Governor Scott Walker (PHOTO: Jackie Johnson, file)
Governor Scott Walker is in Florida for a meeting of the Republican Governors Association. He says immigration reform has always been a “political tool” for President Obama.
“If he was serious about it … he would have dealt with it when he had the House and the Senate. This has been a political tool for this president all along. He brings it out when it comes up the time to get him elected or someone else elected when he thinks it serves him well.”
Obama is expected to sidestep Congress and sign an executive order to protect from deportation millions immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. Republicans say it’s unconstitutional and amounts to amnesty.
Walker explains how the president enacted ObamaCare without overwhelming support, and could have done the same thing with immigration reform if he was serious about it.
“I think it is a cynical ploy to try drawing attention away from the huge successes Republicans had connecting with the American people one state at a time and looks what’s happening. Instead of talking about the huge things we have on the agenda, we’re talking about immigration.”
Walker says immigration reform is important, but the vast majority of Americans would much rather hear about the economy, taxes, energy, education, welfare, and securing the border.
The panel, with four other Republican governors, also discussed Common Core academic standards and Medicaid health care programs for the poor.