Thread: Iowa Hispanics to GOP: Stay away from amnesty foe Steve King

By Seth McLaughlin - The Washington Times - Thursday, January 22, 2015

DES MOINES, Iowa — As GOP presidential hopefuls descend on Iowa this weekend, immigrant rights advocates have a warning for them: Stay away from Rep. Steve King if you want to have a chance at winning Hispanic votes.

Eager to recharge the immigration issue that they believe helped doom 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, illegal immigrants who are here under President Obama's deportation amnesty said they'll dog the next batch of potential 2016 candidates demanding to know whether they'll keep or cancel the amnesties that could apply to as many as 5 million migrants by the time Mr. Obama leaves office.

And they'll challenge the candidates to repudiate Mr. King, the Iowa Republican who is hosting upwards of a dozen potential candidates at a forum on Saturday, which is seen as the unofficial kickoff to the next presidential campaign.

"If the GOP wants to win [in] 2016, then they are going to have to make sure that they stay as much as possible away from Steve King as they can," said Erika Andiola, one of the so-called Dreamers who is here under Mr. Obama's 2012 amnesty for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. by their parents.

Ms. Andiola and others said that the GOP should have learned from the 2012 election, when Mr. Romney lost the Latino vote by a 44 percent margin after opposing legalization efforts and embracing a "self-deportation" that turned off Latino voters.

Iowa hosts the first-in-the-nation caucuses, and interest groups of all stripes use it to try to get candidates to focus on their issues. A decade ago, conservatives came to Iowa to urge GOP primary voters to ask the candidates about stiffening immigration enforcement, helping catapult the issue into a major battle line for Republicans.

The Dreamers are trying to use Iowa to reverse that, arguing that the politics have shifted, and voters now want to see illegal immigrants legalized.

The immigration rights activists ran an ad in the state's largest newspaper on Thursday calling on 2016 presidential candidates to support "immigration reform" and pointed to a 2013 Des Moines Register poll that found that "77 percent of Iowans support immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship."

Monica Reyes, co-founder of DREAM Iowa, said that there will be repercussions for those who stand with Mr. King in trying to reverse Mr. Obama's executive actions.

"We will stand up for our communities, and we will try to protect what we earned and what we worked hard to get," Ms. Reyes said. "So if they want the Latino vote, if they want immigration allies, they need to change their stances. They need to keep away from Steve King."

Mr. King, who has led opposition to Mr. Obama's amnesty policies, stirred up more controversy this week when he described a Dreamer who sat with first lady Michelle Obama at the State of the Union address as a "deportable."

Some political observers, though, say associating with Mr. King could be a benefit in the presidential primary.

"For those who want to attract more Hispanic voters in 2016, Steve King is a risk because of his high visibility on the issue," said Steffen Schmidt, political science professor at Iowa State University. "On the other hand, a very large majority of Republican caucus and primary voters are on board with King, so it will probably help them on caucus night and in primaries in most of the red states."

Indeed, Mr. King is immensely popular in the 4th Congressional District in northwest Iowa, the most conservative area in the state, and cruised to re-election in November.

He is also beloved by grass-roots conservatives and tea partyers outside the state, who applaud his repeated clashes with GOP leaders.

Mr. King's political pull will be on full display at Saturday's summit.

The conservative confab, co-hosted by Citizens United, is sold out, and Republicans say it will give possible 2016 presidential contenders an early chance to leave a positive impression with die-hard activists.

"It is a great opportunity for Iowans to kind of get their initial feelings for some of the candidates, and it is also great for the elected officials to get a few [impressions] for how Iowans are receiving them," said Judy Davidson, chair of the Scott County Iowa GOP.

The speakers include: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker; ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, ex-Texas Gov. Rick Perry; Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas; former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania; famed neurosurgeon Ben Carson; John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the party's 2008 vice presidential candidate, and New York real estate mogul Donald Trump also are set to attend.

Some potential candidates, though, took a pass on attending, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida — all three of whom have signaled that they are open to the idea of legalizing illegal immigrants in some fashion.

Mr. Bush said he had a scheduling conflict but appreciated the invitation.

A Paul spokesman said the Senator had "a previous commitment," and a Rubio spokesman said the Florida Republican is attending an annual political action committee retreat in Miami.

Earlier this week, Mr. Rubio refused to directly weigh in on Mr. King's controversial remarks about Mrs. Obama's guest, but did tell reporters at a breakfast sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor that the comments underscore the tricky nature of the immigration debate.

"We have a right to have immigration laws that limit and restrict who and how many people can come into this country, and if you are in violation of those laws, you should not be claiming that you have some sort of right to have the law ignored," he said.

"On the flip side of it, we have to always remind ourselves that we are talking about human beings with hopes and dreams and families, and there are human stories behind all this," he said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...ay-from-amnes/

Okay, now, let me get this straight. In Iowa, we have a bunch of illegal aliens, who are part of the Dreamers movement threatening our politicians and through their 501 C 3 "charity" orgies to interfere in our elections? Really?!

Hey, you idiots up there in Iowa, Mitt Romney didn't lose because he didn't win the "hispanic vote", he lost because he lost the woman vote.

"On the flip side of it, we have to always remind ourselves that we are talking about human beings with hopes and dreams and families, and there are human stories behind all this," he said.

Oh sure, Marco! Behind every "law" there are human being with hopes and dreams and families with human stories behind all of it. How about all the Americans who have lost their homes and possessions over failure to comply with the income tax law? How about all the Americans behind bars their lives ruined over failure to comply with drug laws? How about all the Americans who lose their drivers licenses, are prosecuted for DUI's, and even sent to jail because they violated traffic laws? There are human stories behind every law, and when was the last time you or anyone else added that caveat to your defense of a law? Stop treating these people, these lawbreakers, these self-centered, pushy, criminals like they're special when they aren't. They're just ordinary lawbreakers like any lawbreaker, with the only difference being they should be in the home countries instead of ours breaking their laws instead of ours.

Shut up and get them out of here, and keep them out.

Period.

Originally Posted by Jean

"We have a right to have immigration laws that limit and restrict who and how many people can come into this country, and if you are in violation of those laws, you should not be claiming that you have some sort of right to have the law ignored," he said.

"On the flip side of it, we have to always remind ourselves that we are talking about human beings with hopes and dreams and families, and there are human stories behind all this," he said.

Let's start with something really straightforward: Who benefits?

Well, workforce participation is down, wages are stagnant, and even our own STEM graduates are having difficulty getting jobs in their fields. Legalizing more illegals will only make all of that worse. The American middle class will be squeezed once again by illegals who will be trying to move up. And the poorest Americans will be condemned to another generation of confusion and anger.

What do you say we develop an immigration policy which actually benefits our own people.
******************************************
Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

Originally Posted by vistalad

Let's start with something really straightforward: Who benefits?

Well, workforce participation is down, wages are stagnant, and even our own STEM graduates are having difficulty getting jobs in their fields. Legalizing more illegals will only make all of that worse. The American middle class will be squeezed once again by illegals who will be trying to move up. And the poorest Americans will be condemned to another generation of confusion and anger.

What do you say we develop an immigration policy which actually benefits our own people.
******************************************
Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

Because they aren't working for our people, they're working for the cartels.

January 24, 2015
Brett Logiurato

More than 20 top Republicans — including almost a dozen potential presidential candidates — descended upon Iowa on Saturday for the unofficial kickoff of the 2016 Republican presidential primary, the “Freedom Summit.” The event was co-hosted by Rep. Steve King, who has over the past few years become a lightning rod in the debate over how to reform the nation’s immigration system.

Immigration was at the top of the agenda here Saturday, just days after King’s comments referring to a young DREAMer as a “deportable” made headlines.

At King’s summit, Republican candidates talked extensively about immigration, many of them looking to tiptoe on the fine line between appeasing the conservative base and avoiding anything that could be deemed offensive.

Across the street, a small group of young immigrants who identified as DREAMers and their allies protested for much of the day. And toward the end of the day, they interrupted the speeches of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Early in the morning at the Hoyt Sherman Place in downtown Des Moines, King began the summit with another rather awkward comment about undocumented immigrants. King misspoke at first, saying that Americans “come from every possible planet — uh, every possible comment.”

Then he took a jab at the DREAM Action Coalition, the group protesting across the street.

“They’re across the street, those people that come from another planet,” King said.

The activists across the street didn’t take too kindly to that description. They held signs thanking President Barack Obama for taking recent executive actions to stem the flow of deportations, as well as posters that called on Republicans to express whether they agree with King’s “deportable” comments.

Monica Reyes, a 24-year-old DREAMer who came to the U.S. with her parents when she was 3 years old, said the group wanted to make clear that Republicans who stand with Steve King wouldn’t have the support of the Latino community.

“If they’re going to take a stance against undocumented immigrants, they’re taking a stance against keeping families together,” Reyes said.

‘Steve is right’


Many Republican candidates discussed the issue of immigration in the terms of national security. Former Johns Hopkins Hospital neurosurgeon Ben Carson, a rising rockstar in conservative circles, told the crowd that the next president — who he hopes is a Republican — should make it a goal to “seal the border” within a year of taking office.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who is not running for president, talked with reporters about it in the context of securing the border against possible infiltration from the extremist group calling itself the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL). Donald Trump, who said he is “seriously considering” a presidential bid, said he’d build a “beautiful fence” to “keep out terrorists.”

It wasn’t until former Sen. Rick Santorum, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2012, spoke late in the afternoon that a Republican stood up for King’s policies.

“Steve is right,” Santorum said, suggesting in his remarks that undocumented immigrants were partially to blame for stagnant wage growth.

“We need to step forward with an immigration policy, but we need to do so in the context of standing strong with American workers.”

But the Republican divide on the issue was evident in the list of names missing from the Freedom Summit’s roster. Christie, Perry, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and more were in attendance Saturday.

Absent: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Rand Paul (R-Kentucky).

“It’s going to be an issue the American people demand to get addressed,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), who attended the Freedom Summit, told Fusion in an interview. Blackburn is the sponsor of an amendment to freeze Obama’s executive order delaying the deportation of young DREAMers.

“We’re on the right side of this,” she added.

Juan Escalante, a 25-year-old DREAMer from Florida, told Fusion he thought it was encouraging that at least some prospective candidates skipped the event.

“I think they’re bucking their own party, which is good,” Escalante said. “But it goes back to the whole thing about how there is not a concrete plan. We can talk and talk about securing the border, and we can continue to talk about what we need to do and what the steps are.

“But until they get their party to actually agree with them — whether it’s Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, whoever — then it’s going to be a lot of talking without a lot of substance.”

‘Would you deport me?’


Later in the day, the sold-out crowd of more than 1,250 at the old theater slowly started to trickle out, the protesters finally made their move inside. From the balcony, they interrupted former Perry’s speech, asking him if he would deport them as president. They held signs that said, “Deportable?” referencing King’s term earlier in the week.

“Would you deport me?” they shouted. “We are Americans! We are DREAMers!”

The activists were escorted out of the venue by police and arrested, one officer told Fusion. One protester, however, remained in the theater and later interrupted New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s speech.

The protester called Christie “Gov. Perry,” which gave Christie a chance to snap, “Don’t you know I’m from New Jersey?!”

Christie and Perry both pressed on during and after the interruptions. Perry raised his hand with King after his speech, and Christie praised King throughout his address.

One of the speakers at the event compared King to Taylor Swift, urging him to “shake it off” when people criticize him. For his part, King took a shot at those absent from his party.

“Do you believe that the next president of the United States is going to be speaking from this stage to you today?” King asked.

The crowd erupted.

“As do I.”

http://fusion.net/story/40387/immigr...reedom-summit/

“If they’re going to take a stance against undocumented immigrants, they’re taking a stance against keeping families together,” Reyes said.

No we're not. Illegal aliens left their families and abandoned their country when they came here. Our goal is to deport all illegal aliens, families intact, which will reunite these families with the rest of their family in their homelands of citizenship where they belong.