What you need to know about Tim Walz’s immigration record

The immigration crisis has become one of the central issues in the presidential election, with Vice President Kamala Harris trying to distance himself from the Biden-Harris administration’s poor record at the border.

But in tonight’s vice presidential debate, Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, could be forced to also defend his own radical record on immigration.

As governor, Walz pushed for far-left immigration policies, advocated for Minnesota to become a sanctuary state, allowed illegal immigrants to receive driver’s licenses and enroll in taxpayer-funded health care programs, and encouraged large-scale resettlement programs.

Walz advocated during his 2018 gubernatorial campaign for Minnesota to join the ranks of other sanctuary states that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

“My position on developing Minnesota as a sanctuary city comes down to who has the responsibility for enforcing immigration laws,” Walz said during the campaign. “Law enforcement’s role is to enforce state and local laws, not federal immigration laws, and I strongly believe they should not do that.”

Once in power, the Democrat signed far-left immigration proposals into law. Walz signed a bill in March 2023 that would allow about 81,000 illegal immigrants living in Minnesota to obtain driver’s licenses, a measure that border security advocates with the Federation for American Immigration Reform says “promotes the normalization of illegal aliens and undermines the rule of law.”

Walz also signed legislation as part of a budget deal that allowed illegal immigrants to enroll in a taxpayer-funded health care program intended for low-income Minnesotans. That made Minnesota the only state in the country besides California to allow illegal immigrants access to government-funded health care programs.

Walz also encouraged the resettlement of mass migrants in the state. The Democrat boasted in 2022 that Minnesota has “more refugees per capita than any other state,” called it “our economic and cultural future” and celebrated that in one city “you see 50 languages ​​spoken in school.”

DISCOVERED VIDEO: Tim Walz bragged about the mass immigration that overwhelmed the small town of Worthington, Minnesota:

“This beautiful diversity that we see in Worthington when I’m there, you see that there are fifty languages ​​spoken in the school.” pic.twitter.com/lmpfCTzQW8

– Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 30, 2024

Even though the state was already taking in a disproportionate number of migrants, Walz, as governor, encouraged even more refugee resettlement. “Minnesota has a strong moral tradition of welcoming those who seek refuge,” he said in a 2019 letter to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “I consent to the continued resettlement of refugees in the state of Minnesota.”

Walz’s letter came after the state suffered a massive influx of migrants, leading to Somali gang violence and sex trafficking operations in Minneapolis.

Tim Walz fought for increased migrant resettlement in Minnesota as one of the country’s largest migrant populations created child sex trafficking networks, joined criminal gangs and engaged in the same sectarian conflict that led to civil war in their homeland of Somalia.

Wire 🧵 pic.twitter.com/h9fTHDHHLH

— Spencer Lindquist 🇺🇸 (@SpencerLndqst) August 7, 2024

The increased attention to Walz’s immigration record comes as the Biden-Harris administration presides over a record-breaking wave of illegal immigration. An estimated 10 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border since President Joe Biden took office.

The Harris campaign has since tried to portray the Democratic nominee as a “border prosecutor” who is tough on immigration, even creating a campaign ad that featured former President Donald Trump’s border wall in the background.