Rep. Steve King Says Granting Veterans Citizenship Is Like ‘Tossing Out’ Candy At A Parade
A bipartisan effort to give citizenship to undocumented immigrants who serve in the military is not good enough for Iowa Congressman Steve King.
The bill, called the ENLIST Act, was introduced by Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) last year …It wouldn’t make it easy for undocumented immigrants to gain legal status: They would be eligible to enlist only under certain circumstances and would not automatically gain citizenship.
Denham was aiming to get the bill added to the National Defense Authorization Act, but it will not be part of the initial version.
That didn’t stop King from taking to the House floor to disparage the legislation, which could still be added as an amendment.
“This bill, this badly named ENLIST Act, would put out the advertisement that says, sneak into America, sneak into the military and that’s going to be the most expeditious path to American citizenship and the whole smorgasbord of benefits that come from American citizenship,” he said. “Citizenship must be precious, not handed out like candy in a parade. We don’t ride along and throw out citizenship like you do M&M’s or Tootsie Rolls or whatever it is we’re tossing out in our parades.”
