Republican presidential hopeful John McCain last week pledged support for a proposal to end illegal immigration that eliminates opportunity for citizenship.  Last week he introduced a new reform bill in Senate that criminalizes undocumented immigrants for entry or re-entry into the US .  The Associated Press reports that McCain had initially been the leading GOP proponent of a bill that stresses a comprehensive approach to immigration, including a guest worker program.  

The about-face from McCain may stem from tepid support and funds raised from the GOP base, which traditionally support a more hard-line approach to undocumented immigrants.  "He recognized his position on the issue is killing him," said Steven Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies.  

McCain’s sudden shift was met with criticism from immigrants’ rights advocates.  "It is fairly stunning they have gone from leaders on comprehensive reform legislation to lemmings running over the cliff," said Angela Kelley deputy director of the National Immigration Forum.  

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The Washington Times reports that the Republican National Committee passed a resolution to urge Congress to take immediate steps to increase border security against immigrant entry.  A bill was narrowly defeated in the RNC session to withdraw funding and support from The One Campaign, a humanitarian effort that contributes $30 billion in funds annually from a 1% tax on the federal budget.  Proponents of the resolution viewed opposing support for the charity foundation as a faster approach to build border fencing and hire more border patrol agents.  

In general session, RNC Chairman Robert Duncan, who supported the One Campaign initiative, told members that the theme of the party from now until November 2008 elections would be:  ‘We are Republicans for a reason."  Duncan intended to remind voters that the party "got diverted from our principles in the last election and we are paying for it."  

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Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney criticized U.S. cities that act as sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants.  The Associated Press reports during his trip to the first primary Caucus in Iowa , Romney lashed out at cities that have declared themselves as sanctuaries from enforcement of federal immigration laws.   

"We’re telling immigrants to come here and we won’t follow the law," Romney said of the cities.  "We send hundreds of millions of dollars to these cities, even billions.  We ought to stop doing that."  When asked what types of funds would be halted, Romney said he would "look at the kind of money we’re going to cut off."  

Romney cited New York City as an example, although it has never officially declared itself a ‘sanctuary city.’  In July, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told Congress that the city protects resident’s confidentiality when they report a crime or seek medical attention, and that this policy complies with federal immigration law.