McCain Does Not Want To Enforce The Laws Of The USA

Immigration debate follows McCain to campaign stop in Iowa
LE MARS (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain has a message for critics of a comprehensive immigration plan he helped craft.``I respect your disagreement, but what's your proposal?'' McCain said to reporters Saturday.``If people who are running for president of the United States don't agree with this proposal, what's your proposal?...The status quo is not acceptable,'' he said.McCain's comments came after a town hall event at a golf course in Le Mars, a town in northwest Iowa. Speaking to an audience of about 150 people, McCain spoke about Iraq, government spending and healthcare, among other topics, but immigration talk dominated the discussion.McCain went back and forth with one audience member, who said he was upset that the immigration proposal before Congress is not tough enough. The man told McCain that there were already adequate laws on the books — they just aren't being enforced.McCain said that was a misnomer.``The old rules are not workable and enforceable,'' he said. ``We've certainly proved that over the last 20 years.''Congress ``failed you,'' McCain said. ``We passed a law in 1986 that said we'd give amnesty to some people and now we have 12 million more,'' illegal immigrants.The man wasn't satisfied with McCain's answer. He asked McCain why the U.S. couldn't execute large-scale deportations, as he had heard they did in France and other countries.The question seemed to pique McCain.``In case you hadn't noticed, the thousands of people who have been relegated to ghettos have risen up and burned cars in France,'' McCain said. ``They've got huge problems in France. They have tremendous problems. The police can't even go into certain areas in the suburbs of Paris. I don't want that in the suburbs of America.''Audience member David Netz, of Sioux Center, said he wasn't surprised that immigration a popular topic at Saturday's event.``I think people are getting their information from so many different sources that they don't know what's going on, they think it's a conspiracy or something,'' Netz said. ``I'm glad McCain talked about it, because it's important and because I think the information needs to be shared.''McCain's plan, he said, ``will have people's support only if they really know what's in it.''After the town hall event, McCain headed to the Blue Bunny ice cream shop — a signature of Le Mars, which proudly calls itself the ice cream capital of the world.It was the same stop one of his rivals for the GOP nomination, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, made earlier in the week. Both Romney and McCain ordered chocolate shakes during their visit, although McCain's had whip cream and a cherry on top; Romney's did not.Saturday's event came on the second day of a two-day visit from the Arizona senator. He was also scheduled to hold a campaign event in the resort town of Okoboji later in the day.