President Bush says that he has seen more support for his “comprehensive” immigration reform on Capitol Hill since last fall’s elections. On the campaign trail, however, amnesty for illegal aliens remains as unpopular as it was in November. Sen. John McCain has been out on the hustings and he sees less support for himself — thanks to the immigration-reform legislation he cosponsored with Sen. Ted Kennedy.

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As McCain is learning, his position on immigration reform could be a major hurdle in appealing to the conservative voters he so badly needs to revive his stalled presidential candidacy. He reportedly still backs “comprehensive” reform, but has shied away from lending his name to the latest amnesty Kennedy is cooking up. McCain says he is open to Rep. Mike Pence’s better-disguised amnesty plan, but there is an alternative Senate proposal that a majority of his Republican colleagues support and that would reassure conservative voters of his seriousness about border security.

In 2005, Kennedy and McCain introduced a Senate bill to create a guest-worker program and reward 12 million illegal aliens with a path to citizenship. Arlen Specter picked up many of their worst ideas in crafting his own guest-worker-cum-amnesty bill, which passed the Senate in 2006. A majority of Senate Republicans opposed him, and in the end the efforts of House Republicans kept this policy disaster from becoming law.

Now Kennedy is at it again, although this time he is expected to introduce his amnesty bill without McCain’s support because they are reportedly “at odds over key points.” Unfortunately, a “comprehensive” reform including amnesty remains key to John McCain. “We have to have a comprehensive approach to reform, which means a temporary-worker [program], as well as securing our borders, as well as addressing the 12 million people who are here illegally in both a comprehensive and humane fashion,” he explained to the Boston Globe.

As McCain has looked for an alternative to Kennedy’s approach, Rep. Mike Pence’s “touchback proposal” has caught his eye. Under the Pence plan, illegal aliens would have to step back across the border into Mexico; only then could they return to the U.S. and to the jobs they once held illegally. These formerly illegal aliens would be legal guest workers for six years, after which they would have to return home or seek citizenship.


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