Contact: Brandon Weathersby, 414-364-6729, brandon@andygronik.com

Milwaukee- The following is a statement from Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Andy Gronik regarding the separation of children from their parents at our southern border:

“The separation of families from their children on our southern border hits close to home for me. My daughter Maria was adopted from Guatemala, and I can’t begin to imagine the horrors of having her torn away from my family.

“Children are being torn from their families as Scott Walker dodges questions. His response to all of this is to pretend there is nothing he can do. Really? He is sending Wisconsin National Guard troops to the border to take part in this atrocity. That is unacceptable.

“What’s happening at our border is wrong. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that. It’s just wrong. Right now in the United States, we are detaining parents and their families, and we’re stripping their kids away and putting them in detention centers. Forget about all of the different political wrappings and take a moment to think about that sentence alone. Ask yourself whether that sounds like the United States of America. It doesn’t to me.

“We can have a legitimate disagreement about the kinds of policies that should be put in place regarding immigration and we can debate those policies and decide ultimately what is best for our country. There’s nobody reading this that I can imagine believes the right thing to do is to continue this inhumane process where we’re separating kids from their parents. And if you do, honestly I think it’s time for a reality check. The kind of reality check that asks ourselves what are we becoming and what have we become. Because this isn’t who we are.

“It’s not who we are as a country, and it’s not who we are as a state. We’ve got to get back to being a country where we respect our friends and neighbors, where we talk to our families, and we realize that we’re stronger together.

“I never imagined I would run for public office, but one of the reasons I decided to run is so that my kids and others just like them could have the same opportunities that I had growing up. So let’s come together again, Wisconsin. Let’s dedicate ourselves to doing what’s right, to listening again to all points of view, and to making this world a better place for all of our children.”

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