Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) broadened his support for a pathway to citizenship on Tuesday, the Wausau Daily Herald reports.
In a interview with the Daily Herald's editorial board, Walker said the government should "fix things for people already here." He continued that if the current process for citizenship wasn't so "cumbersome," there wouldn't be problems with people living in the United States without documentation.
Walker also dismissed concerns over border security, an argument frequently used by other Republicans against reforming the U.S. immigration system.
“You hear some people talk about border security or a wall or all that,” Walker said. “To me, I don’t know that you need any of that if you had a better, saner way to let people into the country in the first place.”
Walker then drew attention to Wisconsin's reliance on the labor of individuals who may or may not have entered the country legally.
“If people want to come here and work hard and benefit, I don’t care whether they come from Mexico or Ireland or Germany or Canada or South Africa or anywhere else,” Walker said. “I want them here.”
Walker has changed his tune on immigration reform over the years. In December 2012, Walker said talks on immigration would be a distraction for his state. In February of this year, however, Walker began to speak up about the need for a "simple" way to address immigration, calling for the federal government to fix what he called a broken immigration system.
(h/t: The Hill)
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