Obama, McCain spar over immigration

By John Whitesides and Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain courted Hispanic support on Saturday, and Obama accused his White House rival of backing away from comprehensive U.S. immigration reform under pressure from his party.

In separate appearances before a group of Latino public officials, the two presidential contenders portrayed themselves as dedicated champions for Hispanics -- a fast-growing and critical swing voting bloc in November's election.

Obama took aim at McCain's approach to comprehensive immigration reform and his change of emphasis on legislation to offer a pathway to citizenship for the country's 12 million illegal immigrants.

McCain, an Arizona senator, broke with his party and worked for the plan, which ultimately failed in Congress amid heavy Republican opposition.

But he shifted his approach during the fight for the party's nomination to emphasize the need to secure U.S. borders before addressing the status of illegal immigrants.

"One place where Senator McCain used to offer change was on immigration. He was a champion of comprehensive reform, and I admired him for it," Obama, an Illinois senator who supported the proposal, told the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

"But when he was running for his party's nomination, he walked away from that commitment. He said he wouldn't even support his own legislation if it came up for a vote," he said. "If we are going to solve the challenges we face, we can't vacillate, we can't shift depending on our politics."

McCain, who appeared before the group ahead of Obama, admitted the plan "wasn't very popular with some in my party" but said he would still work for a broad-based overhaul of U.S. immigration laws.

"It'll be my top priority yesterday, today and tomorrow," McCain said when asked if immigration reform would be high on his to-do list in his first 100 days in office.

A McCain spokesman accused Obama of voting for "poison pill" amendments that doomed the immigration deal.

"It was Obama himself who worked to kill the Senate's bipartisan immigration reform compromise last year," Brian Rogers said in a statement.

The Obama campaign shot back that McCain had thanked Obama for his support on the issue in 2006.

McCain told the Latino officials the proposal failed because Americans were not confident Congress would protect U.S. borders before dealing with the question of illegal immigration.

"GOD'S CHILDREN"

"I want to assure you we will address this issue in a humane and compassionate fashion," he said, calling illegal immigrants "God's children."