Obama Criticizes Kirk For Arab Remarks

CBS TV Chicago reports:

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the Senate's only black member, criticized another lawmaker from his state on Wednesday for published comments on discrimination against young Arabs.

GOP Rep. Mark Kirk was at an event last weekend at Northwestern University when he was asked about the difficulties of the visa process for immigrants. He was quoted by the Chicago Sun-Times as saying: "I'm OK with discrimination against young Arab males from terrorist-producing states. I'm OK with that."

"I think that when we look at the threat that's out there, young men, between, say, the ages of 18 and 25 from a couple of countries, I believe a certain amount of intense scrutiny should be placed on them," Kirk was quoted as saying. "I'm not threatened by people from China. I'm not even threatened by people from Mexico. I just know where the threat is from. It's from a unique place, and I think it's OK to recognize that."

This could be the start of immigration as a major party issue.