I’m sure the American people went to the polls two weeks ago thinking that it would be a good idea to put a racist in charge of immigration policy in the House of Representatives.

As one of its first acts, the new Congress will consider denying citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants who are born in the United States.

Those children, who are now automatically granted citizenship at birth, will be one of the first targets of the Republican-led House when it convenes in January.

GOP Rep. Steve King of Iowa, the incoming chairman of the subcommittee that oversees immigration, is expected to push a bill that would deny “birthright citizenship” to such children.

And have no doubt, now that Tom Tancredo is retired, Steve King is the most overtly racist member of Congress. He is so extreme that he was the only vote against honoring the slaves who built the Capitol Building. He has accused the president of having a “default mechanism in him that breaks down the side of race – on the side that favors the black person.” He has said that you can tell undocumented workers from documented workers by looking at their shoes and grooming. He’s said that he doesn’t have a problem with people shouting “nigger” and “faggot” at Democratic congressmen because “There are a lot of places in this country that I couldn’t walk through. I wouldn’t live to get to the other end of it.” He’s even said that his proudest vote in Congress was to deny funding for New Orleans to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.

So, get ready. The Republicans’ efforts to win over the Latino vote are going to start like this. This effort has no hope of passing the Senate or of avoiding the president’s veto pen. It’s all a waste of time intended to keep white people pissed off and voting Republican.