Demonstrators in Washington led by U.S. Rep. Steve King decry immigration reform
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Special to Borderzine
WASHINGTON – With the U.S. Senate-passed immigration bill facing political limbo in the U.S. House of Representatives, conservative factions are voicing their opposition loudly here before any compromise can be reached. Travel buses full of mainly older white attendees, from mostly southern states, representing the Tea Party Community group along with the Black American Leadership Alliance (BALA) spearheaded by Leah Durant gathered here at Freedom Plaza recently during the “March for Jobs” rally. They carried homemade anti-immigration reform signs demanding “No Amnesty”, “American Jobs are for Americans”, “Close our Borders” and simply, “Deport.”
“All Democrats and all Independents in the Senate believe that there ought to be Amnesty, a handful of Republicans believe that also,” U.S. Representative Steve King a Republican from Iowa told them. “Whatever our heart says about people that want to be Americans but sought about doing it the illegal way, we can’t give them that legal status without sacrificing the rule of law.”
Braving the scorching heat, close to 1000 demonstrators led by King marched along Pennsylvania Ave. toward Capitol Hill’s upper Senate Park chanting slogans like “Kill the Bill” (referring to the Senate immigration bill 744) and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, the Gang of Eight must go.” The drafters of the bill are known as the Gang of Eight.