Where Is Mike Rounds On The Immigration Issue

Mike Rounds will be spending time tomorrow with the constituents that he cares about the most: donors!  He will be traveling just south of the border to get some money from Iowa voters.  He will be speaking with heavy hitters like the Iowa Lt. Governor, Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz, and US Rep. Steve King.  My question is does Mike Rounds support Representative King's statements about immigration, and would he support the Senate version of immigration reform or would he like to see the bill die a slow and painful death.

Let's take a good look at the group he will be hanging around with tomorrow.  Secretary of State Matt Schultz is at least a SOS willing to take ownership and make some decisions about using HAVA funds (unlike South Dakota SOS Jason Gant) as long as it is used to prevent people from voting.

The Iowa State Auditor said her office will review Secretary of State Matt Schultz’s use of federal grant money to pay for a special state agent to conduct voter fraud investigations. In a letter dated May 31 to state Sen. Tom Courtney, D-Burlington, Republican Auditor Mary Mosiman wrote she will review the appropriateness of Schultz’s use of Help America Vote Act money to hire an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation officer to root out voter fraud.... 

Brad Anderson, a Democrat who is running for the secretary of state’s post, issued his own statement criticizing Schultz’s actions. “Matt Schultz is finally getting audited for possible misuse of federal Help America Vote Act funds,” the statement read. “It is nice to see someone is going to review whether or not spending $280,000 on a partisan investigation that has led to zero convictions of anyone knowingly committing voter fraud is a good use of taxpayer dollars. To be candid, I believe Secretary Schultz’s investigation is a complete waste of taxpayer money, and he should be held accountable.”

It also turns out that he decided as SOS to establish new rules to prevent Latino voters from being able to vote (because they tend to vote Democrat).

Schultz armed himself with two letters to send to these individuals in order to get them to prove their citizenship.... 

The first letter Schultz planned to send to those 3,582 suspected non-citizens lists four types of IDs to prove citizenship, none of which are a voter ID card, a social security card, or a state ID. 

The second letter is a reminder that just happens to include this sentence: Please note that voter registration fraud is a Class "D" felony in the state of Iowa. Because that’s not too intimidating. 

... District Court Judge Mary Pat Gunderson — a Republican judge with a long history in Iowa GOP circles — responded to a suit against Schultz filed by the Iowa's ACLU and the state’s League of United Latin American Citizens by issuing an injunction that prohibits Schultz from enforcing his rules. 

 So it is pretty clear that the SOS does not like immigrants voting (as long as they vote for the other guy.)

Then of course there is the now famous interview that Steve King gave on immigration.  

"For every one who's a valedictorian, there's another 100 out there that, they weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert," King, of Iowa, told the conservative online publication Newsmax. "Those people would be legalized with the same act."

For that comment, King was blasted by a likely source- his own party?

House Speaker John Boehner, a fellow Republican, condemned King's remarks on Tuesday, saying: "What he said is wrong. There can be honest disagreements about policy without using hateful language. Everyone needs to remember that." 

So where is Mike Rounds going to stand on the issue.  The Argus Leader provided this quotation from Mike Rounds:

"I believe illegal aliens should not be allowed to apply for citizenship until after other individuals have the opportunity first," he said. "I do believe they should start paying taxes, they should also have to register, and report themselves as being in the country illegally. Once other individuals have entered the line, perhaps 10 to 15 years from now, they may also apply for citizenship. This is not amnesty. I would rather have them paying taxes than not paying taxes. I do not believe they should be eligible for benefits during this 15 year time period."

It seems that many of the hard-core conservatives don't quiet believe him.  So here is a perfect opportunity to tell Rep. King he was wrong on his immigration stance, or you can be clear and support him.  We know that most of the South Dakotans, (you know, the people that you would rather spend time away from) support the Senate concept of the immigration reform.  Choose wisely.