Boston Attack Shows Need for Immigration Overhaul, Ryan Says

CHICAGO â€" Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, said on Monday that he did not believe the Boston Marathon bombings should prevent immigration overhaul talks from moving forward in Washington.

“If anything, this is a case in point on the need to modernize our immigration laws,” said Mr. Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice-presidential nominee, responding to questions about whether the attacks posed a threat to the legislative efforts under way in Congress.

With Republican leaders reconsidering their position on immigration since the November election, when they received low support from Latinos, Mr. Ryan’s stance on the issue could help bridge the divide between party leaders and more reluctant rank-and-file conservatives in the House.

Speaking to reporters after appearing at a City Club of Chicago luncheon with Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat and longtime advocate of revamping the nation’s immigration policies, Mr. Ryan added, “We need a modern immigration system that not only protects our border but protects national security in all of its aspects.”

Mr. Ryan made his remarks the same day that federal authorities charged the surviving suspect in last week’s bombings with using a “weapon of mass destruction.”

That suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and his family entered the United States legally a decade ago through the existing immigration system, a fact that caused Republicans and Democrats to clash on Monday during a Senate hearing on a comprehensive immigration overhaul proposal.

Some Republican lawmakers, including Senators Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Rand Paul of Kentucky, have said the bombings raised concerns about national security that needed to be incorporated into the immigration debate. Democrats said such remarks were an attempt to exploit the attack to delay the immigration bill, which was drafted by a bipartisan group of senators.

“It’s premature to make any kind of a judgment as to the outcome of this,” Mr. Ryan said when asked on Monday if the bombings would slow the progress of immigration legislation. “We just don’t know all of the facts. And so the last thing we ought to do is make some kind of knee-jerk assessment as to how this affects some other bill in Congress.”

Mr. Ryan, a possible 2016 presidential contender, also said on Monday that he supported proposals that would tighten border security, enforce laws already on the books and offer an eventual path to legal status for the estimated 11 million immigrants currently in the United States illegally. On his Facebook page earlier this year, he endorsed immigration reform ideas proposed by Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida.

“When you look at this issue, you can see the dysfunction of our current immigration system,” Mr. Ryan said during his address at the luncheon. “It doesn’t work for anybody.”