WATERTOWN, Wis. — As the key battleground state of Wisconsin prepares for one of the most fiercely contested U.S. Senate races in addition to a historic presidential election in November, the border crisis has emerged as a top concern for voters in the state.
Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin is likely to face billionaire Republican challenger Eric Hovde on the ballot later this year.
Baldwin, a staunch supporter of Kamala Harris, has come under scrutiny for her lax record on immigration issues, especially since Harris emerged as the Democratic presidential nominee.
Voters worry that a win for Balwin and Harris could lead to a wide opening on the besieged southern border.
“I don’t think the border is a border state issue anymore,” Kyle Schroeder, the Wisconsin Republican Party’s youth committee chairman, told The Washington Post, arguing that immigration is one of the top three issues for young conservative voters in Wisconsin between the ages of 18 and 40.
“After all, their voting records [on immigration] “President Harris and Badrwin’s prospects for a third term were a complete disaster,” the 28-year-old added.
“They voted to allow previously deported felons to return without penalty. After all, they’re two identical twins.”
Baldwin, who refused to sit with President Biden at a rally after his poor debate performance and then enthusiastically endorsed Harris within hours of Biden’s withdrawal, also has a similar background to the Democratic presidential candidate once dubbed the Biden administration’s “border czar.”
Both Baldwin and Harris voted against Cato’s Law, a bill that would have imposed a five-year prison sentence on illegal immigrants arrested on felony charges in the United States.
The gun is named after Kate Steinle, a 32-year-old woman who was murdered in San Francisco in 2015 by an illegal immigrant from Mexico. At the time of her arrest, the immigrant had been convicted of seven felonies and had been deported from the United States to Mexico six times.
Baldwin voted against shutting down the Cato Act in 2016. Contributed to the de facto defeat of the billHarris also Assisted in the murder The bill was considered again in the Senate in 2017.
Both of these votes Centre Stage The bill was passed again in February of this year after Senator J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee, reintroduced it following the brutal murder of Laken Riley, allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant who had previously been deported.
Baldwin and Harris Voted against immigration reform The bill would require illegal immigrants convicted of drunk driving to be detained, even if it was a first offense.
Had the amendment been approved, it could have led to the detention and eventual deportation of Victor Manuel Gomez Acosta, a Mexican man living in the U.S. illegally who allegedly stabbed his wife and daughter to death earlier this year.
“Kamala Harris’ open borders policies have plunged once-stable cities into disarray as they struggle to accommodate an influx of new residents,” Cori Houston, a small business owner in the Badger State, told The Post.
“Tammy Baldwin’s illegal immigration record is not good either. The current challenges facing these communities only suggest that their election will make things even worse for ordinary American citizens,” Houston added.
Houston also expressed concerns about Harris’ record on immigration issues as a prosecutor in California.
“Look at San Francisco and you see she doesn’t care about the immigration and homelessness issues in her own community. Why would she care about our issues?” she asked.
As San Francisco’s district attorney, Harris upheld the city’s decades-old sanctuary city policy and refused to seek the death penalty in the brutal murders of father Tony Bologna and his two sons, Michael and Matthew, by illegal immigrants from El Salvador, despite urgings from the father and his widow.
In 2018, Baldwin and Harris voted against clericalizing Senate Amendment 1948, which would have excluded sanctuary cities from receiving certain federal law enforcement grants.
“Senator Baldwin and Vice President Harris have opened the border, allowing criminals, terrorists and deadly drugs to enter the United States with impunity,” Hovde, Baldwin’s potential rival in Wisconsin’s 2024 Senate race, told The Washington Post.
“With more and more illegal immigrants committing shocking violent crimes every day, Senator Baldwin and Vice President Harris are dangerously wrong for Wisconsin.”
But Baldwin’s team defended her record, pointing out that she voted for a bipartisan border security compromise in February aimed at reducing border crossings.
“Earlier this year [Baldwin] “He voted for a bipartisan border deal that will add hundreds of Border Patrol agents, close our border to stop illegal crossings, and help stop fentanyl and other illegal drugs from entering our country,” said Andrew Mamo, a spokesman for Baldwin.
“The bill is supported by Republicans, Democrats and the U.S. Border Patrol, but opponent Eric Hovde said he would have voted against the bill because he is more interested in playing politics on the issue than solving the problem.”
The bill, which related to financial aid to Ukraine, ultimately did not pass.
A Fox News poll found that Released on July 26thBaldwin leads Hovde among Wisconsin voters, 54% to 43%, according to the poll, which also shows Harris and Trump neck and neck in Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, Baldwin endorsed Harris alongside her at her first campaign rally as a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in Milwaukee on July 23.
“I had the honor of working with Tammy during my time as a U.S. senator,” Harris told the crowd at the rally.
“She’s always fighting for the people of this state, and I know the people here will make sure that we return her to Washington, D.C., in November.”
