Flake, a one-time rare-for-Arizona Republican advocate of a guest-worker program and a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, now says he's only focused on securing the border.
"In the past I have supported a broad approach to immigration reform -- increased border security coupled with a temporary worker program. I no longer do," Flake says in a statement first published by the Arizona Republic.
"I've been down that road, and it is a dead end. The political realities in Washington are such that a comprehensive solution is not possible, or even desirable given the current leadership. Border security must be addressed before other reforms are tackled."
Flake attributes the switcheroo to increased drug cartel violence at the border, not to the fact that he's currently running for the Senate seat being vacated by Senator Jon Kyl and will likely face a Conservative showdown with Congressman Trent Franks, or one of Arizona's other far-right-wingers, which means he needs to appeal to the border hawks in Arizona's Republican Party.
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