Rep. Steve King: Assimilate Immigrants, but Only the ‘Pick of the Litter’
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, has always been a very strong, vocal opponent of illegal immigration and amnesty.
He believes that we only encourage illegal immigration by discussing amnesty for the 12-20 million illegal immigrants living in the United States today and adamantly opposes such.
He believes in tightening and strengthening our border control efforts, including using his own design of a concrete border wall and cites his 35 years of experience in the earth-moving, drainage and concrete construction business. His concrete wall would function as both a human and vehicle barrier, inspired by the success of the concrete wall in Israel.
King also believes in shutting off the job magnets that encourage illegal immigrants to come to the United States and, in support of this, he has authored “New IDEA,” the Illegal Deduction Elimination Act, which would protect American jobs for American workers by making wages and benefits paid to illegal immigrants nondeductible for federal tax purposes.
He also introduced H.R. 140, the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011, to limit birthright citizenship to a child born in the United States to at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or national, a legal permanent resident living in the United States, or an individual who is serving on active duty status in the U.S. Armed Forces.
King concludes his immigration thoughts on his web site with words about “assimilating immigrants” whereby immigrants “will benefit from our shared American culture of individual freedom, personal responsibility, and patriotism.”
All good and well, but comparing immigrants to dogs?
Salon.com reports that this is exactly what King did at a town hall meeting in Pocahontas, Iowa, yesterday, “telling constituents that the U.S. should pick only the best immigrants the way one chooses the ‘pick of the litter.’”
Salon.com:
King told the crowd in Pocahontas, Iowa, that he’s owned lots of bird dogs over the years and advised, “You want a good bird dog? You want one that’s going to be aggressive? Pick the one that’s the friskiest … not the one that’s over there sleeping in the corner.”
King suggested lazy immigrants should be avoided as well. “You get the pick of the litter and you got yourself a pretty good bird dog. Well, we’ve got the pick of every donor civilization on the planet,” King said. “We’ve got the vigor from the planet to come to America.”
Salon.com adds:
King has long been one of Congress’ most vociferous and toxic opponents of illegal immigration and “amnesty,” often partnering with notorious immigration hawks like former congressman Tom Tancredo and Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
In 2010, he took to the House floor to declare that he could detect “illegals” by their footwear and his “sixth sense.”
Mr. King is entitled to have his positions on the subject of immigration (legal and illegal), as he does on his web site.
However, such outbursts as in Pocahontas only hurt his credibility and his movement.
As his Democratic challenger, Christie Vilsack, says:
If we’re going to have a real discussion on immigration, we should start by acknowledging that immigrants are human beings. Iowans are taught in their community, in their church, and at the dinner table to respect each other, not to compare people to dogs. People expect a serious discussion between candidates and that’s what we’re committed to.
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Graet idea, but let’s start by weeding out the Wingnuts. Sheriff Joe Arpaio would top the list
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/arpaio_threats_unit_birther_hawaii_bennett.php
rudi has a good idea. Let’s keep the pick of the litter of all the immigrants from..oh, say, the 1500′s.
King is pretty bad and I’m embarrassed to be from the same state, but it seems to me he’s just using an analogy and not comparing immigrants to dogs. If he would have said something like “let’s attract the best and the brightest the world has to offer”, it would have conveyed essentially the same message.
I’d also say the Salon headline “Rep. Steve King: Immigrants are like dogs” is inaccurate and intentionally inflammatory.
Interesting, the kind of mind that is currently driving this debate right now.
The company I worked for for thirty years was an US branch of a German company. We hired a large number of immigrants because we built heavy industrial plants all over the world and we needed their language skills. Also, being a foreign company we had no bias against immigrants.
I personally built plants in Mexico and Southern California, in the Mojave desert. Workers from Los Angles didn’t want to come up to the high desert to work. It is hot in the summer, cold in the winter and our work was hard compared to building a shopping center in suburban Los Angles. We went to Mexico and hired crews that we had worked with there. We tried to bring them in legally, it is hard but not impossible since they were already employees of the company with a work history in Mexico and we were only bringing them in temporarily. I made it through two INS raids with only minor problems and no illegals found. After that they left us alone; reputations in the INS weren’t made by raiding legals.
Anyway, I know a lot of US immigrants and I moved to three different countries myself, temporarily, for 3 to 4 years. I can tell you that immigration is a self-culling process. It is hard to leave the country that you were born in; the country where your family is; to, in most cases, learn a new language and a new culture; to completely start over again in so many ways. It takes a strong person with a lot of desire and drive to do it. At the height of the immigration boom in the US in the first part of the 20th century one half of the immigrants couldn’t do it and eventually went back to their home countries.
For the most part the people who successfully immigrate to the US are the best of the countries they come from. They are the pick of the litter, in this gentleman’s terms.
Can someone please tell me why my comments don’t seem to show up. I have posted three or four over the last couple of days that don’t appear. And take my word for it they were absolutely brilliant, life changing stuff.
I agree with DG. King’s analogy referred to the “friskiness” or vigor of immigrants as being a desirable attribute, and was not saying that immigrants are as subhuman as dogs. He might think that, but he didn’t say that in this instance. In fact he expanded the analogy to all possible immigrants, not just Mexicans.
As slam says TeaTempestCup. Why waste time on such silly subjects? Mr. King has made and will continue to make more stupid remarks than this; that will be the time to remark on them.
As one who left the country where I was born; the country where my family was and is; had to learn a new language and a new culture; had to “start over again in so many ways,” I thank you, Merkin, for your insight, understanding and compassion.
Dorian
BTW, Merkin, as to your comments not showing up, TMV is having problems with the comments/editing system and dedicated people are working on it.
The main problem, as I see it, is that we have defined staying in the country as being illegal. If we defined COMING into the country, or STAYING PAST VISA in the country as the illegal act, then we would have no problem with “illegal immigration” per se. We would have a problem with people breaking the entering laws–which would have a STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS!!!
Sorry about the three-exclamation-quote rant, but it needed to be done. If the time when the person first managed to set up roots in the USA was the starting clock, and if the person could prove a work history and lack of felonies during that time, then we should have, for instance, a seven-year (or less) statute of limitations. After the person has been here for the set time, they are residents (not citizens, but legal residents).
Some will argue that that would encourage people to try to beat the system. Yes, but it would still be easier to get a green card–at least for the “illegal” time period. Furthermore, this would force the INS and other officials to realize that they do not have a “free pass” concerning when they will and will not allow undocumented immigrants to remain in the country.
Who the hell are we to tell someone from, for instance, Guatamala that she is a criminal when we encouraged her to remain in the country (through job opportunities)? How long is enough? If someone comes here illegally (or remains illegally past their visa time), then they have broken a law. If, afterwards, they fake a SSN and obtain a job, it should be the government’s job to police that up. They should be checking those SSN’s. If, for whatever reason (which includes politicians wanting to allow low-priced labor to remain here), someone stays here past her “legal” date (or crossed in illegally), then that person should not be criminalized for all her life!
I want to be fair here, so, I will grant the government that if they initiate a case against someone (whom they have found or know to exist here illegally) before the seven years are up, then they can still deport the person. However, if, after a long period of time of overlooking such immigration (a de facto allowance of the immigration), some politicians decide that it is politically expedient for them to rail against people who have (at least otherwise) committed no crimes and simply come here to work and support their families, WHY IN HELL WOULD WE WANT TO GET RID OF THE WORKERS?
Well, it’s pretty easy to pretend that immigrants aren’t people worthy of safety and a better life if you think of them as bird dogs. Dirty Fighting 101: make your enemy out to be less than human.
@RC
You pose some interesting questions and make some good proposals.
The (illegal) immigration “issue” is complex and one that will not be resolved through dog whistles. (no pun intended)
Thanks
HOW MANY DOLLARS IS YOUR STATE CONTRIBUTING TO ILLEGAL ALIEN WELFARE?
Bring in the top of the cream with the highest credentials and qualifications, but not annual millions of poorly skilled as so called skilled contenders for jobs covertly? Partisan Senators have drafted a bill to bring more STEM workers (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workers to the U.S. What the politicians and pressure groups have failed to inform, is that there are qualified, U.S. workers out there to fill these jobs. Within the United States Colleges and Universities are graduating many young people in the past week with degrees and no employment offers in sight. It’s time American voters turned up the heat on politicians, specifically where job visas are concerned. When thousands are seeking work, shouldn’t American labor be a priority. It certainly will be given heightened attention under the growing numbers of TEA PARTY leadership, which are taking the reins of power in the Senate and House.
California is sinking fast under the mushrooming impact of illegal immigration, as more these people pour into this state. How can other states that are hurting badly as Michigan, even believe this brainless argument from Mike Bloomberg Mayor of New York is suggesting import more immigrants, whilst the whole country is overrun with cheap labor, with the majority is soaking the welfare programs? In Michigan uncompensated costs for Illegal Aliens (2009) reported by The Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR) identifies at least $928,677,050. This should be a genuine concern throughout every state, excluding states controlled by Democrats with Liberal backing. In the opposite measure thousands of property owners are leaving the Golden State, now tarnished by a gross overload of foreign invaders. Many states are unable to comply with the strain of court ordered unfunded mandates, when taxpayers are hardly able to feed their offspring,
The Federal government enforce court order unfunded mandates that they take out of your taxes for people who are illegal, but do not reimburse any of the 50 states?
Arizona was one of the states that have drawn the line in the sand, when all they want to do is protect the legal population. But are forced by law to educate, treat illegal alien families for the common cold to dialysis for free. Do we personally have to feed, house and medicate every person who knocks on America’s door, when we can hardly feed our own? In Sacramento, California has been indulging these people with welfare programs, in the midst of Obama’s government giving out food stamps? The Sanctuary state is under a terrible strain. In just Los Angeles Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich website published that illegal immigration costs were $550 million for public safety and nearly $500 million for healthcare, a total cost to County taxpayers that exceeds $1.6 billion dollars a year and that doesn’t include the billions more in education for their children.
GO TO FAIR WEBSITE TO LEARN HOW MUCH MONEY FROM THE PUBLIC COFFERS IN YOUR STATE IS SPENT ON “FOOTHOLD” BABIES AND THEIR PARENTS? IT’S THE DOLLAR FIGURE THE DEMOCRATS DON’T WANT YOU TO BE AWARE OF?
These billions are being spent to subsidize the lives of families who sneak their children into America, as these people are aware that the majority Democratic states will support them. Governor Jerry Brown, a ‘Tax and Spend’ liberal is once again pleading for more tax revenue, to pay for everything including the largest population of illegal aliens in the country. California should put an end to the states incessant need for more money to balance their $16 Billion dollar deficit. California the embodiment of Sanctuary States is withering under the constant bombardment of foreigners with their palms outstretched and with so much on the line for people; they have nothing really to lose by fraudulently voting in the upcoming elections. Democrats don’t care and even stealthily approving of this illegal act.
ILLEGAL ALIENS, NON-CITIZENS, FELONS AND A MIXTURE OF ILLEGAL VOTERS ARE VOTING IN OUR ELECTIONS. THIS IS WHY OBAMA ADMINISTRATION DOESN’T WANT TO CHANGE THE CURRENT ELECTORAL LAWS? IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT EVERY STATE IMPLEMENTS NEW RULES, THAT EVERY PERSON HEADING TO THE VOTING STATION POSSESS A GOVERNMENTAL PICTURE ID.
California’s legislative body, Nevada of all states should be required to use E-Verify? Not voluntary but all mandated? The Legal Workforce Act will usher in a new period of restrictive practices of business owners, using labor with stolen Social Security numbers and other ID. It should be the business of ICE to enforce E-Verify, so American jobs go to U.S. workers who have that legal right. Businesses that don’t play by rules, should be heavily fined, assets seized and in some severe cases, go to jail? Those who haven’t heard of the ‘Birthright citizenship Act’ should tell their elected officials from blocking this law from reaching the house chambers. The ‘Birthright citizenship Act’ laws when enacted stop around 400.000 illegal alien mothers gaining citizenship for their smuggled fetus into the United States. That citizenship for a baby will only be apparent, when one of either parent is a U.S. citizen?
Brown stated huge cuts can be anticipated in schools through K-12, when the schools are crammed with the children of illegal aliens, then so be it; you cannot get blood from a stone anymore? No more taxes, no more money to encourage any longer illegal immigrants. It is simply rewarding the parents’ in law-breaking and just encourages more to cross borders of fly in by international flight. The federal government has failed to secure the U.S. borders and it’s become too costly to provide schooling, hospital care, low cost housing and other public services to non-citizens. So far only Arizona has had the backbone to fight back, with Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Utah closing the ranks. No more taxes for Jerry Brown’s state government specifically for illegal alien support. Join a local TEA PARTY and throw out all the politicians that are giving our country away.
We have been hit by a drive by cut and paste expert with every malicious lie about immigrants possible.
Illegals don’t vote, they don’t apply for welfare or disability or workman’s comp because all of these things will do the one thing that illegals don’t want, these things draw attention to the illegal and to his status.
Yes, they do run up hospital bills that they can’t pay, but that has nothing to do with their immigration status. It is a reflection of the work that they do. Anyone doing this work for that low of wages will not have health insurance. We have decided as a society that lowest paid members of society don’t deserve regular health care, but if they do need it we will provide them the most expensive health care in world provided through the emergency rooms across the country. And I remind you that it was the conservatives who insisted that we continue to provide illegals with this very expensive health care by excluding illegals from ACA. And I fear that this will be the case as long as we continue to treat health care first and foremost as a profit making business.
@ Merkin.
You have more patience than I do with these drive-by trolls.
Thanks
Merkin, just so you know what happened to your comments. They get recognized as spam sometimes. I dont know why. When I see your posts caught in the spam net, I approve them and they show up in the comments section as usual. Our IT guy is working on this. Thank you for your patience, always.
archangel/ dr.e