Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King, an immigration hardliner, said Wednesday that Congress does not have to do anything to protect young immigrants who came to the country illegally as children. Instead, King said they can “live in the shadows.”
“They continue to live the objective that they sought to achieve when they illegally entered America,” King told reporters. “Live in the shadows.”
King’s comments came after the Trump administration announced Tuesday that it would end the Obama-era program known as DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, in six months. The delayed deadline is meant to give Congress time to find a legislative solution to protect DACA recipients from deportation, but some, like King, say that the group shouldn’t expect Congress to act.
In an interview with CNN, King said that forcing young immigrants to live in the shadows was “justice.”
“Live in the shadows and if you get crossways with the law, then the law requires they be placed in criminal proceedings and go home. I think there’s justice there, but we need to provide justice,” King said.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, meanwhile, told his conference Tuesday morning that he was prepared to seek a legislative solution for DACA recipients if it was paired with border security.
“I think it’s totally reasonable and appropriate that when you take a look at the DACA dilemma, this is a dilemma that in large part stems from the fact that it is a symptom of a larger problem, and the larger problem is that we do not have control of our borders. So it’s only reasonable and fitting that we also address the root cause of the problem which is borders that are not sufficiently controlled while we address this very real and very human problem that’s right in front of us,” Ryan told reporters after meeting with House GOP members.