Rep. Steve King (R-IA) wants to give the U.S. Capitol Police the power to enforce immigration laws on Capitol Hill, where undocumented immigrants have protested at hearings and shut down congressional offices in an effort to sway lawmakers into supporting a path to citizenship.
“I’ve got a security situation,” King said during an interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily. “We can’t do business when we have staff in the back who don’t have any way out except through a crowd of hostile people.”
King’s bill, “Ending the Sanctuary Capitol Policy Act of 2015,” would allow the Capitol Police to investigate the illegal immigrants who arrive to disrupt and protest congressional hearings. The bill would allow the Capitol Hill police to turn over the illegal immigrants for possible deportation.
Illegal immigrant protesters have targeted the office of King, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). The bill is being cosponsored by six other Republicans, including: Reps. Louie Gohmert and Lamar Smith of Texas, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Paul Gosar of Arizona and Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania.
King says it’s important for the Capitol Hill police to enforce the current immigration laws, while Congress works on legislation related to trying to enforce the laws.
When illegal immigrants protest on Capitol Hill, the Capitol Hill police will “begrudgingly and slowly start to move a person out one at a time” said King. “They’re holding up the business of the United States government”
“You’re there talking about passing laws on immigration” King said. “And the people that are breaking them are in the room screaming at you, demonstrating and the people who are there to protect you won’t because they apparently don’t think they have the authority to it, or someone has given them an order not to.”
King added: “It’s time we clarify the law and made it really clear that the Capitol Hill police have all the authority to enforce immigration law of any other officer in the country and in doing so, perhaps we won’t have illegals that should be back in their home country inside the room.”