Immigration is a hot button issue, perhaps even more so for Senator McCain. Branded as liberal on this issue by some Republican conservatives, he has tried to take a middle of the road position by balancing the need to secure our borders with the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are already in the U.S.

McCain co-sponsored the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2007, which would allow states to give illegal immigrants in-state tuition for higher education and let the Homeland Security Department confer legal resident status on some illegal immigrant students. This bill added fuel to the fire for McCain detractors who were already mad about his co-sponsorship of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, which would have created a guest worker program and addressed border security issues. McCain’s yes vote on this legislation was in the minority. In what some would call a slap in the face to McCain, Arizona state legislators enacted the toughest immigration law in the U.S., imposing significant penalties on Arizona employers who hire illegals.

However, McCain doesn’t oppose sanctions against employers who knowingly hire illegals. He wasn’t in the U.S. Senate when the Immigration Reform and Control Act was passed, but he has noted his support of this law, which requires employers to jump through hoops before hiring any employees to make sure they are in the country legally and which imposes fines on employers that violate this law. Immigration conservatives argue that this law has never been enforced as vigorously as it should have been.

Although McCain’s strong support of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act landed him in hot water with many Republican conservatives who called this legislation an amnesty bill, the anger over McCain’s support of this legislation has subsided with his clinching the Republican nomination. However, this issue will continue to be one that McCain will have to do a delicate dance with during the general election.

McCain also voted yes on the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which created 700 miles of new fence along the U.S./Mexico border.

If McCain is elected President, it seems quite likely that he will again push for a comprehensive immigration plan. He will continue to argue that he isn’t for amnesty but for a practical way of dealing with 12 million illegal immigrants who are already working in the U.S. It’s likely he will couple his guest worker proposal with something designed to secure our borders, require immigrants to learn English, pay fines before being eligible for citizenship, be subject to a waiting period of years before being eligible for citizenship, and deport those who are here illegally and who have broken the law while here.