As we recently wrote, Republican leadership in the House has refused to schedule a vote on immigration reform — yet they continue to find time to let Rep. Steve King (R-IA) rant and rave against immigrants and offer up votes to go after them.
Last June, the House passed a Steve King amendment to defund the DACA program and subject DREAMers to deportation. Earlier this year, House leaders allowed votes on similar measures to strip the President’s executive authority to stay the deportations of DREAMers and relatives of military servicemen and women.
Last week, House leadership once again gave Steve King another vote on an anti-immigrant measure targeting DREAMers by requiring the Department of Justice to “investigate” the Department of Homeland Security’s use of prosecutorial discretion toward the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. As if his new amendment wasn’t offensive enough, Steve King pejoratively called DACA “Deferred Action for Criminal Aliens.”
Today, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took to the Senate Floor to ask,“where are the courageous leaders in the Republican Party who will stand up to Steve King?” He knows what we know: in the House, Steve King calls the shots on immigration.
“Steve King is much like the Wizard of Oz when it comes to immigration,” Schumer said. “He’s pulling the levers behind the scene to make it seem like he has the power … when actually, King works by fear, and he doesn’t have the power.”
Here’s video of Sen. Schumer’s comments:
Sen. Schumer’s comments today are the latest in a series. Recently he has repeatedly berated King and his opposition to immigration reform on the floor. King later defended himself by challenging Sen. Schumer to a verbal “duel.”
