On Tuesday, the immigration debate took center stage in Arizona as Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security toured the border of the state and Mexico and John McCain the Senator from Arizona defended his proposed immigration overhaul to a number of angry people in Phoenix.
Washington officials arriving in Arizona is yet another sign that the state will play an important role in the debate over immigration as the President looks to make it his signature issue for his last term in office.
Secretary Napolitano was at the border near the town of Nogales with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s highest official, the new chairman of the homeland security committee in the Senate and a Congressman from Arizona.
Napolitano is a former governor of Arizona and said after her tour of the border that new comprehensive reform on immigration will strengthen the borders in the country against criminals and any other threats.
McCain hosted two town hall meetings in Arizona and defended his plan for immigration reform to concerned and upset residents over the security of the border. A group of bipartisan senators, including McCain and fellow Republican Jeff Flake from Arizona, want assurances that the border security will be better as Congress wonders what the biggest changes in 30 years will be for immigration law.
McCain said a Social Security card that is tamper-proof would help combat fraud and said any path granted towards citizenship must require English to be learned, cover unpaid back taxes and pay fines for not adhering to the laws of immigration.
One man who disapproved said only guns would help discourage illegal immigration. While another man said that illegal immigrants should never be given the right to become a citizen or vote and a third said undocumented immigrants were just illiterate invaders looking for government handouts.
