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Does Wisconsin US Senate candidate Mandela Barnes want to open the United States' borders?

By Jacob Alabab-Moser
NO

Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, has called for an immigration policy that "secures the border and also includes a path for citizenship," according to a campaign ad released in May 2022. 

Critics have cited a photo of Barnes holding an "ABOLISH ICE" T-shirt referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement agency. But he insisted in a February 2022 interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he is "not a part of the Abolish ICE movement."

Barnes has spoken about his views on immigration in this interview and others, elaborating on how ongoing labor shortages and "traumas" like family separation necessitate "comprehensive immigration reform." 

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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