MEXICO CITY — Presidential hopeful John McCain called for a “tamper-proof” temporary-worker program, promoted free trade and praised joint drug-fighting efforts Thursday as he finished a three-day tour of Colombia and Mexico.
“I believe we must have comprehensive immigration reform, but the American people want our borders secured first,” McCain said, speaking in a heavily guarded federal police hangar in the rough Mexico City neighborhood of Iztapalapa.
“In the short term, the United States and Latin America need a temporary-worker program, but one that is verifiable, with biometric tamper-proof documents. … When it is known that people who come to our country illegally can’t get a job, that will then cut off the magnet that attracts people,” McCain said.
McCain met with President Felipe Calderon to discuss immigration, trade and the recently passed Merida Initiative, a $400 million U.S. aid package to help Mexico fight an increasingly bloody drug war that has claimed more than 1,800 lives this year.
McCain’s visit was eagerly awaited in Mexico, where he enjoys a largely favorable standing despite deeply negative opinions of President Bush.
In an editorial, El Universal newspaper said Thursday that McCain’s support for U.S. aid to help Mexico fight its drug cartels, his push for immigration reform and strong backing of NAFTA showed he has “a better understanding of this country than that shown so far by his opponent.”
It was McCain’s third trip abroad since becoming the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee in March.
The foray into Latin American was intended to remind voters that he can operate easily on the world stage and to contrast his international free-trade policy against Barack Obama’s.
Obama, who spent much of this week in potential general election swing states, has vowed if elected to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement to include enforceable labor and environmental provisions.
NAFTA and the Colombian free-trade pact have been unpopular in important electoral states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.
McCain began the day with an early-morning visit to Mexico’s most revered shrine, the Basilica of Guadalupe, where the Protestant candidate was blessed by Rector Diego Monroy Ponce. It was a visit with potential political appeal in the U.S.
Latino Catholics could be a key voting bloc in November in important states such as California and Florida.
McCain was accompanied to the basilica by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, President Bush’s brother, who was visiting Mexico on a business trip.
