Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday that immigrants living in the United States illegally are not going home, and that the U.S. has no practical way of forcing them to leave.

“They’re not going home. And so why don’t we give them a path to citizenship,” McCain asked at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy Jr. forum.

“There are not enough buses to deport them,” he added. “It’s de facto amnesty.”

The senator, who has pushed for immigration reform, said once Congress passes legislation he believes it will be named after the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.).