A group of "dreamers" carrying signs saying "deportables," in reference to a comment made by Iowa Rep. Steve King last week regarding President Barack Obama's guest at the State of the Union address, protested at the Iowa Freedom Summit and tried to interrupt former Texas Gov. Rick Perry's statements about illegal immigrants.
They didn't make Perry, a potential presidential candidate, miss a step, however, as he railed against the nation's immigration policies that brought thousands of illegal immigrants across the Texas border this past summer.
Dreamers are young people who were brought to America illegally as children.
They shouted, "Would you deport me? We are Americans. We are dreamers," reported The Dallas Morning News.
Obama refused to visit the border to see the results of his policies that brought minors across the border, and Perry said Saturday it's hard to describe all that happened last year.
"Children were turning themselves in to federal Border Patrol agents, and they were sent over to these makeshift federal facilities," said Perry. "Federal agents were taken out of the field to change diapers and meet the basic needs of children without parents."
And the immigrants "were just a product to make a profit" for the "drug cartels that control every square inch of land on the Mexican side of the border," Perry said.
He said he took action to deploy the Texas National Guard to the border, as drug cartels and gangs, "exploit children, enslave women, and peddle their drugs and weapons in our country. They are the face of evil."
King took to Twitter Tuesday to deplore Obama's decision to invite a "deportable" immigrant, Ana Zamora, 20, to occupy the coveted seat next to first lady Michelle Obama during the State of the Union address, saying it was a violation of the "rule of law." She was invited after she wrote the White House to thank the president for his executive action in November granting legal status to her undocumented parents.
But there is plenty of blame to go around for the policies that allow children to come into the country, and "Congress should have acted on this many years ago," Perry said.
Perry also railed against tax policies, saying that it's time for America's leaders to be honest about "the immoral debt being forced on the next generation."
Americans won't be looking for a slow fix in 2016, after six years "of the most divisive president in our modern history," said Perry, "but are looking for leaders who will bring the country back together."
He also called for passage of legislation to build the Keystone XL pipeline.
"The whole Obama energy policy amounts to this long list of projects that we can't begin, permits that we can't grant, studies that we can't conclude and resources we can't use," said Perry.
Perry pointed to his record of success in Texas, including signing seven balanced budgets and leading the state with the highest job growth and one of the lowest tax burdens in the country.
"America can experience a season of economic revival if we extend our energy production, if we reform the tax code, if we reduce regulations on small businesses, and we control the size and scope of government, starting with spending," Perry said.
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