US:European economies are stagnating because Europe is not as welcoming to immigrants as America, US presidential hopeful Senator John McCain has told a pro-immigration rally in New York.
More than a thousand people, mostly immigrants, packed a union hall in southern Manhattan to hear him call for support for a reform bill he is sponsoring with Senator Ted Kennedy that would allow millions of US illegal immigrants to obtain green cards.
To cheers from the audience, an Irish plumber and other illegal immigrants spoke to the crowd before Senator McCain. The plumber, identified as Brian, said he was married, ran his own business and yet was unable to return to Ireland because he would not be allowed back to the US.
In his speech, Mr McCain said Europe's economy was weak because it did not welcome immigrants, whereas the US continues to welcome waves of people from foreign countries.
"The greatness and strength of America has come from wave after wave of immigrants and the reason we are different from our European friends is that we continue to welcome people to our shores," he said.
Senator McCain added that he loved to visit Europe but said it had a "stagnant" economy. He said that one of the reasons for this stagnation was that Europeans don't have the "fresh blood and vitality" of immigration that has been a continuous infusion into the US.
A new group, the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, is expecting thousands of Irish people to rally in Washington on March 8th in support of the McCain-Kennedy bill, which would allow illegal immigrants working in the US for six years to pay a $2,000 fine before applying for a green card.
On a question from the floor, Senator McCain strongly rejected calls for HIV positive people to be allowed into the US.