ARIZONA SEN. John McCain has a novel explanation for the wildfires which have raged across the state of Arizona for much of June: it's the fault of undocumented immigrants.
At a press conference after touring fire damage, McCain claimed, "There is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally...They have set fires because they signal others, they have set fires to keep warm, and they have set fires in order to divert law enforcement agents and agencies from them. The answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border."
Nevermind that officials are still trying to figure out the cause of the fires, and that, when asked specifically which of the multiple fires still raging were started by immigrants, McCain was unable to answer.
According to ThinkProgress.org:
A McCain spokesperson later told Salon's Justin Elliott that "a Forest Service official" told McCain that "illegal immigrants" were involved in setting the fires. However, that directly contradicts what U.S. Forest Service spokesman Tom Berglund told ABC News yesterday: "When asked if there is substantial evidence that some fires were caused by undocumented immigrants, as McCain said at a news conference Saturday, Berglund said: 'Absolutely not, at this level...There's no evidence that I'm aware, no evidence that's been public, indicating such a thing,' he said."
Instead, Berglund stated that the fire was likely caused by an escaped campfire.
McCain later blamed left-wing "activists" for causing a controversy over his remarks. "I still am not clear what this is all about except for activists who somehow want everybody to believe that our border is secured, which it is not," he said on Fox News.
