Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's shifting position on illegals and immigration reform is coming under greater scrutiny now that he is doing well in early state primary polls.
In 2006, Walker favored giving undocumented immigrants the right to work and legalizing their status as part of a larger — and ultimately unsuccessful —
immigration reform package crafted in 2005 by the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.
Nowadays, Walker is firmly opposed to any plan that smacks of amnesty,
Politico reported.
He recently told
ABC News, "We need to secure the border. I think we need to enforce the legal system. I'm not for amnesty. I'm not an advocate of the plans that have been pushed here in Washington."
In 2006, as Milwaukee County Executive, Walker endorsed the Kennedy-McCain initiative.
As a state assemblyman in 2001, he did not oppose a final budget bill that incorporated financial support at state colleges for illegal immigrants who met residency requirements and had graduated from Wisconsin high schools. He did, however, oppose the measure in the original budget bill.
In 2013, he told the
Daily Herald Media editorial board that he favored a path to citizenship for illegals.
That same year, he told Politico: "You've got to find a way to say that people who are in line right now have first preference." He added, "We just have a broken system. And to me, if somebody wants to come in and live the American dream and work hard … we should have a system that works and let's people in."
His spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski stressed that Walker is against President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration, noting that Wisconsin is one of those states fighting the policy in federal court, Politico reported.
"After that we need absolute security at our borders and then we can address fixing our legal immigration system and deal with those here illegally, but amnesty is not the answer," Kukowski said.
The governor is shortly expected to issue a position paper on immigration, Politico reported.
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