Steve King Publicly Interrogates Veteran About His Immigration Status

Notorious anti-immigrant Rep. Steve King (R-IA) inadvertently inserted some disturbing irony into a congressional hearing yesterday. While Democrats were encouraging immigration officials to adopt safeguards against racial profiling, King was practicing some profiling himself. Singling out the only immigrant on the panel, King questioned congressional witness and former Sacramento police chief Arturo Venegas about why he came to the U.S. Venegas said he was brought to the country as a child by his U.S.-born mother (which means he’s also an American citizen). King responded, “Can you just tell us what year and what visa, then, Mr. Venegas?” — apparently not knowing or caring that U.S. citizens born abroad don’t need special visas to enter the country. Venegas also fought for his country in the Vietnam War.