Posted on 08/21/2015 4:06:48 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Scott Walker just can’t make up his mind on birthright citizenship.
“I’m not taking a position one way or the other,” Walker said in an interview with CNBC’s John Harwood. “I’m saying that until you secure the border and enforce the laws, any discussion about anything else is really looking past the very things we have to do.”
Harwood then observed that Walker seemed threatened by Donald Trump’s hard-line stance on immigration, and was adjusting his rhetoric accordingly. On Sunday, Trump announced a $166 billion immigration plan that includes a nearly 2,000-mile wall across the U.S.-Mexico border, the deportation of an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and the end of so-called birthright citizenship.
Walker said he wasn’t intimidated by Trump — though he said the media might be — and noted that he’s been talking about “the bigger issue of immigration” for months, though he acknowledged he hadn’t spoken about birthright citizenship specifically.
Trump’s call to deport what he called “anchor babies” has split the GOP field, with some — Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio — criticizing the real estate mogul’s ideas and rhetoric, while others — such as Ted Cruz and Bobby Jindal — lined up behind him.
It seemed for a moment that Walker was in the latter group when MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt asked him on Monday if he thought the U.S. should end birthright citizenship.
“To me it’s about enforcing the laws in this country,” Walker said. “And I’ve been very clear, I think you enforce the laws, and I think it’s important to send a message that we’re going to enforce the laws, no matter how people come here we’re going to enforce the laws in this country.”
But when he was asked if that meant deporting children of undocumented immigrants, he said that what he meant by enforcing laws was to focus on the E-Verify program, an online system that allows companies to verify their staff’s eligibility for employment.
Walker tried to clarify his point in a tweet Friday afternoon, “Truly secure border & enforce laws. Nothing else matters on immigration issue if you don’t do this first. That’s my point. - SW”
AshLee Strong, press secretary for the Walker campaign, addressed the issue in a statement provided to POLITICO on Friday afternoon:
“Despite the best efforts to mischaracterize Governor Walker’s position, he has clearly and consistently stated that we need to enforce the laws on the books, keep people from coming here illegally, and enforce e-verify to stop the jobs magnet before we address the issue of birthright citizenship,” she wrote. “By addressing the root problems – in the right order – we will end this collateral issue that only exists because we have a border that is not secure and a broken system.”
We cannot have another guy voting ‘present’ occupying the WH.
disqualified from further consideration.
The 14th amendment does not grant birthright of illegals that cross the border and give birth citizenship for baby. It does allow congress to determine immigration policy. It can be changed any time the congress wants.
Wouldn’t surprise me.
Greta just interviewed Cruz and he did a little tap dance on birthright citizenship. He said that it would require a constitutional amendment or Congress may be able to pass a law. However both will take a long time and we should focus first on securing the border. This has become the fall back position for those evading the issue.
I think he’s providing cover for what’s going on in the Senate. They want to clarify the 14th, not repeal it. All these laws already exist but they aren’t being enforced.
He’s talking about this horribly.
Ah! Walker wants us to first elect him as president before he clarifies his position on anchor babies.
Walker wants us to first elect him as president before he clarifies his position on anchor babies.
I disagree. I think Scott Walker knew who he was until he stood on that stage with Donald Trump. As with all other candidates, Walker now has to pick a side-—patriotism or GOPe.
He has no idea what to do. But he keeps on talking.
Walker is running the typical GOPe campaign. I think Trump has created a huge paradigm shift here.
Ashlee Strong worked for Thune.
So long Scottie.
Ya coulda been a contender, but turned out to be another ham and egger.
When I was in college a bunch of people would go do LSD and would be tripping all over themselves.
Not sure what Walker in his (abbreviated) college days, but I suspect the same, given all his trouble trying to stake out a position on Illegal Immigration.
What a worthless POS.
He is waiting on the CoC, Norquist, and Preibus to tell him how to answer the question.
Not POTUS material.
Where are the Walker-bots? If you can’t tell the people your position in an instant, it means it’s not in your core.
Walker has a history of voting for amnesty as a county executive. This is no surprise.
HA! That was the first thing that came to my mind.
That’s not a gotcha question. Walker doesn’t want to incur the wrath of the Chamber of Commerce. We’ve been hearing this crap from the GOPe ever since they were foiled from passing amnesty in 2006. Walker just proved he’s just another GOPe hack. He’s toast. No amount of consultants can fix that.
Scotty has got no guts.... He is OUT!!
He’s like a loaf of bread made out of sawdust and cricket flour.
Your comment caught my eye. Could you parse that for me or elaborate on it.
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