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Yes, Steve King is Still the “King of the House” on Immigration

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 In Case There Were Any Doubts, Military DREAMer Votes Shows King and Cohorts Still Rule Republican Party on Immigration

Last night, House Republicans—led by the notorious anti-immigrant Reps. Steve King (R-IA) and Mo Brooks (R-AL)—voted, 221-202, to strike out a Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) sponsored amendment in the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would have encouraged the Administration to let DACA recipients enlist in the U.S. military.

For weeks Rep. King—who once compared DREAMers to drug mules with “calves the size of cantaloupes”—and Rep. Mo Brooks– who once said he’d do “anything short of shooting” undocumented immigrants to stop them from stealing jobs from native-born Americans—have been waging an all-out war over Gallego’s modest immigration measure.  This follows three years of numerous House votes on Steve King sponsored bills to deport DREAMers and their families.

According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:

“In case there were any doubts, last night’s vote confirmed that Steve King and his anti-immigrant cohorts are still the face and voice of the Republican Party on immigration.  You’d think that after years of voting on the House floor to deport DREAMers and separate U.S. citizen children from their parents, the GOP–desperately trying to improve their party’s image ahead of 2016—would’ve had enough of the xenophobic, anti-immigrant demagoguery.  You’d think that they’d be willing to come together for a modest, ‘Sense of Congress’ measure that would allow DREAMers willing to lay down their lives for the country they call home the opportunity to serve in the armed forces.  But you’d be wrong.  Very wrong.

“The GOP has lurched so far right that even the smallest of immigration policies must earn the Steve King/Mo Brooks stamp of approval before they see the light of day.  This is a sad moment for American history and a particularly bruising moment for the GOP who’s still trying to recover from the ‘self-deportation’ brand burnished by Mitt Romney in 2012.”