WASHINGTON — Conservative Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions (R) on Tuesday applauded presidential hopeful Scott Walker (R-WI) for his recent statements on the possible dangers of allowing too many immigrants into the country during a time of already depressed wages.
“(W)e need to make sure… that any future legal immigration system that goes forward has to account for American citizens and the workers of this country and their wages, to make sure that even with legal immigration in this country we respond to it in a way that doesn’t take jobs away from hardworking Americans,” Walker told Megyn Kelly on Fox News.
Though Walker has yet to formally announce his candidacy for President, supportive comments from Sen. Sessions could cement his popularity among conservatives, particularly among the growing bloc of voters who look to the Alabama senator as the conservative movement’s leader on immigration.
“I thought it was a good statement that he made,” Sessions said “He was just saying, ‘I’m going to ask the question, what is it going to do for the wages and job prospects of my constituents, the American people, as I analyze how to create a proper immigration flow into America.’”
The effects of an excess of immigration—legal and illegal—can be a net negative on Americans, both Sessions and Walker have argued recently.
Sessions said that there is an “establishment” consisting of many Democrats and Republicans who are reluctant to frame the conversation in that way, adding that Walker’s promoting a change in the premise of the discussion would “be helpful for the republic.”
Sessions’ praise will likely quiet conservative immigration hawks who have been critical of the Walker’s previous support for a pathway to citizenship for some illegal immigrants. The Wisconsin governor recently said he changed his position on the issue after “talking not just to citizens all across the country, but to governors in border states who face real serious concerns about what’s happening on our border and elsewhere.”
The Republican presidential field is still in its formative stage, but Sessions’ willingness to weigh in this early may signal his intention to play an active role in the race going forward.
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
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