Shifting focus, McCain talks tough on border security

As pressure builds for the Senate to take up comprehensive immigration legislation soon, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Monday called instead for immediate deployment of 3,000 U.S. troops to the Mexican border and more unmanned drones flying around the clock to beef up security in his home state.

McCain, along with Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., outlined a 10-point "border security action plan" to address what they regard as the more pressing issue -- violence linked to illegal border crossings -- but did not provide either an estimate of what it would cost or the budget offsets needed to cover the higher spending.

"This situation has spiraled out of control," McCain said of border security in Arizona.

Three years ago, McCain championed an overhaul of immigration laws as the way to curb illegal immigration by giving foreigners a legal pathway to work in the United States.

But this year McCain is facing a tough re-election challenge from former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz. The plan the senator unveiled Monday makes no mention of immigration reform. Instead, it emphasizes tough border security enforcement and penalties for foreigners who enter the country illegally.

For example, the plan calls for repeat illegal border crossers to go to jail for 15 to 60 days and the construction of double- and triple-layered fencing "at appropriate locations along the Arizona-Mexico border."

"We have to secure the borders first," McCain said when asked whether he would support an immigration reform bill. He repeated the answer 12 times in response to questions.

Advocates who favor immigration reform immediately blasted the McCain-Kyl plan. The group America's Voice said the plan "at its worst represents the kind of pandering to the far right that has doomed Republicans with Latino voters over the past five years."

"Obviously, John McCain is fighting for his political life in Arizona," said Frank Sharry, director of America's Voice. "I sure miss the days when he fought for his principles."

McCain and Kyl were flanked during their news conference by two Arizona law enforcement officials -- Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever and Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu -- who threw their support behind the plan and made impassioned pleas for more federal border security assistance.

"Folks, your cops, your sheriffs cannot do this alone," Babeu said. "We're doing our best, and we're overwhelmed. We're stressed, and things are out of control. We need the help of troops that are deployed along the border, additional resources in our Border Patrol and a zero tolerance."

Although they did not provide a cost estimate, McCain said he and Kyl would seek increased appropriations and indicated that funding could be found by shifting money from "unneeded and unnecessary programs," which he did not specify.

Their plan calls for deploying National Guard troops to the Arizona-Mexico border until the state governor certifies that the federal government has achieved operational control of the border.

Former President George W. Bush deployed 6,000 National Guard troops to the Southwest border over two years, costing an estimated $770 million.

The plan calls for permanently adding 3,000 Customs and Border Protection agents to the Arizona-Mexico border by 2015, a move that would include training and equipment costs.

And the plan calls for the federal government to provide $100 million for Operation Stonegarden, which allocates grants to local law enforcement for personnel and training costs associated with stopping illegal immigration and drug smuggling along the border.

McCain and Kyl want the Obama administration to substantially increase the number of mobile surveillance systems and Predator B unmanned aerial vehicles used in Arizona, including running UAV operations "24 hours a day seven days a week."

The administration should send more fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to the border, but the senators did not specify how many.

And the plan calls on the federal government to reimburse state and local governments for the full cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants who have committed crimes -- a move that would likely come with a price tag of nearly $1 billion.