Republican Matt Dolan, running for Ohio’s 2024 United States Senate seat, failed to state his position on giving amnesty to illegal aliens during a recent meeting with voters.
The footage, posted by Human Events editor Jack Posobiec, shows Dolan being asked about amnesty for the 11 to 22 million illegal aliens living across the United States but ultimately failing to answer the question.
“The last question was on amnesty,” Dolan said in the footage. “And I have been laser-focused. We have to secure the border. And if you look at the history of our border, we all get caught up in all other issues surrounding the border.”
The voter who asked the amnesty question responded, “Those are two separate issues,” referring to the U.S.-Mexico border and amnesty, suggesting he did not want Dolan to deflect to a different issue.
“You asked me what Senator I’m going to be like. Nobody has gotten it done. Nobody has gone to Washington and made it a single focus to secure that border,” Dolan continued:
So don’t tell me that everyone agrees with it, because it hasn’t happened. One of the reasons it hasn’t happened is because we talk about all the other issues surrounding the border and when that happens, nothing gets done … so laser-focused … if you told me it was already done, we could talk about other issues but it has not been done. [Emphasis added]
On Dolan’s campaign website, he claims that if elected to the Senate, he “will never support amnesty” though he has previously suggested support for allowing certain groups of illegal aliens to remain in the United States.
During a candidate forum in Medina County, Ohio, last month, Dolan said, “We have to have a meaningful discussion about who [among the illegal alien population] can stay, who can provide value to the United States of America.”
Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, also running for the Senate seat, fully endorsed amnesty for illegal aliens, suggesting such a policy is vital for businesses to keep consumers and foreign workers in the country.
“It’s not realistic to take 20 million consumers out of the economy,” LaRose said.
Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno, running for the Senate seat, blasted both Dolan and LaRose at the forum, calling them advocates for amnesty.
“They’re for amnesty. I’m not. That’s the bottom line,” Moreno said.
Amnesty for millions of illegal aliens would come as working-class and middle-class Americans struggle to reenter the workforce and are falling out of the labor market at an alarming rate.
Increased foreign competition against them for jobs is likely to exacerbate that issue.
Recent research shows that there are 44.3 million American-born men and women from 16 to 64 years old who are not in the workforce at all — almost ten million more than in the year 2000 when 34.4 million were not in the workforce. This figure does not include those counted as unemployed.
Meanwhile, foreign workers have seen their share of the workforce hit the highest level in nearly 30 years at over 18 percent, with close to 30 million now holding American jobs.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.