Vukmir, Baldwin At Odds Over Immigration, Central American Migrants

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Leah Vukmir is pointing to the Central American migrants moving north through Mexico to the United States to call for a southern border wall and tighter U.S. immigration laws.

On a conference call for reporters Friday, Vukmir criticized Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin for voting against funding the Trump administration’s plans for a wall.

“She has said that funding for the wall is a poison pill in budget negotiations,” she said. “Earlier this year, she voted for Dreamers and against funding for the wall. She voted against limiting funds for sanctuary cities.”

Vukmir said her approach to immigration would be more in step with Wisconsin voters.

“I stand strongly with our president in the call for not only building the wall, but making sure that our Border Patrol has the resources that they need to handle what’s currently going on,” she said.

Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke joined Vukmir on the call. He now works with America First Action, a super PAC supporting President Trump.

Baldwin’s campaign said in a statement that the senator has voted 14 times to strengthen border security and said Vukmir was mischaracterizing her record on immigration.

The statement added that Baldwin has co-sponsored legislation to “push for a strong regional response to address the humanitarian crisis in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.”