Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)
First, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker abandoned his previous support of a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and got with the Republican deportation program, conveniently timed to the rise of his presidential ambitions. Now, he's moved on to
a broader anti-immigration stance, telling Glenn Beck:
"In terms of legal immigration, how we need to approach that going forward is saying, we will make adjustments. The next president and the next congress need to make decisions about a legal immigration system that's based on, first and foremost, on protecting American workers and American wages, because the more I've talked to folks -- I've talked to Senator Sessions and others out there, but it is a fundamentally lost issue by many in elected positions today—is what is this doing for American workers looking for jobs, what is this doing to wages, and we need to have that be at the forefront of our discussion going forward."
The guy who made his name busting unions and
says the minimum wage "doesn't serve a purpose" wants to cut back legal immigration because of his deep concern for American workers? Can I get a long, drawn-out chorus of "bullshit"? This is not Scott Walker announcing he's going to stand up to companies that want to bring in cheap labor on work visas they control. This is Scott Walker racing to the right to ensure that his former stance in favor of immigration reform isn't held against him. Liz Mair, formerly (and briefly) a Walker staffer, writes to
Mother Jones that:
Yesterday, it was reported that Scott Walker has now adopted the immigration position of Sen. Jeff Sessions and has been taking instruction from Sessions on the issue of immigration. Notably, Sessions wants to further restrict legal immigration including high-skilled immigration, a position that is at odds with the traditional GOP anti-amnesty stance taken by virtually all presidential candidates, and which also puts him at odds with conservative policy experts and economists…this new positioning seems to represent a full 180 degree turn from where Walker has been on immigration historically, which is to say in the very pro-immigration and even pro-comprehensive reform camp…
No kidding. It's almost like you can't trust what this guy says. All you can do is pay attention to how he's trying to position himself for the next election.