Last week, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain told the National Sheriff’s Association that if elected he will require the federal government to pick up more of the costs associated with detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants who commit crimes.  The Indianapolis Star reports that McCain, who sponsored the last year’s now-dead immigration bill which offered immigrants a path to citizenship, made no mention of it at the conference, instead focusing on ways to best help law enforcement deport undocumented immigrants. 

“We know as well that tens of thousands of felons – in custody and at large – entered our country illegally.  Why has it fallen to sheriffs and other local officials to protect their citizens from these foreign-born felons?  Because our federal government failed to protect our borders from their entry, and this serious dereliction of duty,” McCain said to the estimated 2,000 law enforcement officials. 

To rectify what he sees as an immigration problem, McCain touted the importance of the Criminal Alien Program, saying that while it has “made some progress in recent years,” the costs burdening local and state authorities has been too great.  “So as president, I will expand the Criminal Program,” said McCain.  “We will require that the federal government assume more of the costs to deport and detain criminal aliens.” 

The Criminal Alien Program was introduced by ICE officials to identify the immigration status of currently incarcerated felons, to which they are scheduled for deportation once identified.  The program has come under fire from immigrant advocacy groups for exceeding its original scope, such as targeting immigrants who merely have Class C misdemeanors.

***** 

This month, Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s campaign released a new ad tailored to Hispanic audiences, The Wall Street Journal reports.  The ad, “God’s Children,” is currently running in the Western swing states of Colorado Nevada and New Mexico; it features footage of McCain from a June 2007 Republican primary debate in which he extols the contributions Hispanic immigrants have made in the US, particularly through military service. 

“My friends, I want you the next time you’re down in Washington, DC, to go to the Vietnam War Memorial and look at the names engraves in black granite.  You’ll find a whole lot of Hispanic names,” McCain says in the ad, “When you go to Iraq or Afghanistan today, you’re going to see a whole lot of people who are of Hispanic background.  You’re even going to meet some of the few thousand that are still green car holders who are not even citizens of this country, who love this country so much that they’re willing to risk their lives in its service in order to accelerate their path to citizenship.”   

The ad seeks to sway the increasingly influential Hispanic vote, which could have a significant impact on key battleground states.  For McCain, the ad is one of a series of aggressive steps in appealing to Latinos: this month, McCain, along with Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, addressed the League of United Latin American Citizens convention in Washington DC, as well as spoke at the UNITY: Journalists of Color convention.