Any immigration reform plan that makes it through Congress must include a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the country, Sen. John McCain said during an immigration forum in Mesa today.

After leading the fight for immigration reform in the US Senate, Arizona’s Republican senators, McCain and Jeff Flake, took their message to the public during a one-hour discussion to explain the benefits of their plan for border residents, business and undocumented immigrants.

Some members of Congress want to strip the legislation into several parts and pass it piecemeal. Many doubt any legislation offering a pathway to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally can make it through the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. But McCain called that portion of the legislation a “fundamental principal.” Later, he reiterated that the pathway is essential, but also said the Senate would be open to negotiations.

“A path to citizenship would have to be part of it. The European experience, where people came particularly from North Africa to some of these countries and were not allowed to have a path to citizenship, has turned out very badly,” McCain said.

When Congress returns from vacation in two weeks, the House of Representatives is expected to take up its own version of immigration reform, over objections from much of the Republican caucus.

Flake, who was elected to the Senate in 2012 after serving in the House since 2001, said he has no illusions that the House will pass the same legislation that the Senate approved in June. But he hopes to work with lawmakers in the House to pass some form of immigration reform that can be meshed with the Senate version into something a majority of both chambers can agree on.

“I’m still confident that we can get a bill (though both chambers) this year,” he said.

McCain echoed that sentiment. He noted that now is the time for immigration reform and that waiting until 2014, which is a congressional election year, is not an option. He said the current bill is “not a perfect piece of legislation” but said that passing the bill would help the GOP level the playing field and compete for the votes of Latinos in Arizona and around the nation.

While Democrats have objections over portions of the legislation – such as the provisions that beefed up Border Patrol by adding another 20,000 agents – they are mostly resigned to support whatever package is offered, as long as it contains a pathway for citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the country.

Republicans, however, are bitterly divided over the heart of the immigration reform package, and its passage through the House is far from assured.

The senators made their pitch before a mostly friendly crowd, while roughly 100 protesters lined the streets outside the Mesa Arts Center, where the event was held.

Border Security

The senators fielded questions from two southern Arizona ranchers. Susan Krentz, whose husband, Rob Krentz, was killed in 2010 near their Cochise County ranch while helping a suspected illegal immigrant, asked the senators how long ranchers like her would have to wait until the border was secured.

McCain responded that “these measures that we have this legislation, we believe, will prevent another tragedy such as you experienced.”

Flake noted that ranchers such as the Krentz family, who have ranched in southern Arizona for more than 100 years, were instrumental in crafting the legislation.

Dan Bell, a rancher from the Nogales area who works 10 miles of mostly unfenced border with Mexico, noted that the infrastructure in his part of the border isn’t there for Border Patrol to chase after immigrants, even if they can spot them through technological means. Bell questioned how the senators could be sure that such a big and complicated bill would have the effect they intended.

Jobs

McCain and Flake argued the economic points of immigration reform, saying the country needs workers, especially high-skilled workers, to bring the economy back.

McCain cited Congressional Budget Office numbers that estimate the Senate immigration reform bill would reduce the federal deficit by $850 billion over the next 20 years, add $3 billion to the Social Security trust fund over the next decade, would increase the gross domestic product by 3.3 percent over the next 10 years and would create more than 8,000 jobs in Arizona by 2014.

“So if you think that this bill is not good for the economy of Arizona and this country, then your argument is not with me and Jeff (Flake), it’s with the Congressional Budget Office. I cannot imagine or believe that unleashing 11 million hardworking people into our economy would not be helpful,” McCain said.

No amnesty

While the protesters outside the event held signs with slogans like “No Amnesty,” McCain and Flake fought back against the idea that their plan amounts to amnesty.

“There are very few people… that have not violated a law at one time or another, so the fact is, when people violate the law, they pay a penalty and move on. This is a 10-year path to a green card. This is thousands of dollars in fees that need to be paid. This is background checks. This is an enormous, long path to achieve citizenship,” McCain said.

Flake noted that the immigration reform of 1986 often allowed people who were in the United States illegally to became legal citizens before people who were following the legal path, and they took pains not to repeat that mistake.

“Amnesty would be an unconditional pardon for a breach of law. We’re not pardoning anyone here,” Flake said.