IMMIGRATION HARD-LINERS FEAR MCCAIN PRESIDENCY BORDER: SOME IN THE GOP THREATEN TO STAY HOME IN NOVEMBER.

Byline: Lisa Friedman

Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- As Arizona Sen. John McCain rides a wave of momentum leading up to Super Tuesday, immigration hard-liners are grappling with the real possibility that the man they call "Mr. Amnesty" will be the Republican presidential nominee.

"I've already made my plans to emigrate to Australia," joked Jim Gilchrist, founder of anti-illegal immigration group the Minuteman Project.

But neither Gilchrist nor others who have made fighting illegal immigration their top issue find anything humorous about a McCain presidency.

Republicans have a long list of grievances against McCain, including the broad campaign-finance bill that bears his name, which many in his party view as a travesty; his opposition to President Bush's tax cuts; and the eagerness with which he has embraced global-warming legislation.

Yet no issue cuts to the quick like immigration. And while a number of key Republicans are making their peace with the prospect of a McCain nomination, activists against illegal immigration said they will not be placated.

"There's no question that members of the Republican establishment are lining up behind McCain because they want to preserve their future," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the hardliner group Center for Immigration Studies.

"(But) I think there's going to be a lot of Republicans who are simply not going to vote with him because of this. They're not going to campaign for him."

Raymond Herrera, a Minutemen supporter from Victorville, is one of them.

"People are worried sick about John McCain," he said. "I'm not going to vote for him."

Gilchrist said for him, too, the choice between McCain and a Democrat is clear: "I will not be voting for a Republican president then. I might as well vote for Hillary."

McCain, whose spokesman did not respond to a request for comment, has spent the past several weeks touting border security. During Thursday's debate in Simi Valley, he sidestepped a question about whether he would, as president, sign his own immigration bill into law.

But it's that bill, crafted by McCain and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., that is at the heart of the greatest anger among conservatives.

Among its most controversial provisions is a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who have been working in the United States at least five years by paying a fine and undergoing a background check.

Conservative barracuda Ann Coulter this week even said she would back Clinton over McCain.

But Roy Beck, who heads Numbers USA, which supports tougher immigration rules, dismissed threats entire swaths of Republican voters would stay home on Election Day in November because of differences on immigration.

"A lot of people say that during primaries, because they want to see what happens with their candidate," Beck said.

GOP members of Congress agreed. Many Southland lawmakers who have long championed tough illegal-immigration laws said they hope McCain does not win the party's nomination, but they will support him if he does.

"I'm a Republican, and I'm going to do everything I can to get a Republican elected," said Rep. Gary Miller, R-Brea, who in the past has pushed legislation denying citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.

And Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Thousand Oaks, who has made illegal immigration his top issue for more than two decades, said watching the Democratic candidates' debate made him fearful about the future of health care under either Clinton or Obama.

"Does that give me a reason to support John McCain? I think it does," Gallegly said. "Immigration isn't the only issue I believe in."

lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com

202-662-8731

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Sen. John McCain and his wife, Cindy, campaign in a Birmingham, Ala., hotel on Saturday.

Linda Stelter/The Associated Press

Box:

GET OUT THE VOTE