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John McCain is still insisting that President Obama come visit the Arizona border and that he's ignoring the violence there being caused by the drug cartels. Chris Wallace points out to McCain that despite his criticism of the Obama administration, the annual flow of illegals into the U.S. is 2/3 smaller than it was in 2005 and the total number of illegals into the U.S. is down 8% from 2007 and asks if they deserve any credit for having done something right? McCain goes on and all but ignores the statistics cited to him by Wallace other than to acknowledge that finally that there has been some improvement.

Wallace should have also pointed out to him that not only are the immigration numbers down, but he's lying about the violence increasing as well. While crime has increased on the Mexican side of the border it is not "spilling onto our side" as McCain claims here.

McCain: Obama is Ignoring Border Violence Threat to U.S.:

Some measures on illegal immigration to the United States have improved, but the Obama administration is ignoring violence spilling into the U.S. from Mexico, Arizona Sen. John McCain said Sunday.

The 2008 Republican presidential candidate noted that 28,000 Mexican citizens have been murdered in the drug war in Mexico, with 72 individuals, including 14 women, killed in one attack just last week. That violence is a threat to U.S. security, McCain said.

"The people who live in the southern part of my state do not have a secure environment. To wit, there are signs that the government put up that say, 'Warning. You are in a drug smuggling area and a human smuggling area,'" McCain "Fox News Sunday." [...]

Anybody who "hasn't seen what's going on south of our border, they have been oblivious to the terrible, terrible struggle that's going on down there," McCain said. "The incredible violence down there is spilling over onto our side of the border if we don't get our border secured."

McCain said President Obama needs to walk the Arizona-Mexico border and see for himself the destruction caused by an explosion in drug and human trafficking.

"Unfortunately, he hasn't had time to do so," he said.

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As Think Progress noted, John McCain doesn't mind cracking down on the illegal immigrants who are crossing the borders to find work, but when it comes to doing something about those businesses that hire them... maybe not so much.

McCain: Enforce Immigration Laws On Undocumented Workers, But Not On Businesses That Hire Them:

Since Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) signed the state’s new anti-immigrant bill into law last month, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been a fervent supporter. The law gives state police broad power to identify, detain, and deport undocumented immigrants. McCain, who called the law a “good tool,” said last night on Fox News that he is “proud of the work” Brewer is doing on immigration, and justified the law “because the federal government would not enforce its responsibilities.”

But while McCain offers support for this new draconian law targeting day-laborers and other undocumented immigrants, he is not in favor of enforcing laws prohibiting employers from hiring undocumented workers. Instead, he would rather “secure the borders” before holding Arizona businesses accountable to the law.

As they point out this is just another flip-flop for the not-so-mavericky McCain:

Back in 2007, McCain wanted to “strengthen the laws and penalties against those who hire illegal aliens and violate immigration law.” Now, it seems that McCain is all for enforcing immigration laws when when it is politically convenient, as Arizona businesses are presumably more organized and have more money and influence than the state’s undocumented workers.

This man just gets more pathetic by the day as this Senate race of his goes on. Van Susteren at least asked a decent question here but of course with no follow up, like telling him that his answer is completely ridiculous. I used to get sick of the same stuff out of Lou Dobbs who would attack the poor people coming here looking for work night after night on his show, but never made it a point to highlight the businesses that were hiring them.

You dry up the employment and they're not going to be flooding over the border. We've got businesses addicted to slave labor and politicians who would rather demonize the slaves than fix the trade laws that destroyed their small farms and drove them here to begin with. And round and round we go. Step on the little guy's neck, pit the workers against each other that should be on the same side of an issue and give the big guys taking advantage of everyone a pass.

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As Think Progress already noted, John McCain's new "complete the danged fence" ad has a slight problem, it features the wrong sheriff.

In his attempt to portray himself as more right-wing than his far-right senatorial competitor J.D. Hayworth, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) put out a new ad this past weekend called “Complete The Danged Fence.” In it the ad, McCain is walking along the border in the southern Arizona town of Nogales, telling Sheriff Paul Babeu about his 10-point border security plan.

...There’s something wrong with McCain’s video: Nogales is in Santa Cruz County. Babeu, however, is from Pinal County, which is 115 miles north in central Arizona.

...As Andrea Nill explains on the Wonk Room, “Chances are McCain didn’t feature a local border town police chief because that person probably would’ve told him his ten-point plan is a waste of manpower and resources.”

After opining about how terrible it was that President Obama joked about Arizona's new "show me your papers" law in his speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Scarborough runs McCain's new "danged fence" ad and neither he or Shadegg can keep from busting up after watching it.

As Steve Benen pointed out:

This probably isn't a good sign for McCain. Scarborough is a conservative former congressman, and Shadegg is a conservative lawmaker who endorsed McCain's re-election. If they can't watch his commercial without laughing, I wonder what Republican primary voters are thinking.

More from Media Matters on McCain's flip-flopping on this issue. New Pro-Fence Ad From McCain Leaves Out His Anti-Fence Voting Record:

In a new pro-border fence ad, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) converses with Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu about border security measures. McCain conveniently leaves out his anti-border security funding votes and his anti-fence statements from this new, misleading ad.

...2006: McCain Voted AGAINST Providing $85 Million And 800 New Staff For Immigration Investigation.

...2006: McCain Voted AGAINST Providing Additional Funds To Build A Border Fence On Southwest Border.

...2006: McCain Said Putting National Guard At Border Is "Partially PR."

...2003 McCain: "We Can't Secure Our Borders. We Can Never Build An Impenetrable Wall To The North And South Of Us."

...2003: McCain Said Border Couldn't Be Fully Protected Because Good Jobs Would Continue To Drive Illegal Immigration.