A top immigration hard-liner said Monday he thinks Donald Trump’s positions on immigration are like Jell-O and accused the president of backing “limited amnesty” for immigrants in the country illegally.
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who advised Trump on immigration issues during the 2016 campaign, said he has grown frustrated by Trump’s failed promises to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico and end protections for young immigrants enrolled in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“We finally elected a president who called for the end of amnesty and he was going to end DACA at noon on Jan. 20, 2017, and we all expected that would happen without fanfare. Instead, we learned that permits were being issued. Then, he served [DACA] up as a bargaining chip” to build the wall, King told The Hill in an interview in the Capitol.
“When he sent out his tweet Sept. 5 that he was going to end DACA, that tweet was pretty clear: Get your act together, make your arrangements. It’s over,” King went on. “Then the next day, it seemed that things changed a little bit and he opened the door to negotiation” with Democratic leaders Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.).
“Now he’s for some sort of a DACA fix. And he has transformed himself as someone who’s going to restore the rule of law to the guy who’s essentially leading with a limited amnesty and trying to get enforcement on the other side of that. I said, why would you negotiate against yourself?" King said.
“He had a mandate to end DACA; he had a mandate to build the wall, a mandate to end sanctuary cities, a mandate to pass Kate’s Law,” King continued. “In fact, I actually wrote much of his first statement on immigration when he announced his candidacy.”
“So you’re saying the president has been waffling on the issue of immigration?” a reporter asked King.
“He knows that,” replied King, who spoke to Trump two weeks ago. “I’ve been talking to him about that. ... He says, ‘I’ve got to get this passed 500 people,’ meaning 535 lawmakers, so he’s saying he’s adjusting to the political reality. I say stand on principle.”
“It’s stunning to me that you can stand on principle, and when pragmatism kicks in, it trumps principle,” King said. “Where I live, in my ideological world, it’s the exact opposite.”
King and other immigration hawks are wary of a deal struck between Schumer and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to reopen the federal government after a three-day shutdown.
McConnell has pledged to bring a bipartisan immigration bill to the floor by Feb. 8 that would shield from deportation hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients.
A bipartisan plan pitched by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) would provide a path to citizenship for the young immigrants. But King is vehemently opposed to offering legal status to DACA recipients.
King’s criticism of Trump’s handling of the immigration issue echoed that of Schumer, who lambasted the president over the weekend as an unreliable negotiating partner who keeps changing his position.
“Negotiating with this White House is like negotiating with Jell-O,” Schumer said amid talks to fund the government.
DREAMer Who Killed Two Girls in Hit-and-Run Won’t Be Deported
Illegal Arrested for Child Sex-Abuse Was Protected By Obama’s Migrant Amnesty
DREAMer Murdered American Teen in Sanctuary City
DREAMer Accused of Raping Woman in Sanctuary City
Father of Murdered Florida Mother Reveals Suspected Killer Was DACA Recipient
Three DREAMers Arrested in Nationwide Gang Crackdown
DREAMer Allegedly Helped Drag Queen Smuggle Illegal Aliens in Texas
23 Amnesty Recipients Arrested In Nationwide Crime Sweep
15 DREAMers Arrested for ‘Dangerous’ Crimes
DREAMer Faces Deportation after Drug Allegations
DREAMer Arrested in Sexual Predator Sting near Texas Border
DREAMer Deported to Mexico After Embezzlement Charges
little kids from Mexico
Look what those wild and crazy "little kids from Mexico" are up to!
Those are just some of the highlights. Read the entire article for more details on criminal illegal aliens committing crimes, while in search of "a better life".
You have to be kidding. Muslims have killed, I'm pretty sure, at least 10 times (probably a 100) times as many Americans as little kids from Mexico, most of which are Christians and wouldn't harm a flea for God's sake.
You have to be kidding. Muslims have killed, I'm pretty sure, at least 10 times (probably a 100) times as many Americans as little kids from Mexico, most of which are Christians and wouldn't harm a flea for God's sake.
Well,little kids are little kids,and left to their own devices,aren't going to harm anyone. Not even little kids that are Muslims.
Regardless of how nice any of them are,if they aren't American citizens or here legally,they have no business being here and need to be deported.
We also need to limit the number of Muslims we let into the country to absolute ZERO because according to their culture and their religion we are their enemies.
Mexicans,on the other hand should be allowed to come here after being screened and meeting established standards having nothing to do with their skin color or country of origin. NO AA Mexicans. NO professional welfare Mexicans.NO Mexicans that can't read and speak enough English to get and hold a job,and even then none allowed who do not already have job skills we need.
Same as with potential immigrants from England,Germany,and anywhere else on the planet.
The days of importing large numbers of uneducated and unskilled laborers ended several decades ago. If you can't cross the border as an asset to America,you shouldn't be allowed to cross the border as anything but a tourist.
