Wisconsin Sen. Johnson calls for immigration reform, addresses Foxconn hurdles

Republican says he hasn’t seen a manufacturing plant that can hire enough workers 

Tuesday, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson told the Rotary Club of Milwaukee that immigration reform is necessary for the U.S. to keep up with worker demand.

“As I’ve been on the job now as your U.S. Senator for the last 6.5 years, there’s not one manufacturing plant that I’ve toured, that can hire enough people,” Johnson said. “There’s probably not one dairy farm that can find enough workers to milk their cows.”

Johnson called for a common sense solution legal immigration reform.

“We need to recognize the reality of that situation,” Johnson said. “We need a functioning, legal immigration system.”

Johnson offered some guidelines for reform.

“It’s gotta be based on facts. It’s gotta be based on merit. It’s gotta be based on compassion,” he said. “All of those things, rolled together.”

During the meeting, Johnson also suggested Illinois should help pay some of the cost for getting Taiwan-based manufacturer Foxconn to locate in Wisconsin and acknowledged the difficulties of getting the deal done.

“In the end, it’s probably a risk worth taking,” he said.