Both say they'd make immigration reform a priority

MAJOR PUSH TO REGISTER IMMIGRANT VOTERS

In a sustained push to win greater influence during the next presidential administration, immigrant groups across the country are launching a major door-knocking campaign to register hundreds of thousands of new voters.
On Saturday at Foreman High School on the West Side of Chicago, organizers were tasked with helping immigrants fill out U.S. citizenship applications, while volunteers from 14 states kicked off a six-day "boot camp" in Chicago geared toward getting out the vote in the fall.

That will coalesce with the work of more than 300 unions, churches and grass-roots organizations that plan to register new voters over the next several months, under a national Campaign for Community Values advocating immigration reform, better health care and workers' rights, organizers said.

With voter turnout at record levels, a strong immigrant showing could help re-energize federal discussions about legalization, school funding, neighborhood safety and other issues, said Juan Salgado, president of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which is helping coordinate the effort. "The level of participation is going to be important to determine what gets done and when," Salgado said.

MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

WASHINGTON — Republican candidate John McCain promised on Saturday that he would make immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship for illegal residents "my top priority" if elected president.

McCain made the promise to a group of Latino elected officials as both he and Barack Obama court Hispanic voters who are a key constituency in several Western swing states and in the perennial electoral battleground of Florida.

In a separate appearance before the same group later in the day, Obama charged that McCain had backed away from his longtime support of comprehensive immigration reform during Republican primaries under pressure from conservatives in his party.

Both McCain and Obama see opportunities for their campaigns among Latino voters.

But despite a few war protesters who interrupted McCain, the candidates' appearances Saturday at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials focused on domestic issues, particularly immigration.

Asked whether he would make comprehensive immigration reform and not just strengthening border enforcement a priority, McCain said, "It will be my top priority yesterday, today and tomorrow," drawing sustained applause.

"There are 12 million people here, and they are here illegally, but they are God's children. They are God's children," McCain said, pounding the lectern.

Obama was a bit less emphatic when asked the same question, though he also said he would support immigration reform that included a route to citizenship for illegal immigrants. He said it would be "one of my priorities."

Yet Obama accused McCain, a co-author of comprehensive immigration reform legislation that was defeated in Congress by heavy Republican opposition, of shifting his stance to focus instead on border enforcement in order to win support from his party's conservative base.

"When he was running for his party's nomination, he walked away from that commitment. He said he wouldn't even support his own legislation if it came up for a vote," Obama said. "If we are going to solve the challenges we face, we can't vacillate, we can't shift depending on our politics."

An Obama spokesman said the senator was referring to a statement McCain made during the Jan. 30 Republican debate at the Reagan presidential library in which McCain was asked whether he would vote for comprehensive immigration legislation he had sponsored.

"No, I would not, because we know what the situation is today," McCain responded at the debate. "The people want the border secured first."

The accusation rapidly stirred an e-mail skirmish between the two campaigns. McCain's camp sent out a news release charging that Obama had undermined attempts to pass immigration reform legislation in 2006 by supporting amendments opposed by business interests that the McCain campaign called "poison pills."

The Obama camp responded with a statement McCain made on the Senate floor just before the final vote on the legislation in which the Arizona senator commended Obama for "working to ensure this bill moved successfully intact through the legislative process."