Senator John McCain is worried that legislation he sponsored to give legal status to millions of US illegal immigrants may be deliberately stalled in the senate, the chairman of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael Woods, warned after a meeting with the senator in Washington yesterday.
Mr Woods spoke just two days after the senate judiciary committee approved a bill that included a guest worker programme suggested by senator McCain and senator Ted Kennedy that would allow illegal workers to get green cards under a six year programme.
However, after meeting with senator McCain, Mr Woods said the senator was worried about attempts to delay the legislation until after the upcoming congressional elections.
"We had a long meeting with him and he is still worried about whether the entire bill can be incorporated in the final outcome.
"His main concern is the delay process. He is very happy it has not been delayed so far but there is great division among Republicans and Democrats throughout the country," Mr Woods said.
Mr Woods is in Washington to help promote the Kennedy-McCain Immigration Bill along with four other members of the Foreign Affairs Committee: TDs Liz O'Donnell (PDs), Michael D Higgins (Labour), Michael Mulcahy (Fianna Fáil) and Bernard Allen (Fine Gael).
Mr Mulcahy, the deputy chairman of the committee, said he also sensed that senator McCain was concerned that the senate might not agree on any immigration reform legislation.
The Dublin South Central TD said that senator McCain urged the Oireachtas group to lobby US politicians who take a tough line on immigration.