The Dream Action Coalition launched a petition Thursday asking Republicans to do more than just denounce Rep. Steve King’s (R-IA) incendiary remarks against young undocumented immigrants by blocking an amendment that King sponsored that would de-fund the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows the Department of Homeland Security to employ discretion policies to delay deportations for young, undocumented immigrants and other people determined low-priority.
The House already passed the amendment overwhelmingly (only six Republicans voted against it). The petition calls for top GOP House leaders like House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), who has condemned King’s remarks, to urge Senate leaders to block passage of the legislation.
“As Dreamers, we see the leadership’s condemnation as empty words because there is a huge contradiction between their words and their actions,” the Dream Act Coalition said in a press release Thursday.
In a interview with Newsmax last week, King said “for every [Dreamer] who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds, and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”
