Steve King Is Holding A Marathon, Six-Hour Press Conference To Rail Against Immigration Reform
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), one of the House's most vocal opponents of the immigration legislation being debated in the Senate, is holding a marathon, six-hour press conference to rally opposition to the legislation.
The attendees are not necessarily on message, as evidenced by this sign equating the IRS to the Nazi Schutzstaffel, or SS, military unit:
Twitter/@gzornick
Here are a few more pictures from the rally, via reporters on the scene:
One sign in this photo likened the IRS to the Nazi SS, and one person is holding a "Proud American Christian" flag:
Sen. Marco Rubio, a member of the Senate "Gang of Eight," was not popular among the crowd:
The press conference began on the east lawn of the Capitol building at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning. King's office said it would last until 5 p.m., with a two-hour break from noon-2 p.m. The Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe estimated a crowd of about 300 showed up for the start of the rally.
"Border security, Rule-of-Law [favoring] Members of Congress are unlikely to get a full debate inside the halls of Congress," King said. "So we are taking the debate outside its halls."
The early-morning portion of the rally included appearances from conservative Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), Paul Broun (R-Ga.), and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.).
King's views on immigration have been a thorn in the side of more moderate Republicans who favor reshaping the nation's immigration laws in the wake of a humbling defeat among Latino voters in the 2012 election.
But King made it clear that he was holding the rally in an attempt to stall the Senate's advancement on the bill.
"Now that the die is cast in the Senate, I think it’s useful to let folks know what you think — and maybe there’s a way to yet kill this thing in the Senate," King said, according to the Washington Post.
At a meeting of influential conservatives in New York last month, King said that his preferred immigration bill he would institute some kind of "point system" for immigrants, to "score" people by age, education, earning capability, language skills, and capital. He also praised the E-Verify system, an online tool that checks workers' immigration status.
Two weeks ago, King sponsored an amendment that Republicans in the House of Representatives moved to pass — one that would end policies of discretion for the Department of Homeland Security to delay deporting unauthorized young and other "low priority" immigrants.
And last week, King sparked a firestorm when he tweeted that "illegal aliens" had "invaded" his office.