Senator McCain favors review of wet-foot, dry-foot policy

Senator McCain favors review of wet-foot, dry-foot policy

The Associated Press

February 21, 2006, 6:30 PM EST

MIAMI -- U.S. Senator John McCain on Tuesday joined the growing debate
over the government's wet-foot, dry-foot policy for Cuban immigrants,
saying its time the policy was re-examined.

``I've been talking to many in the Cuban-American community and others,
including Governor Bush, who are more knowledgeable than I,'' the
senator told reporters during a conference call. ``I think it needs to
be reviewed.''

McCain, R-Ariz., spoke in advance of a town meeting he will hold
Thursday at Miami-Dade College's Wolfson Campus to promote his
immigration reform bill.

The proposal, co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, would
permit illegal immigrants to obtain work visas for up to six years, with
the opportunity to apply for permanent residency. It does not include
any reference to the wet-foot, dry-foot policy.

But McCain said that policy has become increasingly contentious since 15
Cubans were sent back to the Communist island in January after the U.S.
Coast Guard found that a former bridge they landed on in the Florida
Keys was not part of U.S. soil because it no longer connected to land.

During the conference call, McCain called on Hispanics and others to get
involved and speak out on the issue of immigration rather than leave it
to extremists on either side.

McCain, a likely 2008 presidential candidate, is holding town meetings
across the country this week, including in Arizona and New York, to
promote his reform bill.

``I'm doing this because we need to have this debate and dialogue among
the American people,'' he said. ``If we put it off another year, I think
frankly it would be an abrogation of our responsibilities.''

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