Kennedy and McCain Promote Immigration Bill
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 – Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) pushed their bipartisan immigration overhaul Tuesday, taking their case to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce immigration conference.
Earlier this year Kennedy and McCain introduced a bill to restructure the country’s immigration policy. Kennedy said he was optimistic the Senate, House and Bush Administration will be able to cooperate on the issue.
“We could really do something that is really in our national interest, in the interest of our national heritage,” Kennedy said.
Both senators described controlling the borders as a national security matter.
McCain said that while border enforcement funds have tripled and the number of agents patrolling the borders has doubled, illegal immigration has doubled as well.
“There is a demand and there is a supply,” McCain said. “When people can’t feed themselves and their families where they are, they’ll go some place where they can.”
The legislation seeks to differentiate between legal and illegal immigrants and provide the legal ones with a simplified route toward visas and eventually green cards.
Illegal immigrants already in the country would have the opportunity to gain temporary visas to continue jobs in the United States but only after paying a fee and passing rigorous security checks. These workers would have to work at least six more years in the country, go through further security checks, pay more fees and pass several other requirements before being considered for permanent legal residency.
Kennedy expressed a desire to see greater cooperation on immigration issues from Latin American countries.
“Unless we’re going to have an active Mexican government that’s going to work with us . . . it’s going to be all the more difficult,” Kennedy said.
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