Washington, August 18 (RHC)-- U.S. Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker says his immigration policy is "very similar" to the plan proposed by Republican front-runner Donald Trump which amounts to curtailing legal and illegal immigration.
The Wisconsin governor and Republican White House hopeful told Fox News on Monday that he wants to "secure the border" and "enforce the law," as well as build a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border and crack down on sanctuary cities. "No amnesty," Walker said. "I don't believe in amnesty, which I think is similar to what [Trump] said."
Walker also said he no longer supports a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, which he supported in 2013. "Earlier in the year, I was on 'Fox News Sunday' and laid out what I thought we should do, which is secure the border, which means build the wall, have the technology, have the personnel to make sure it's safe and secure," Walker said.
The governor has called for examining the legal immigration system in order to protect American jobs, a policy similar to the one proposed by Trump, whose plan also would impose strict limits on legal immigration.
The difference between himself and Trump, Walker insisted, is that he'll do something about it. "I'm the guy who's shown you can do it. I fought, I won, I got results and I did it without compromising my conservative principles. I think in the end that's the kind of leadership people want," he said.
Walker's remarks amount to a comprehensive attack on legal and illegal immigration and suggest that Trump's rise risks turning the Republican primary into a competition over who can be toughest on immigrants.
Trump currently leads the 17 Republican candidates vying to represent their party in the November 2016 presidential election. The real estate tycoon released a sweeping immigration policy on Sunday which attacks legal and illegal immigration from all angles.
Trump's plan leaves no option except for mass deportation of the estimated 11 million people in the U.S. illegally. Trump said: "They have to go."
