Governor Scott Walker (R., Wis.) signaled a willingness to challenge potential presidential rivals over immigration policy, saying that, unlike some, he opposes amnesty,
“I’m not a supporter of amnesty — I know there’s some out there [who do], and I respect their views on that — but I’m not a supporter of amnesty,” Walker said. “What I do believe going forward is that we’ve got to have a legal immigration system to this country that works.” Walker said that that the H2A visa program for foreign agricultural workers needs to be simplified and
Walker made that comments following appearances from several other presidential hopefuls, including Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), who defended the policies he helped negotiate in in the Senate’s Gang of Eight immigration bill, and former Governor Jeb Bush (R., Fla.).
“Immigrants that are here need to have a path to legalized status,” Bush said when asked about what immigration policies he would support as president. “What we need to do is to make sure people pay fines, that they learn English, that they work, that they don’t receive government assistance, that they earn legalized status over the long haul, that they come out from the shadows so that they can be productive with a provisional work permit. This is the only serious, thoughtful way, I think, to deal with this.”