Sen. Jeff Flake statement on Obama’s immigration remarks

Sen. Jeff Flake released the following statement after President Barack Obama threw his support behind an immigration reform movement on Tuesday.

The statement has not been altered in any way.

“The bipartisan Senate framework deems border security a priority by making eventual citizenship contingent on measurable increases in border security. The President’s proposal does not contain similar language,” said Flake. “This provision is key to ensuring that border security is achieved, and is also necessary to ensure that a reform package can actually move through Congress.”

“The President’s proposal is also silent on a temporary worker program that will be needed to ensure that future labor needs are addressed. This was one of the major failures of the 1986 immigration law, and we can’t repeat that mistake here.”