U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany hit back at Evers, saying the governor isn’t listening to voters.
In a series of astonishingly naive and broad comments, Gov. Tony Evers made it clear that he will fight the deportations of illegal immigrants from the state.
The governor also said that the federal government should not stop any people at the border unless an already rejected border bill passes Congress, and his word choice indicates he isn’t even sure people should be stopped at the border then.
“Let’s pass a bill that people can support and then let’s talk about whether we have to stop people at the border,” Evers told Matt Smith on WISN-TV’s Upfront program this week.
The Democratic governor did not even differentiate between those with criminal records and those without. Rather, he said that his administration will work to prevent the federal government from “shipping people back.”
“All I know is that our ag industry and dairy in particular and many of our manufacturers count on that labor and if they decide they’re going to start shipping people back, we will do everything we can to prevent that from happening,” Evers said.
"We'll find out if they get that far…We're going to fight for this, no question about that."
Dem Gov. Tony Evers on Trump's mass deportation plan and border czar saying he's willing to jail local officials who don't comply: "That's just stupid talk."
THE IVIEW SUN ON UPFRONT pic.twitter.com/JvA8Ak1bj8
— Matt Smith (@mattsmith_news) December 5, 2024
That’s despite the fact that Wisconsin law enforcement have documented many violent crimes by illegal immigrants in Wisconsin in recent years, including child molestation, homicide, and fatal crashes.
Evers’ comments drew swift commendation from U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican who serves on the House Judiciary Committee and its immigration subcommittee.
“I was really surprised by Gov. Evers’ comment because in effect what he is saying is I’m going to put illegal immigrants before the state of Wisconsin. Here is the chief executive for the state of Wisconsin saying American citizens or Wisconsin citizens are going to come last,” Tiffany said. “Perhaps he didn’t get the memo from voters including in Wisconsin on November 5, but they said, ‘We want that border secured, and Gov. Evers clearly is not honoring that fact.”
Evers even said the federal government should not stop people at the border unless a Senate border bill is passed, even though there is virtually no chance the bill will be passed. It was a rejected Kamala Harris talking point that Republicans say was larded with poison pills, including provisions to allow thousands of illegal immigrants into the country per day.
"I was really surprised by Gov. Evers' comments because in effect what he's saying is, 'I'm going to put illegal immigrants before the citizens of the state of Wisconsin."
Rep. Tom Tiffany responding to Gov Evers who says he'll push back on Trump mass deportation plans pic.twitter.com/DmfDLO2Y52
— Matt Smith (@mattsmith_news) December 8, 2024
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany said that the government should start by deporting the “1.5 million people who had deportation orders that are already in place. They should be removed from the country. If you’re here illegally, you should leave the country.”
He said one idea being floated is to give illegal immigrants 100 to 200 days and, if you’re here illegally in the country, to “be able to go back home and then you can sign up to come into our country legally.”
“We believe in legal immigration but boy we’ve got to shut off what has happened here in the last four years because it’s done tremendous harm to America,” Tiffany told Smith.
“Gov. Evers told us he is going to push back on the Trump administration on this and he specifically pointed to labor for farmers and factories here in the state,” Smith noted.
Smith asked Tiffany whether he supported Trump’s border czar’s comments that the Denver mayor could be arrested if he stands in the way of federal law enforcement.
“The law is very clear. The federal law is very clear. If you stand in the way of someone being removed from the country that is here illegally, you’ve committed a crime. I sure hope the governor does not want to commit a crime against the federal law,” Tiffany said of Evers.
