Erika Andiola confronts Rep. Steve King over immigration policy

Two Dreamers confronted Iowa Republican Representative Steven King about his stance on immigration on Monday in Iowa, according to a video posted on YouTube by the DRM Action Coalition, an immigrant-rights group; accompanying him was Senator Rand Paul, who walked away from the lunch table they were at, apparently not happy with what happened.

SEE ALSO: Boehner: Steve King’s ‘drug mule’ comments are ‘deeply offensive’

Erika Andiola and Cesar Vargas, two Dreamers and immigrant-rights activists, confronted King about his efforts to stop President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA program, a federal program that currently gives thousands of young undocumented immigrants, who have strong ties to the United States, the opportunity to stay and work in the country.

The transcript below, courtesy of ThinkProgress, is just a snippet from the video where Andiola confronts King face to face.

She touches on a previous comment the representative made about people crossing the border having “calves the size of cantaloupes,” and she also dared King to rip up her work authorization card.

King also seemed rather surprised at how well Andiola spoke English:

ANDIOLA: I’m actually a Dreamer. I’m originally from Mexico, but I was raised here. I graduated from Arizona State University. I know you want to get rid of DACA. And I wanted to give you the opportunity, if you really want to get rid of DACA, just rip mine. You can go ahead and do that. You take my DACA, you will literally take away everything.

KING: This is not what I do. I don’t call you names–

ANDIOLA: I mean, cantaloupe calves?

KING: That’s drug smugglers. You’re very good at English.  You know what I’m saying. So you can understand the English language. You’re saying something that’s not true. I spoke of drug smugglers… Your ears work too, I was speaking of drug smugglers only.

ANDIOLA: You’re the one who’s trying to get rid of DACA.

KING: And you heard why. I told you why. The president has no constitutional authority to do what he has done.

ANDIOLA: Yes he does. He’s actually an attorney, he’s a Dreamer. He graduated from law school.

KING: Oh and that makes you an authority … You keep your card. I don’t do individual policy. I do national policy for everyone. It troubles me a great deal that you have such disrespect for the laws of the United States of America. You’re telling me that you don’t have to abide by the laws.”

The debate of the almost 8 minute video, touched on topics such as the legality of the DACA program, and even had Vargas stepping in, telling King how he wanted to serve in the military after 9/11, but because of his undocumented status, was denied.

What is the first thing that @SteveKingIA asked after I talked to him for about 2 minutes… “Do you speak English?” Ummmmm….

— Erika Andiola (@ErikaAndiola) August 5, 2014

After the confrontation

The two also did a follow up video where Andiola said that she wanted to call out King for his stance on immigration. She also urged the President Obama to act on his own in order to expand deportation relief.

“It really showed his ignorance and his hatred towards us,” Andiola said. “We’re here to give the message to President Obama that he needs to stand up to people like him and actually act as big as possible to also protect our parents.”

King also commented on the confrontation afterward arguing that the two Dreamers simply came “to create a scene,” according to CNN.

“And I decided early in the conversation that I was not going to walk away,” he told reporters. “They’re here demanding that we change the laws…Why would you want to bring lawlessness to the United States of America? And that’s the question they cannot answer. Why would we want to turn America into a third world country?”

As VOXXI previously reported, this comes off legislation that House Republicans voted on prior to their month long recess that would prohibit the Obama administration from renewing or expanding DACA.

King has long opposed DACA, calling it an example of  the president’s “abuse of power.”

Senator Rand Paul was present also but reportedly left the table.

Oh, and did I mention @SenRandPaul ran away from the table when I started talking to @SteveKingIA and mentioned I was a Dremer? #NoCourage

— Erika Andiola (@ErikaAndiola) August 5, 2014

Erika Andiola: GOP needs to stop listening to Steve King

SEE ALSO: DACA is improving the financial well-being of Dreamers, survey finds