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McCain’s immigration web pages differ in Spanish and English

by TheHill.com - 09/07/16 6:44 PM ET

The immigration and homeland security sections of Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) English- and Spanish-language campaign websites are substantially different in size and scope.

Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) website altered its language on immigration and homeland security for the Spanish-language version of the pages.

{mosads}While the English-language site emphasizes border security and McCain’s history of working to “reform our broken immigration system,” the Spanish-language site focuses on the senator’s bipartisan efforts to “work on a humane migratory reform that is sensitive to the needs of the immigrant community.”

Other sections also have subtle differences.

The employment section touts McCain’s endorsement by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Spanish, while highlighting the endorsement by the American Conservative Union in English, the Washington Post first reported Tuesday.

While the two sites stress different elements of McCain’s proposals, the Spanish site is a condensed version of the main site “and was never intended to be identical, since it focuses closely on policy issues commonly raised by Spanish-language and bilingual Arizonans,” Lorna Romero, the campaign’s communications director, told The Hill in an email.

“In English and Spanish, John McCain has consistently championed the need for a secure border and immigration reform,” said Romero.

McCain has long been a proponent of comprehensive immigration reform, and was a member of the Gang of Eight, a bipartisan group that passed a bill in the Senate but failed to be taken up in the House in 2013.

“In fact, both the English and Spanish versions begin with the clear message that John McCain has led the efforts in Washington to ensure that the U.S. obtains control of its southwest border and to reform our broken immigration system,’” added Romero.

McCain is running what he called in May “the race of my life,” facing an unusually strong contender in Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.).

His race has been further complicated by a growing Hispanic population in the state and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s difficulty to appeal to that demographic.

Trump has made immigration and border security central to his campaign, promising to build a border wall paid for by Mexico and to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. He has alienated Hispanics with strong rhetoric on the subject, calling Mexican immigrants “rapists” who “bring crime” and questioning a federal judge’s objectivity because of his Mexican heritage.

While McCain has denounced Trump’s rhetoric in many cases, split ticket voting is becoming a rarity, and Democrats have aggressively campaigned to pin legislative Republicans to their presidential nominee.

Tags Ann Kirkpatrick Donald Trump John McCain