Your Voice with Senator Adriano Espaillat
March 25, 2015 - Senator Espaillat discusses immigration reform. He explains what New York #39;s Office for New Americans Opportunity Centers are. ONA offers ESL and workforce development...
By: NYSenate
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Your Voice with Senator Adriano Espaillat - Video
Where does Scott Walker stand on the thorny subjects of immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship?
Well, it's increasingly difficult to tell -- especially after the Wall Street Journal today reported that, according to three people present, he told a March 13 private dinner of New Hampshire Republicans that he favored a way for undocumented immigrants to obtain citizenship.
That's at odds with a March 1 interview, where he clearly stated he no longer supports immigration reform. "My views have changed," he told Fox News' Chris Wallace. "I'm flat-out saying it.
Here's a look at how Walker's views have changed on the subject:
2006: Signed a resolution calling on Congress to pass the McCain-Kennedy comprehensive immigration-reform legislation, which opponents referred to as "amnesty."
2013: In an interview with Wausau Daily Herald's editorial board, appeared to endorse a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
DAILY HERALD: Can you envision a world where, with the right penalties and waiting periods and meet the requirements, where those people could get citizenship?
WALKER: Sure. Yeah. I mean, I think it makes sense.
March 1, 2015: Told Fox News his views have changed on citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
WALLACE: But it's a little bit slippery here. Back when you were the Milwaukee County executive, you actually supported the Kennedy-McCain comprehensive immigration plan.
Read more from the original source:
Walker Position on Immigration Becomes Increasingly Unclear
Father Kenneth Hallahan of the Black Horse Pike Ministry of the Diocese of Camden spoke of seeing parishioners separated from their children. One father was handcuffed in front of his 3-year-old son, he said.
Some of his parishioners, undocumented workers, admit to not attending services because they fear police officers stationed on the Black Horse Pike might confiscate their cars, he said.
"Our money says 'In God We Trust,' " Hallahan said in impassioned remarks. "Rejection of immigration is a rejection of that God."
Hallahan was among members of a newly formed coalition of activists calling themselves the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice who pressed the cause of immigration reform Wednesday from the steps of St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral in Camden.
The rally came as the Christie administration this week submitted an amicus brief in federal court, alongside Texas, Louisiana, and South Dakota, in an effort to stop President Obama's use of executive action to defer the deportations of millions of unlawful immigrants in certain categories.
"This is a shameful political move," said Johanna Calle, coordinator for Alliance for Immigrant Justice.
The president's action would enable millions of undocumented individuals to emerge from the legal shadows, including by acquiring driver's licenses, backers say.
Calle said 10 states currently issue driver's licenses to undocumented workers, but New Jersey - despite having the fourth-highest undocumented-immigrant population in the country, with more than 525,000 - is not one of them.
Gov. Christie's office did not respond to requests for comment.
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Immigration reform rally seeks a New Jersey for all
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is the most vociferous advocate for a strict immigration policy that respects American workers among the crowded field of 2016 presidential hopefuls, Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said Thursday.
Mr. Stein, who faced off against Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist at a debate sponsored by The Washington Times, said other potential Republican candidates are coming around to backing a crackdown, but Mr. Santorum has gone the furthest.
Santorum is really the only one who is drilling down in to the nuts and bolts and is looking in to the job market and how immigration is really hurting American workers, said Mr. Stein, who wants to see both curbs to illegal immigration and a lower level of legal immigration into the U.S.
SEE ALSO: Glenn Beck accuses Grover Norquist of ties to Islamists
This month in a speech in Iowa, Mr. Santorum said the U.S. immigration system isnt working and the country must better secure the border and create legal programs for workers with different skills.
Mr. Norquist, who backs a more generous immigration policy, said the 2016 candidates are still developing their stances and its too early to pick a champion from his point of view.
Mr. Stein and Mr. Norquist found little middle ground, even differing over how to pursue border security legislation in the newly all GOP-controlled Congress.
Mr. Norquist said that the government must make border security its first priority by possibly expanding the drone program already being used in Texas in order to pave the way for a bill expanding and revamping guest worker programs that would allow verified skilled workers to come in to the country and contribute to the economy.
He argued that verified guest worker programs will lead to less crime and more legal immigration in the long run, making border security easier to maintain.
Mr. Stein, however, said immigration enforcement must focus on the interior.
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Rick Santorum's strict immigration stance lauded by Dan Stein
From 2002 to 2013, Scott Walker was on the record as a supporter of immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants. As Milwaukee county executive, Walker signed two resolutions backing an immigration overhaul and urging Congress to secure legal residency and full labor rights for the undocumented. In the aftermath of the GOPs 2012 drubbing among Hispanic voters, the Wisconsin governor joined the chorus of conservatives calling for the party to abandon its hard line on immigration, telling Politico that we should have a system that works and lets people in. But you may have heard that Walker has been running for president lately, and as he seeks to appeal to conservative primary voters, Walker has discarded his support for reform, telling Fox News Chris Wallace this month that he opposes amnesty.
My view has changed. Im flat-out saying it, Walker said. Candidates can say that. Sometimes they dont.
Well, it appears that Walkers view has changed again, although hes not flat-out saying it, at least not in public. The Wall Street Journal reportsthis afternoonthat at a private dinner with business-minded Republicans in New Hampshire earlier this month, Walker told attendees that he favors a path to citizenship a stance that starkly contradicts his recent no amnesty tack:
But during the March 13 New Hampshire dinner, organized by New Hampshire Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Horn at the Copper Door Restaurant in Bedford, Mr. Walker said undocumented immigrants shouldnt be deported, and he mocked 2012 GOP nomineeMitt Romneys suggestion that they would self-deport, according to people who were there.
Instead, they said, Mr. Walker said undocumented immigrants should be allowed to eventually get their citizenship without being given preferential treatment ahead of people already in line to obtain citizenship.
He said no to citizenship now, but later they could get it, said Bill Greiner, an owner of the Copper Door restaurant. Ken Merrifield, mayor of Franklin, N.H., who also attended, said Mr. Walker proposed that illegal immigrants should get to the back of the line for citizenship but not be deported.
Get[ting] to the back of the line for citizenship is a crisp, concise summary of precisely what the 2013 immigration overhaul which passed the Senate in a bipartisan vote but floundered in the House would have required of unauthorized immigrants. Thats also what President Obama has called for. Walker, in other words, just endorsed the immigration framework favored by virtually all Democrats and a bloc of squishy moderate/liberal/Alinskyite/communist Republicans.
Three separate sources at the dinner confirmed Walkers remarks to the Journal, and Walker spokeswomanKirsten Kukowski isnt even bothering to deny that Walker uttered them.* Instead, she reiterated to the paper that Walker is opposed to amnesty, whatever that means to him, and believes that Obama exceeded his authority with his executive actions on immigration. Well, Jeb Bush says that too.
The great irony in Walkers latest immigration U-turn is that it was likely intended to ease establishment-type Republicans doubts about his less-than-stellar candidacy, which has been tainted by unforced errors and unschooled answers on foreign policy,tensions with religious conservatives, and an inflammatory comparison of union protesters with ISIS. Speaking beforea dinner featuring GOP businessmen and party apparatchiks a group of people who generally dont see a seal-the-borders-and-send-them-all-back approach as either economically sound or politically astute in a general election Walker had a chance to assuage establishment doubts about his viability. If you want to woo these kinds of people into your camp, you say sensible things about how you support a path to legal status and think that Mitt Romney sure did blow it with all that self-deportation chatter. So thats what Walker did. But his audience could hardly have been reassured, given the transparent pandering involved it had been mere days since he owned up to hisfirst flip-flop on Fox News, after all. Its little wonder that the well-heeled Republicans who arent Ready for Jeb are increasingly turning their attention to Marco Rubio.
*Update, 4:00 p.m. EDT: While Kukowski initially did not directly address the attendees account, she is now dutifully denying it, following the publication of the Journals story. We strongly dispute this account, Kukowski said in a statement to reporters. Governor Walker has been very clear that he does not support amnesty and believes that border security must be established and the rule of law must be followed. His position has not changed, he does not support citizenship for illegal immigrants, and this story is false.
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Scott Walker waffles on immigration again: Why his latest about-face could do him in (UPDATED)