Via The Hill:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said that the Republican Party has to accept a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants as part of an immigration-reform package.

McCain said on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday that a group of bipartisan senators would be announcing “principles” on immigration reform this week, which he said was similar to a plan unveiled during President George W. Bush’s second term that ultimately failed.

McCain said there’s one big reason that his party has to loosen its opposition to providing a path to citizenship.

“Look at the last election,” he said. “We are losing dramatically the Hispanic vote, which we think should be ours for a variety of reasons, and we’ve got to understand that.”