Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate in the upcoming elections, leading all eyes across the political spectrum to him and his policy positions.
Latinos in particular will be looking at his stance on several issues they have mentioned as key, with the state of the economy topping the list. However, immigration is always linked to the demographic, even if it's not the main concern at the moment.
In that area, The New York Times reported that Walz supports a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants, saying in a 2021 letter to Democratic leaders in Congress that "Dreamers," essential workers, people whose countries are immersed in crisis and their families should be in that group.
The outlet reported that Walz voted for stricter screening of refugees when he was a member of Congress, but changed his position when running for governor.
At a more general level, he made the rounds when he denounced his Republican opponent during his 2022 reelection campaign for saying taking in immigrants without enough resources threatened the state's "fabric of life." "He's 100 percent wrong morally, and he's 100 percent wrong economically and culturally," Walz said back then.
Moreover, as governor he signed a bill last year making undocumented immigrants eligible to get driver's licenses in the state, saying it would make roads safer by reducing unlicensed driving.
Although the outlet said he does not have a clear public record on border-security policies, especially as his state lies on the other side of the country, Walz recently made the news after criticizing former President Donald Trump's stance on the issue, particularly the notion of a border wall being effective.
"He talks about this wall. I always say, let me know how high it is. If it is twenty five feet, then I'll invest in a thirty foot ladder factory. That's not how you stop this. You stop this using electronics, you stop it using more border control agents, and you stop it by having a legal system that allows for that tradition that allowing folks to come here just like my relatives did," he said in a CNN interview last week.
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