The Washington Post tells the story of the illegal immigrant who confronted Scott Walker in Iowa. Walker told him that “We’re a nation of laws,” and immigrants need to follow the law too. This encounter has gotten quite a bit of press:
As presidential hopeful Scott Walker toured a farm in this tiny town where he lived as a child, he was confronted by an undocumented worker from Mexico who is living in Wisconsin and demanded to know why Walker does not support President Obama’s plan to give temporary status to some undocumented workers, including parents of children who were born in the United States.
“We’re a nation of laws,” Walker, the Republican governor of Wisconsin, repeatedly told Jose Flores, 38, who was joined by two of his four children, Luis, 7, and Leslie, 13, who had tears rolling down her cheeks throughout the exchange.
What is most interesting to me is how Jose Flores came to confront Governor Walker:
[T]he Flores family waited by his campaign bus and approached him again, an exchange that was captured by reporters and three immigration activists, one of whom drove the family to Iowa.
So the whole encounter was a setup, orchestrated by a group of pro-illegal immigration activists. There is a cognitive dissonance surrounding the issue of illegal immigration: liberal activists and most beltway denizens believe that opposition to illegal immigration makes Republicans look bad. The rest of the country thinks it makes them look good.
The Post tells us about the Flores family:
Flores, who lives in Waukesha and works for a medical supply factory….
So, is this one of those jobs that Americans won’t do? The Democrats are always railing about high-quality factory jobs that are being “shipped overseas,” to the detriment of American workers. But for some reason, they think it is great for workers from those same countries to come illegally to the United States and take jobs away from American workers. And Flores’s employer is violating the law by employing him. Why is that company, obviously known to the Post and others, not being prosecuted? The most important step that needs to be taken to combat illegal immigration is to initiate criminal prosecutions against employers who hire illegal aliens, and send some of the scofflaws to prison.
…said he and his wife live in fear of being deported and separated from their children, who he said were all born in the United States.
Actually, the risk of their being deported is close to zero. But who created this problem? Scott Walker? No, Jose Flores. When you break the law, there is always the risk of consequences.
Flores tried to spar with Walker on various aspects of the immigration issue, but was ineffective:
Flores repeatedly asked Walker why he tried to block DAPA. Walker told him that he is a governor and not part of the federal government or the legal system. ,,,
“When are you guys going to fix the immigration system?” Flores said. “When are you guys going to take the time to fix immigration reform? So we’ve got to be deported?”
Actually, with regard to illegal immigration, the system does not need “fixing.” The system needs enforcing. Any Republican presidential candidate who makes this clear will be a strong contender for his party’s nomination.
