Governor Evers,
It's fall, and a Wisconsin high school football coach is standing before his team at halftime in the locker room. After the effort they've put in over the summer in the weight room and road work, two-a-day practices in August, before school opens for the year, and the extra work after practices—because that's what winning teams do—the players are bruised, battered, sweating, and proud.
Despite the team leading at halftime by three scores, the coach looks at them and says, "Without ringers flown in from out of state, you don't have a chance of winning this game: You're not enough."
That's the message the Wisconsin governor told all of us living in the state this week.
When you claimed that without "tens or even hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants," our economy will be gone, you didn't just misspeak. No, you insulted every family that has carried this state through brutal winters, tough harvests, factory shutdowns, and idiot governors.
It doesn't matter if generations of Wisconsinites built the state brick by brick, driving across the state on dirt, gravel, then paved highways. It's simply no big deal that families worked themselves to the bone on dairy farms, growing the state into a dairy powerhouse.
You told us that all that doesn't matter unless someone else shows up to play.
A Slap at Wisconsin Families
Governor, think about grandparents working on foundry floors, parents baling hay at dawn, their children doing chores before school, siblings working different shifts at Kwik Trip to pay for college. The words that escaped from your lips dismissed all of that history and that sweat; they said to families in Wausau, Beloit, Peshtigo, River Falls, and La Crosse that their best efforts are simply filler, that the real weight rests on people who are here illegally. You know, they're called "illegal immigrants" for a reason, right?
You're not providing an example of leadership; you're showing surrender.
Wisconsin Voices Are Outraged
Before your voice faded from a speaker, people across the state fired back. Former Green Bay Packer kicker Chris Jacke called your comments "an insult to every hard-working, tax-paying Wisconsin citizen." Congressman Tom Tiffany summed up the disbelief with a blunt, "Ummmmmm ..." on X, which shared the frustration and incredulity mirrored by the rest of us.
And Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Berrien accused you of "putting illegal immigrants over tax-paying Wisconsin families." I hope, with all sincerity, that his charge stings for two reasons: it's true, and the chance you knew you screwed up. I doubt you have those feelings, but a feller can hope, right?
You Told the Wrong Story
Yes, our dairy industry has relied on immigrant labor, both legal and illegal. Still, instead of leading with vision and courage, working towards real reforms, strengthening our legal system, and protecting our citizens first, you opted to panic.
You painted your state as weak, and said it will survive only with illegals propping it up. You told families their barns, shops, and classrooms don't matter unless people without legal status show up to keep the wheels turning.
You've never been a leader, but a bureaucrat at best.
Back to the Locker Room
Let's go back to that high school football coach, Governor, the one who told his players they weren't good enough. Imagine the looks on their faces: the hurt, the emotion, and the shattered self-confidence. How quickly they'd tune him out, and stop believing. They wouldn't ever follow him again.
You, Governor, are that coach. Wisconsin deserves better.
Final Thoughts
Wisconsin doesn't need a governor who shrugs and whines about his state's imminent financial collapse without the help of illegal immigrants. The state needs a governor who believes in its families, from Wood County dairy farms to machine shops in Milwaukee, not a governor who blames everything wrong on excuses. Our state runs on grit; we are enough and always have been, and always will be. Our state represents the epitome of the Midwestern work ethic.
I hope I speak for the conservatives in Wisconsin by writing how grateful I am that you decided not to seek reelection.
It's going to be nice when you get the hell out of the way.
Sincerely,
David Manney
A Very Proud Wisconsin Resident
