Vice President Mike Pence dialed up his immigration rhetoric at a stop in Hudson today, blaming migrant caravans in Mexico in part on Democratic policies as he urged voters to back Wisconsin’s Republican ticket.
Pence’s stop comes as Republicans Gov. Scott Walker, U.S. Senate candidate Leah Vukmir and their Democratic opponents make their final pitch to voters ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Pence at the Hudson rally said he had renewed confidence that voters across the nation would choose Republicans and keep the House in GOP hands even as President Trump Friday acknowledged Dems could take the majority and that if that occurs, it’s because he “can’t go everywhere.”
Mirroring Trump’s rhetoric over the past week, Pence today said migrant caravans in Mexico and Central America are being organized by leftist groups and human traffickers. He also charged they were being driven by policies of the Dem Party backed by guv candidate Tony Evers and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
“The Democrats don’t want to build a wall, they don’t want to secure our border, they don’t want to close immigration loopholes that human traffickers use to entice vulnerable families to make the long and dangerous journey north to try to come into our country,” Pence said.
Pence also reminded voters of high unemployment, tax hikes and deficits the last time Dems controlled the state, warning Evers could increase the gas tax as much as $1 per gallon.
Meanwhile, Evers in a sudden shift told the Washington Post this week he planned not to raise any taxes.
On immigration, Pence further slammed some in the Democratic Party for wanting to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid what he calls a “crisis of illegal immigration.”
Immigration has emerged as an issue in the closing weeks of races across the country, sparked in part by the migrant caravan. Trump has begun calling for an end to birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents, and Walker in a TV ad last month claiming Evers wants “special treatment for illegals.”
Walker hasn’t said whether he supports Trump’s call to end birthright citizenship.
Ahead of Pence’s rally, Dems continued pushing their message on health care, claiming Walker and Vukmir if elected would work to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and gut protections for pre-existing conditions.
“If elected, Leah Vukmir will cast the deciding vote in the U.S. Senate to gun pre-existing condition protections, while Scott Walker put Wisconsin in a lawsuit to strike down the ACA and its pre-existing condition protections,” DPW chair Martha Laning said in a statement.
Her comments follow high-profile appearances in Wisconsin of several top Dems in the final weeks leading up to Tuesday, including former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren.
