Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, appeared on NBC’s Meet The Press this morning, espousing his view that a wall along the United States–Canada border is a legitimate issue that is worthy of further consideration.
Wisconsin shares a northern border with Canada, as does the state of New Hampshire. Meet The Press host Chuck Todd can be heard questioning Governor Walker with regard to a U.S.–Canada border wall.
“Why are we always talking about the southern border, and building a fence there. We don’t talk about about a northern border — if this is about securing the border from Islam, from potential terrorists coming over. Do you want to build a wall north of the border too?”
Governor Walker is quick to respond.
“People have asked us about this in New Hampshire. They’ve raised very legitimate concerns, including some law enforcement folks that brought that up to me at one of our town hall meetings about a week-and-a-half ago. So that is a legitimate issue for us to look at… To me it starts with securing the homeland, it wasn’t just about building a wall and securing our borders, it was also about making sure our intelligence community has the ability to perform counter-terrorism and the ability to go after the infrastructure they need to protect us.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn-TRazflAo
The border between the United States and Canada is the longest international border in the world at 5,525 miles long, reports the Toronto Star .
Fellow Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump shone a spotlight on the border wall issue, stating that he not only believes a border wall is necessary, but that the Mexican government should be made to pay for it. Walker provided no indication of who he feels should pay for a wall along the U.S.–Canada border.
The border wall issue is partly a product of the birthright citizenship debate, which is protected under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, something Walker states he has no intention of challenging. Donald Trump and other Republican candidates feel that Mexicans take advantage of the 14th Amendment by traveling to the United States to give birth to “anchor babies.” The Inquisitr has reported on Trump’s stand that the 14th Amendment won’t hold up in court .
Florida Governor Jeb Bush has defended the use of what many see a pejorative term. NPR has reported on Governor Bush’s statements that he feels that Asian “anchor babies” are more of a problem that those of Mexicans.
Little has been reported on the views of Republican candidates with regard to “anchor babies” conceived by parents from Canada who cross the border into the United States in order to take advantage of the 14th Amendment, or whether such parents exist.
[Scott Walker Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images – Canada Flag Photo by Stuart Franklin / Getty Images]
