: “Every illegal alien, almost every one, under this bill gets to stay here. That’s not fair to the millions and millions of people around the world that would love to come here and join with family members, bring skill and education that we need. It’s simply not fair to say those people get put ahead in the line of all the people who’ve been waiting legally to come to this country.”

During the debate, McCain was also the only candidate who signaled he does not favor making English the official language of the United States. CNN’s moderator Wolf Blitzer asked, “If there’s someone here who doesn’t believe English should be the official language of the United States, please speak up right now.”

McCain did. “I would like to remind you that we made treaties with Native Americans, such as the Navajos in my state, where we respect their sovereignty and they use their native language in their deliberations,” he said. “It’s not a big deal.”