Confrontational DREAMers: We Don't Have 'Left-Wing Agenda'

The two DREAMers who confronted Rep. Steve King (R-IA) in Iowa last week claim they do not have a “left-wing” agenda.

In a Politico Magazine op-ed, DREAMers Erika Andiola and Cesar Vargas claim that they did not plan to catch King “on camera saying something outrageous” or even “ask King to rip up our DACA cards” last week. Moreover, though they have been pushing President Barack Obama to “go big” on enacting executive amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, the two insist that “we don’t have a ‘left wing’ partisan agenda; this is personal for us because this is about our families, not politics.”

They then allege that “King was condescending and insulting” because he “asked if we understood the English language” and “interrogated us about whether we were drug smugglers.” That is not what King did at all, though. King was talking about partisan outlets that misconstrued his previous comments about drug smugglers who have “calves the size of cantaloupes” as a condemnation of all Hispanics. In speaking about those remarks to the DREAMers, King rhetorically asked Andiola if she understood English before acknowledging that he knew she did; he did so to make the point that Andiola should not buy into the left-wing spin.

“Use your objective reasoning skills,” King told Andiola.

King also emphasized that he did not hate the DREAMers and was not being serious when he asked them if they were going to suddenly inform him that they were drug smugglers. He made those remarks to make the point that the “calves” comments were in reference to drug smugglers and not DREAMers like Vargas and Andiola.

King reminded the DREAMers that the “Constitution is the supreme law of the land” and asked them to respect that.

“Do not import lawlessness into America,” King said. “We want to live in a country that respects the rule of law.”

After the event, the DREAMers vowed to accost even more lawmakers and asked for $25,000 in donations to fund future confrontations.