<p>NPR <a id="bplk" title="interviewed" href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88382489">interviewed</a> Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Monday, after a town hall meeting in a suburban Philadelphia country club.</p>

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He was introduced by Craig Williams, a local GOP congressional candidate and former federal prosecutor of illegal immigrants:</p>

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<p>&quot;I’m going to tell the truth about illegal immigration: You go to the borders and you lock them down…then you come back inside the United States and you take care of the illegal immigration problem right here… We’re going to fix this problem, and we’re going to fix it in the next term, under John McCain.&quot;</p>

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McCain himself didn’t mention immigration — until reporters pressed him after the event.</p>

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After pointing out that there were two million illegal immigrants with a criminal record, McCain said the other estimated 10 million undocumented aliens would have to get on line to apply for citizenship. Then he added he &quot;would address the issue in a humane and compassionate fashion&quot; — campaign code for his legalization plan.</p>

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Asked about congressional races, McCain said that GOP candidates had lost some races because of their stand on immigration. He brought up Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.), &quot;who emphasized that issue and lost by a large number,&quot; and Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), who &quot;had very strong anti-immigrant rhetoric.&quot;&nbsp; McCain urged Republican congressional candidates &quot;to understand the political practicalities of this issue.&quot;</p>

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His GOP colleagues in Congress, however, are taking a different tack.</p>

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In the House, Republicans are pushing a discharge <a id="a5rk" target="_blank" title="petition" href="http://www.dailypress.com/news/nationworld/dp-local_immigrant_0318mar18,0,5772074.story">petition</a> to force an enforcement <a id="syip" target="_blank" title="bill" href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.4088:">bill</a> onto the floor. &nbsp;</p>

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In the Senate, Republicans have submitted a parallel bill package to crack down further on illegal immigrants.</p>

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Which way will the GOP move?&nbsp;</p>

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Also on Monday, the San Jose Mercury News in Silicon Valley, where hi-tech specialists are always in demand, came down on McCain’s side. In an editorial titled, &quot;GOP should <a id="ose:" target="_blank" title="quit playing games" href="http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_8600348">quit playing games</a> with immigration&quot; it said:</p>

<blockquote>Immigration should be a bigger issue in the presidential campaign. But it’s shameful that Republican lawmakers are trying to pump it up for purely political gain.<br />

The maneuvers involve crackdown legislation aimed at dividing Democrats and pushing Sen. John McCain into a harsher anti-immigrant stance.<br />

This enforcement-only approach fails to advance true reform that would benefit the nation’s economy. Reform should include a path to legalization for people already established here, a guest worker program for desperately needed farmworkers and more visas for skilled technical workers. Those were all part of legislation McCain co-authored with Sen. Ted Kennedy that died in June.<br />

Senate Republicans introduced a package of bills that call for more deportations, more border guards and some purely mean-spirited provisions, like ending language assistance at federal agencies. Let’s get serious. <br />

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