Politico
By Jonathan Topaz
January 24, 2015
Rep.
Steve King, at the opening of his Iowa Freedom Summit, took another jab
at so-called DREAMers, saying they come from a different “planet.”
The
Iowa Republican, perhaps the most vocal critic of immigration reform in
Congress, made the comment in an ad-libbed remark in his opening
address to the gathering of
conservatives hailed by some as the beginning of the 2016 Iowa caucus
season.
“We’re
a great people. We have a vitality that’s unequaled on the planet. We
come from every possible planet, uh, every possible continent,” King
said, to laughter from
the crowd. After a brief pause, the congressman referenced the DREAM
Action Coalition, an immigration advocacy group protesting the event in
Des Moines.
“They’re
across the street, those people that come from the other planet,” he
said, prompting more laughs and applause from the audience.
The
event is featuring speeches from several potential 2016 presidential
candidates, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, New Jersey Gov. Chris
Christie, Texas Sen.
Ted Cruz, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former Texas Gov.
Rick Perry and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, among others.
Democrats
and immigration reform advocates have seized on the summit, accusing
Republicans of seeking to “kiss the ring” of an influential Iowa
congressman who has become
known for his provocative statements against immigration and DREAMers.
On
Tuesday, King criticized a DREAMer invited to sit in the first lady’s
box at the State of the Union address as “a deportable,” a remark that
he defended after facing
criticism. The congressman, who has been confronted several times on
camera by immigration advocates, has previously said most undocumented
immigrations have “calves the size of cantaloupes” from smuggling drugs
and compared them to dogs.
Speaking
at the beginning of the summit he’s co-hosting with Citizens United, an
emotional King offered an impromptu prayer for the next president to
“restore the soul
of America.” He laid out several challenges to Republicans running for
president, including supporting a balanced budget amendment to the
Constitution, abolishing the IRS and repealing the Affordable Care Act.
King
also predicted that the next president of the United States would be
speaking at his summit, an apparent slight to several potential
Republican candidates who didn’t
appear at the event — among them Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Kentucky
Sen. Rand Paul, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Louisiana Gov. Bobby
Jindal and 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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