Does Sen. John McCain Have a Point About Illegal Immigrants Starting Wildfires?
SodaHead News
2011/06/20 23:00:00
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There are quite a few things you can legitimately blame illegal immigrants for: skirting the laws of this country, taking the low-paying, mind-numbing jobs Americans don't want, using benefits they are not entitled to and making it harder for legal immigrants to get a fair shake.
Hell, if you're from Arizona and you're the governor, you can even blame the drug trade on them. But what about wildfires? Surely those acts of nature (or of arsonists or campers who don't follow strict campfire rules) are the fault of illegals, too, right?
They are according to John McCain. The Arizona senator and failed 2008 presidential candidate is lucky he's not giving it another shot this year, because his recent statements that illegal immigrants were responsible for some of the devastating wildfires in his state have drawn quite a bit of, well, fire.
According to The Los Angeles Times, McCain cited congressional testimony and published reports to back his claim, saying on Saturday, "We are concerned about, particularly areas down on the border, where there is substantial evidence that some of these fires were caused by people who have crossed our border illegally …
"They have set fires because they want to signal others; they have set fires to keep; and they have set fires in order to divert law enforcement, agents and agencies from them," he added. "So the answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border."
He didn't provide any of that evidence, which drew accusations that the former Vietnam POW was fanning the "flames of intolerance" from an unsuccessful 2010 Democratic senatorial challenger. A U.S. Forest Service official told ABC News that there was no evidence suggesting anything of the sort is true.
McCain went on "Imus in the Morning" on Monday to defend his claim, explaining, "I was briefed by the Forest Service about the fact that illegal immigrants sometimes start these fires," adding that some service officials testified that "large numbers of warming and cooking fires built and abandoned by cross-border violators have caused wildfires that have destroyed cultural and natural resources."
Imus challenged McCain and said that no reports had claimed that illegals were responsible for the 500,000 acre Wallow blaze – third-largest in the state's history – which The New York Times reported last week was fostered by drought conditions tied to La Nina, strong winds and parched soil. McCain said he wasn't referring to a specific fire in his remarks, but just fires in general.
"I'm surprised that anyone should be surprised that people have been doing this for some period of time," McCain said.
Do you agree with McCain about illegals starting the Arizona wildfires?
Hell, if you're from Arizona and you're the governor, you can even blame the drug trade on them. But what about wildfires? Surely those acts of nature (or of arsonists or campers who don't follow strict campfire rules) are the fault of illegals, too, right?
They are according to John McCain. The Arizona senator and failed 2008 presidential candidate is lucky he's not giving it another shot this year, because his recent statements that illegal immigrants were responsible for some of the devastating wildfires in his state have drawn quite a bit of, well, fire.
According to The Los Angeles Times, McCain cited congressional testimony and published reports to back his claim, saying on Saturday, "We are concerned about, particularly areas down on the border, where there is substantial evidence that some of these fires were caused by people who have crossed our border illegally …
"They have set fires because they want to signal others; they have set fires to keep; and they have set fires in order to divert law enforcement, agents and agencies from them," he added. "So the answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border."
He didn't provide any of that evidence, which drew accusations that the former Vietnam POW was fanning the "flames of intolerance" from an unsuccessful 2010 Democratic senatorial challenger. A U.S. Forest Service official told ABC News that there was no evidence suggesting anything of the sort is true.
McCain went on "Imus in the Morning" on Monday to defend his claim, explaining, "I was briefed by the Forest Service about the fact that illegal immigrants sometimes start these fires," adding that some service officials testified that "large numbers of warming and cooking fires built and abandoned by cross-border violators have caused wildfires that have destroyed cultural and natural resources."
Imus challenged McCain and said that no reports had claimed that illegals were responsible for the 500,000 acre Wallow blaze – third-largest in the state's history – which The New York Times reported last week was fostered by drought conditions tied to La Nina, strong winds and parched soil. McCain said he wasn't referring to a specific fire in his remarks, but just fires in general.
"I'm surprised that anyone should be surprised that people have been doing this for some period of time," McCain said.
Do you agree with McCain about illegals starting the Arizona wildfires?
Top Opinion
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Hsmagst 2011/06/21 02:59:20
signed....A REAL MAVERICK
They are parasites and criminals.
McCain's an idiot. Sure the fires are being started by illegals and the drug cartel. But he's
not interested in actually doing anything about it; like enforce our existing laws to stop it. It's quite calm today. The winds died down today, and the fire breaks that the crews worked
on yesterday apparently held. I see no flames in the mountains today, just some smoke.
Although we are still in " pre-evacuation " status, it doesn't look like we will need to evac,
though I've said that several times before. But for now, things are looking much, much better than yesterday.
THERE YOU HAVE THE TRUTH:
But I see a definate, though thinly disguised, bias in this article by SodaHead News.
The "low-paying...jobs Americans don't want.." is a repetition of a favorite and much over-used lie of the pro illegal immigration forces; the jobs being referred to here are the jobs that imployers are not willing to pay a reasonalble wage for that Americans could live off of; that's why they hire the illegals in the first place - to save money on their employees. The illegals don't need the reasonable wages because they get practically everything free after they illegally enter our country - in return for violationg our borders and breaking our laws; without all those free extras, no legal American citizen could survive on the unreasonable wages these criminal employers offer to pay.
And "skirting the laws" is, in fact, an attempt to skirt the truth; these illegals are BREAKING our laws, not just skirting them.
I like McCain as an individual, but politically, he should retire and enjoy his life, relax John..