Obama Statement on President Bush's Speech on Immigration Reform

U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) Monday released the following statement about President Bush's speech on immigration reform:"The first priority of any immigration reform should be to secure our nation's borders. In that respect, the President's proposal has merit as a temporary solution. After three years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, our National Guard is stretched dangerously thin, and so we must know how long they will be there and when they will be replaced with trained border patrol agents that can provide permanent security. "We also know that border security is only one side of the equation. Comprehensive immigration reform cannot succeed without a plan to bring the undocumented out of the shadows and offer them a path to citizenship, after they pay a substantial fine and back taxes, learn English, satisfy a work requirement, and pass a background check. Whether or not the President can repair the divisions in his own party so that we can pass this type of reform will be the true test of our ability to secure our borders in the months to come."