Immigration Reform 2013: DREAMers Deliver Cantaloupes To Steve King Office

Several young activists organized by United We Dream, the nation's largest immigrant youth network, showed up at the congressional office of Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) with cantaloupes on Thursday afternoon to protest King's remarks last week during an interview with Newsmax. King had said many young undocumented immigrants whose parents brought them into the country illegally when they were children -- dubbed DREAMers after the DREAM Act, which would have given them legal status and eventual citizenship if Senate Republicans had not shot it down in 2010 -- had "calves the size of cantaloupes" from the effort of smuggling drugs into the United States from Mexico.

"For every one who's a valedictorian," King said, "there's another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert."

RELATED: In New Poll, Most Voters In Steve King's District Say They Support Path To Citizenship For Undocumented

Cristina Jimenez, managing director of United We Dream, called the comments "outrageous" in a statement. "His insulting comments only add to his track record of extremism and his ongoing crusade against immigrants and American values of fairness, family, and opportunity."

RELATED: House And Senate Lawmakers On Tour Of NYC Immigration Sites

A White House strategy and communications advisor, Dan Pfeiffer, called King's comments "unfortunate". House Republicans have piled on, too. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said they were "deeply offensive and wrong" while Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) called them "inexcusable". Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID), a former member of the House Gang of Eight commission on immigration (now the Gang of Seven) condemned them and said he hoped King regretted his remarks.

RELATED: GOP Leaders Criticize Steve King For Saying Most DREAMers Are Drug Mules

But King has stood by his them. "We have people that are mules," he said on Tuesday, "that are drug mules, that are hauling drugs across the border and you can tell by their physical characteristics what they've been doing for months."

The next day, he told conservative news site Breitbart that he took the controversy as a sign that he'd won the argument. "When I read their quotes, I have to believe they didn't read mine," he said. "They completely missed the mark. I don't yet know of anyone who has raised a logical argument against my statement."

A new poll released by the American Action Network indicates that the Iowa representative may not represent his constituents' beliefs on immigration, with a majority saying they supported a path to citizenship for the undocumented as outlined in the Senate's bill.