“Let’s say we enact it, comprehensive immigration reform, I don’t think it gains a single Hispanic voter,” McCain said in an interview with PBS’s Gwen Ifill. “But what it does, it puts us on a playing field where we can compete for the Hispanic voter.”

McCain has made comments indicating comprehensive immigration reform will not win over Hispanics, but he has also suggested that comprehensive immigration reform is a type of “gateway issue” that Republicans need to pass for Hispanics to consider voting for Republicans.