Meghan McCain Slams Arizona Immigration Law

Republican Sen. John McCain's daughter Meghan is speaking out against Arizona's new immigration law, taking a different stance than her father.

In a column published at The Daily Beast, Meghan McCain, who often tries to position herself a spokesperson of sorts for young Republicans, called the new law "seriously flawed" and "essentially a license to pull someone over for being Hispanic."

The new law compels police officers to question a person about his or her immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that person may be in the country illegally. It would also make it a crime under state law to be there illegally. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed it into law on Friday, but some Arizona lawmakers are vowing to fight the measure.

"I believe it gives the state police a license to discriminate, and also, in many ways, violates the civil rights of Arizona residents," Meghan McCain wrote in her column, entitled "Hate the Law, Not Arizonans." "Simply put, I think it is a bad law that is missing the bigger picture of what is really going on with illegal immigration."

John McCain, who faces a tough Republican primary challenge this year, has called the measure a "good tool" for law enforcement. He acknowledged this weekend that there are some questions about whether the new measure can stand up to legal scrutiny, the Arizona Daily Star reports, but he added that lawmakers "acted out of frustration because the federal government didn't do its job."

Similarly, Meghan McCain wrote in her column that the state was responding to the federal government's failure to secure the borders and tamp down drug smuggling across the border. The new law, however, does not address those problems, she said. She added that partisanship and media coverage make it harder to find real solutions.

"With President Obama calling the law 'misguided' and the mainstream media painting Arizona out to be a rogue state, all it does is make people go to greater lengths to defend their position," she said.

Stephanie Condon

Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.

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