Sen. John McCain on ABC15, talks about immigration changes

PHOENIX - President Barack Obama will unveil his recommendations for immigration reform at an event Tuesday in Las Vegas.

But on Monday, Arizona Sen. John McCain joined a group of bipartisan senators to announce their plan, signaling a major push by both sides to focus on the contentious issue in the new Congress.

On Tuesday morning, McCain spoke with Kirk Yuhnke on ABC15 Mornings saying that the border must be secured before they move forward with any other sort of immigration reform.

He said Democrats and Republicans reached agreement for a couple of reasons; the urgency of the situation and for Republicans because more Hispanics voted Democrat this last election.

McCain said most importantly the time is right, that we can't have millions of people "living in the shadows."

He offered his ideas about what it should take for undocumented immigrants to reach citizenship.

He ended by saying securing the border would help Arizonans in the southern part of the state achieve a sense of security most of the rest of us have that they don't.