WASHINGTON, April 4 (UPI) -- Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, says that instead of allowing children of undocumented immigrants to join the military, the U.S. should tell them, "We have a bus for you to Tijuana."
"As soon as they raise their hand and say, 'I'm unlawfully present in the United States,' we're not going take your oath into the military, but we're going to take your deposition and we have a bus for you to Tijuana," said King. "That's the law."
This is the same lawmaker who compared the children of undocumented immigrants to drug mules. The statement is in response to the ENLIST Act proposed by Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., which would allow Dreamers to enlist in the military in order to start on the path to citizenship.
Reps. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., and Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, stood by their fellow Republican and said, aside from the undocumented status of these immigrants, their loyalty to the U.S. as members of the military is not guaranteed.
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"How do you ensure that illegal aliens are loyal to America and not another country?" Brooks asked. "Is it wise to entrust illegal aliens with questionable loyalties with America's military secrets and weapons, including weapons of mass destruction?"
Democrats, who have been pushing for comprehensive immigration reform to take the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants from legal limbo, fired back at the remarks by their Republican colleagues, saying that their comments are just plain insulting.
"This rhetoric is insulting, unacceptable and harmful," DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said on a call with reporters. She added, "These most recent comments by my Republican colleagues are a new low in Republicans' attempts to insult Hispanics and the immigrant community and derail immigration reform."
The ENLIST Act is a companion bill to the DREAM Act, which allows the children of undocumented immigrants to start on the path towards citizenship through attending college and receiving good grades.
[HuffPost Live]
