Twisted Talk from Scott Walker
SAN DIEGO -- Wisconsin is known for its cheese. But, when talking about immigration, Gov. Scott Walker is becoming famous for his whine.
In recent weeks, Walker has flip-flopped, gotten facts wrong, and pandered to extremists.
During a recent trip to Iowa, the likely 2016 Republican presidential candidate did all three. While being interviewed by a conservative website, Walker was asked what should be done about immigration. He responded: "Number of things. Border security for sure. Unlike this president, I've actually gone to the border and been there with the governor of Texas."
But during a 2013 meeting with the Wausau Daily Herald editorial board, the governor said: "You hear some people talk about border security and a wall and all that. To me, I don't know that you need any of that if you had a better, saner way to let people into the country in the first place."
Now, by starting with border security, Walker is in full-out pander mode and sounds a lot like "some people."
Also, PolitiFact determined that the Republican was wrong about President Obama not visiting the U.S.-Mexico border. Obama has actually done that once, and only once, the site pointed out, when he traveled to El Paso on May 10, 2011. So it rated Walker's claim as "False" on its Truth-O-Meter.
What's more worrisome is that the likely presidential candidate has veered off into a discussion about limiting legal immigration.
Walker recently tried to cozy up to right-wing radio host Glenn Beck by expressing support for the idea -- advanced by shortsighted lawmakers such as Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama -- that the number of legal immigrants allowed into the United States should be determined by the job prospects and salary requirements of U.S. workers.Â
The governor told Beck: "In terms of legal immigration, how we need to approach that going forward is saying the next president and the next Congress need to make decisions about a legal immigration system based on, first and foremost, protecting American workers and American wages."
This is crazy talk. When deciding appropriate levels of legal immigration, Americans ought to consider everything from the skills of the immigrants to what jobs need to be filled in the United States. But not the job security or desired wages of U.S. workers.Â
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