The far right is only hateful to illegals
Right - I'm sure these people are equally concerned with illegal immigrants from the United Kingdom as they are from Mexico. (Hence the earnest cries for a declaration of English being the only "official" language.)
Prior to the 2008 election, McCain was seen as even more an ardent supporter of rights for illegal immigrants than Bush. The failure of the Bush-backed reform definitely helped contribute to the political climate where McCain had to abandon any centrist talk on the subject in order to win the primary. Ironically, Bush probably only ever backed certain types of reform, like the guest worker program, for the financial benefits that would inevitably be reaped by large corporations in building a permanent underclass of workers.
