McCain now blames Forest Service official for illegal immigrant remark.

[RandySF]

Sen. John McCain and three other Arizona Republicans are blaming an unnamed senior Forest Service official for saying that some of the wildfires ravaging the state were caused by illegal immigrants.

“During our tour of the damaged areas caused by the Wallow Fire on Saturday, we were briefed by senior Forest Service officials, one of whom informed us that some wildfires in Arizona (across our southern border) are regrettably caused by drug smugglers and illegal immigrants,” said McCain, Sen. Jon Kyl and Reps. Jeff Flake and Paul Gosar in a statement released mid-Monday afternoon after criticism of McCain’s weekend claim that illegals were responsible for some of the blazes.

hat official’s claims, they said, are “consistent with what we’ve been hearing for years, as well as testimony by the Forest Service and media reports dating back as far as 2006.”

The statement from the four Republicans comes after McCain said at a Saturday press conference that “here is substantial evidence that some of these fires have been caused by people who have crossed our border illegally.” One way to prevent forest fires, he said, “is to get a secure border



http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57376.html#ixzz1PsFxemoo