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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)

House Debates Immigration Reform Bill
House Debates Immigration Reform Bill The House Rules Committee approved a resolution allowing members to vote on two border bills late Friday night. The Republican lead committee approved...

By: Sebastian Voronof

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House Debates Immigration Reform Bill - Video

The Arizona sun may not be the only heat Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will face on Wednesday as he addresses the Arizona Chamber of Commerce in Phoenix as a possible Republican candidate for president. Earlier this month, Walker acknowledged a change in his thinking on an issue more pressing to Arizonans than residents of his home state: immigration.

In 2013, a Wisconsin newspaper asked Walker if he could envision a scenario where the countrys 11 million illegal immigrants received citizenship after waiting a certain amount of time and paying a penalty. Sure, yeah. I think it makes sense, Walker told the Wausau Daily Herald. When he was the Milwaukee County executive in 2005, Walker supported the immigration reform bill sponsored by U.S. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. The controversial bill would have allowed illegal immigrants to apply for citizenship if they met certain provisions after six years.

In an interview with Fox News Chris Wallace earlier this month, the Wisconsin governor said that is no longer his view. I dont believe in amnesty and part of the reason why Ive made that a firm position is I look at the way this president has mishandled that issue, he said, referring to President Barack Obamas executive actions on immigration that are estimated to protect some 5 million illegal immigrants from deportation over the next three years. Walker added that he was one of the governors who signed on to a Texas lawsuit that prevented the executive actions from taking place last month. The case has yet to be decided on its merits.

I think the better approach is to enforce the laws and give employers -- job creators -- the tools like E-Verify and other things to make sure the law is being upheld going forward, Walker said. E-Verify is a system used by 500,000 employers to check whether employee information matches against government records to determine if theyre eligible to work.

When asked about the inconsistencies between his previous views and his new statements, Walker said, My view has changed. Im flat-out saying it. Candidates can say that. Sometimes they dont.

Its unclear whether Walker will bring up immigration in Phoenix, although its more likely that hell talk about the economy and his successful scaling back of union protections in Wisconsin -- a popular issue among the conservatives hell try to court if he runs for president. But by appearing in Arizona, Walker runs the risk of facing hecklers or protesters in the Grand Canyon State, which has been at the forefront of the immigration debate.

Arizona passed the strictest anti-illegal immigration laws in the country in 2010. The U.S. Supreme Court later struck down most of the law's provisions, but a controversial aspect of SB1070 remains -- the right for authorities to ask for immigration papers from anyone who might be in the country illegally. The measure is seen by critics as an affront to civil liberties that disproportionately affects minorities.

Walker is the first possible 2016 GOP contender to speak before the Arizona chambers Leadership Series, which plans on hosting other potential Republican candidates for president. Walker was scheduled to speak before the chamber and nonchamber members at noon local time for the minimum $105-per-head luncheon.

Should Walker run into a contentious situation, he would not be the only prospective Republican candidate to face backlash over their immigration stance. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.,faced an angry crowdin Florida while on his book tour for his memoir An American Son, last month. Rubio was part of the so-called Gang of Eight that helped craft a Senate-approved immigration reform bill in 2013. The bill was killed by Republicans over concerns it was too lenient toward illegal immigrants. Rubio latertried to walk back from his positionat the Conservative Political Action Conference last month, saying the plan wouldnt have worked without tighter border security and that the issue should be solved in pieces instead of a comprehensive package.

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Scott Walker Illegal Immigration Flip-Flop Might Face Scrutiny During Arizona Visit

TRENTON Gov. Chris Christie is supporting Texas and other states suing the federal government over President Obama's amnesty program for unauthorized immigrants.

Christie this week joined governors in three states - Texas, Louisiana and South Dakota - in a court brief opposing the federal government's request to implement executive orders, according to court documents. The lawsuit stems from court proceedings initiated by 26 states after Obama announced wide-reaching executive actions on immigration in November.

New Jersey and the governor did not join the lawsuit. Rather, the governor opted to weigh in with the court arguing Obama's policies should not take effect.

Christie has been critical of Obama's immigration policies, but had yet to publicly take a position on the lawsuit that Texas officials are spearheading.

The news of Christie joining the lawsuit took some within New Jersey good-government groups by surprise, including Ari Rosmarin, public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

"When the lawsuit was first filed the state took no action," Rosmarin said.

"Now, to see Christie enter himself as governor on to this brief with the likes of governors of Texas, Louisiana and North Dakota is really shocking and shameful," he said. "These are not New Jersey values."

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's administration filed an amici curiae brief, or a friend of the court brief, earlier this week with the U.S. Court of Appeals. The filing -- which Christie and the governors of Louisiana and South Dakota also signed onto -- opposes the U.S. Department of Justice's request to implement programs that would give some unauthorized immigrants the ability to work and obtain a driver's license.

A Christie spokesman confirmed the governor signed on, but declined to provide comment.

The filing argues the governors' states would be victim to "irreparable injuries" if the federal governments motion to implement the programs - Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents - is approved.

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Christie supporting lawsuit challenging Obama immigration reform