North Carolina Rep. Thom Tillis, who will be the GOP Senate candidate in November, said Wednesday that the border needs to be secured before he can support any further immigration reform.
“It’s hard for me to even talk about the long-term immigration strategy until Congress and Washington prove they can do something as simple as sealing the border,” he said on MSNBC the day after winning the GOP nomination. “Why don’t we focus on stabilizing the problem so we can then fix it?”
Mr. Tillis will take on incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan later this year in one of the most-watched Senate races that could effect whether or not Republicans can take control of the Senate. He defeated two tea party challenges in the primary on Tuesday.
Mr. Tillis said Ms. Hagan’s record in the North Carolina state Senate before heading to Congress, coupled with her vote for Obamacare, make her vulnerable.
“Much of what I’ve been doing the past few years is cleaning up Kay Hagan’s mess when she was in North Carolina sitting on the state Senate,” he said.
Weighing in on other hot-button issues he may face if elected to the U.S. Senate, Mr. Tillis said he believes minimum-wage decisions should be made by the state, not the federal government.
• Jacqueline Klimas can be reached at jklimas@washingtontimes.com.
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