--- title: State of the Union 2015: Steve King and Ana Zamora description: President Obama's 2015 State of the Union speech was still hours away when it created a headache for Republican presidential candidates. canonical: https://time.com/3675661/state-union-steve-king-ana-zamora/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-21T00:36:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:43:56.777Z article:section: Politics og:title: The State of the Union Has Already Given 2016 Republicans a Headache og:description: They'll be asked about it this weekend for sure. og:url: https://time.com/3675661/state-union-steve-king-ana-zamora/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05f9ac720589d25e/69877aeba988ca3af16abff7/steve-king.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Rep. Steve King speaks with reporters at the 2014 Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa on Aug. 8, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The State of the Union Has Already Given 2016 Republicans a Headache twitter:description: They'll be asked about it this weekend for sure. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05f9ac720589d25e/69877aeba988ca3af16abff7/steve-king.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The State of the Union Has Already Given 2016 Republicans a Headache by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Jan 21, 2015 12:36 AM CUT  Rep. Steve King speaks with reporters at the 2014 Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa on Aug. 8, 2014. Rep. Steve King speaks with reporters at the 2014 Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa on Aug. 8, 2014.Tom Williams—AP by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Jan 21, 2015 12:36 AM CUT President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union speech was still hours away from being delivered when it created a headache for likely Republican presidential candidates. In a tweet posted around 6 p.m., Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa, who takes a hard-line stance against illegal immigration, called one of First Lady Michelle Obama’s guests “a deportable.” > [](https://twitter.com/SteveKingIA/status/557673638066135045) King was referring to Ana Zamora, a [21-year-old college senior from Dallas](http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20150117-21-year-old-dallas-dreamer-to-be-guest-of-michelle-obama.ece "undefined") who benefited from Obama’s 2012 executive order allowing people brought to the United States illegally as children to defer deportation. That program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, upset many congressional Republicans, who [voted narrowly](http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/house-gop-centrists-push-back-on-immigration-20150114 "undefined") on a symbolic effort to overturn it last week, but [it is widely popular](http://time.com/3602711/latinos-youth-immigration-action-polls/ "undefined") among Latino voters. It’s hardly unusual for King to make controversial statements about immigration, but the timing is trickier. On Saturday, he’ll be hosting [a number of likely Republican presidential candidates](http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2015/01/18/iowa-freedom-summit-speakers/21934883/ "undefined") at the Iowa Freedom Summit, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former HP CEO Carly Fiorina. They should expect to be asked about the phrase “a deportable” when they arrive in Iowa ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3675661/state-union-steve-king-ana-zamora/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3675661/state-union-steve-king-ana-zamora/"},"headline":"The State of the Union Has Already Given 2016 Republicans a Headache","datePublished":"2015-01-21T00:36:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:43:56.777Z","description":"President Obama's 2015 State of the Union speech was still hours away when it created a headache for Republican presidential candidates.","url":"https://time.com/3675661/state-union-steve-king-ana-zamora/","keywords":["State of the Union 2015","2016 Election topic","Congress","White House","Michelle Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05f9ac720589d25e/69877aeba988ca3af16abff7/steve-king.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05f9ac720589d25e/69877aeba988ca3af16abff7/steve-king.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rep. 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