Durbin Places Pressure on Steve King

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Kicking off an August of likely intense debate over immigration, the Senate’s second-ranking Democrat traveled to Iowa on Friday to rebuke House Republicans who oppose major changes embraced by the Senate.

Sen. Dick Durbin’s strategically targeted visit was a foretaste of planned demonstrations by opponents and supporters of the proposed immigration changes during Congress’ summer recess. The Senate measure would heighten border security and provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants living here illegally.

Durbin, of Illinois, joined Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin at a forum in Ames, a town represented in Congress by Republican Rep. Steve King. King is among Congress’ fiercest opponents of granting citizenship to immigrants now here illegally. Republican leaders have denounced King’s most inflammatory remarks, but some Democrats depict him as a symbol of widespread GOP resistance.

Harkin said Iowans “are compassionate, caring people, and we don’t characterize people with hateful, spiteful, degrading language.”

King said in a July interview that some Latinos brought to the country illegally as children become high school valedictorians. But for each of those, he said, “there’s another 100 out there who weigh 130 pounds, and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.” Read more…

bh