Guest Voz - Congressman Luis Gutierrez: The Republican Immigration Fantasy

Guest Voz - Congressman Luis Gutierrez: Unfortunately for voters, Republican candidates and office holders are convinced that 10 to 11 million people can be forced out of the United States. That is a population roughly the size of Ohio or Georgia. Two-thirds of the 10-11 million immigrants living here illegally have been here more than a decade and about half have children, most of whom are U.S. citizens themselves. Even in the greatest recession of our lifetimes, when jobs are hard to find for everyone and illegal immigration has slowed to a trickle and states are passing harsher and harsher laws, not many of these 10-11 million immigrants are choosing to "self-deport," to use Mitt Romney's phrase.

American voters are much more practical than Republican lawmakers and candidates. Even those who wish 10-11 million people will leave the U.S. realize that it is not going to happen. They are right. The Republican approach to the immigration issue rests on pure fantasy.

So what do you do with a population of 10-11 million people who live, work, and have families in the U.S.? Most Democrats and most voters want to get them into the system, on-the-books, and complying with the law. To do this, proposals have been put forth to force immigrants to pay fines, pass criminal background checks and other screenings, learn English, and live in a probationary period for a time in order to earn the ability to avoid deportation and eventually apply to be a "Legal Permanent Resident" (which allows you to ultimately apply to become a citizen after a number of years). This eliminates the black market, makes enforcement much more efficient, weeds out serious criminals, allows honest employers to retain and hire a legal workforce, and ensures that labor laws, taxation and a number of other rules are applied evenly across the board.

Celebrities Who Were Once Undocumented
It also takes care of a particularly difficult problem faced by young people who grew up in the United States but were born in other countries. At least a million young people were brought here as children and have no papers. They have not knowingly or willfully broken any law by moving with their parents, yet they are trapped in limbo, unable to work legally, charged a much higher rate for tuition in most higher education settings, and unable to get legal in the U.S.

Back in 2010, the DREAM Act, a bill proposed by Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Rep. Howard Berman of California and others passed the House by a vote of 216-198 (with eight Republicans voting "Yea"), but ran aground on a Republican-led filibuster in the Senate. The vote to override the filibuster was carried live coast-to-coast on two TV networks (Univision and Telemundo) that had broken into their regularly scheduled programs. Viewers that day watched almost every Republican Senator and a handful of Democrats vote to kill the bill.

Now, a number of Republican politicians, seeing the gap between the GOP's position and the views of most voters -- and especially Latino voters -- are trying to find a middle ground, or what they consider a middle ground. They are proposing to legalize some immigrants who are here illegally —but only a select few — and to deny them the opportunity of eventually earning citizenship. One proposal would only allow protection from deportation if an undocumented immigrant served in the U.S. military. Another would only allow immigrants to avoid deportation by serving in the military or by attending a four year college—and only if they applied and were accepted before they turned 18 and a half years old. This proposal and others would create a second class non-citizen, pseudo legal status in which you could live and work but never participate fully in American society with the full rights and responsibilities as everyone else.

What is the LEAST Latino State of the Union?
So, they propose to exclude almost all of the immigrants already living here and would create a non-citizen class that might never fully integrate into the United States. Never serve on a jury. Never run for elected office. Never vote. This generation of immigrants, unlike every group of immigrants to ever come to the United States, would be excluded from becoming Americans. Like France, we would have a generation of non-citizens living here but not fully part of society. It is a recipe for disaster and at odds with everything that makes the American tradition of immigration so unique, and compelling. And successful.

It is ironic that the proposals are coming mainly from Florida Republicans, many of whom are Cuban by heritage and whose families are just a generation or two separated from being economic and political migrants seeking freedom and opportunity — and inclusion — in America.

In order to find a more practical — and popular — approach that mitigates the damage done to Republicans by the immigration hardliners, these proposals abandon what has been so successful about immigration in this country. Immigrants are changed by America and over time, we live by our motto, E Pluribus Unum — out of many, one. We should not lose sight of this fundamental underpinning of Democracy and American society.

Guest Voz:Congressman Luis Guitierrez - President Obama, Why Are You Abandoning Latinos as we face Racial ProfilingTerror in our Hometown Communities?

Guest Voz: Congressman Luis Guitierrez

It is open season on the Latino community in Arizona. In Phoenix, Tucson, and across the state, people in Latino neighborhoods are afraid to leave their houses, afraid to be apart from their children for even a minute, and afraid to walk the streets because they feel their arrest on suspicion of being an undocumented immigrant could happen at any moment. It is a horrifying glimpse at what our future holds across the country if we continue down the path the Obama administration is leading us on immigration.

This week, we saw how destructive things are getting. The combination of a harsh piece of anti-immigrant legislation advancing in the Arizona legislature and a massive, well-publicized federal enforcement action against a broad human smuggling network has sent the unmistakable message to Arizona's one million immigrants and two million Hispanics: there is a target on your backs and authorities are coming after you.
President Obama, who promised immigration reform but has failed to make it a priority or use his office to make good on his campaign promises, is now able to see what lies ahead. The Obama administration has escalated mass deportation as our singular approach to immigrants and this has combined in Arizona with anti-immigrant hysteria that is festering to the point that state and local elected opportunists are taking matters into their own hands - with complete federal acquiescence.
We are now deporting people at a rate of 1,000 per day -- with nearly half of the arrests in the state of Arizona -- and now the state legislature is on the verge of escalating that pace dramatically. A law (SB 1070) that passed the state House this week and is probably headed to Governor's desk for signature, authorizes state and local police to round up anyone "suspected" of being an undocumented immigrant. As if that weren't bad enough, the law throws in a bounty of $500 in fines and a possible misdemeanor conviction on criminal trespassing if the particular lawman involved happens to guess correctly and the person they arrest cannot prove they are here legally.

As we know from experience in Arizona and elsewhere, giving police such a broad mandate to arrest and book people "suspected" of looking a certain way isn't just an invitation to racial profiling, it's like waving a green flag and saying "gentlemen start your engines." It is an insult to American justice and one of the harshest assaults on basic civil rights in recent American history. Then Thursday, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency compounded the panic with one of the biggest Arizona enforcement actions in history, taking down an alleged state-wide smuggling ring. Let's be clear, I support targeted enforcement against smuggling rings exploiting our broken immigration system and preying on vulnerable immigrants, but the timing of this show of force could not have been more destructive.

Television screens across the state flashed images of 800 federal officers unleashed in Phoenix and Tucson, taking people to jail and multiplying the sense of siege in immigrant and Latino communities. After years of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Latino neighborhood sweeps, harsher and harsher state laws that target Latinos and immigrants, and escalating federal deportation, I'm afraid we have turned a very dangerous corner in the war on immigrants.

And we have heard nothing from the President. A man who told the Latino electorate that he saw undocumented immigrants as future citizens, not criminals or deportees, has not lifted a finger. It isn't as if his administration doesn't have a clear immigration policy; they do. It's called deportation only. And they are removing immigrants, mostly Latino, at a faster pace than the Bush administration ever did. All of the rhetoric that a new enforcement strategy targeting serious violent criminals was being adopted has been revealed as empty rhetoric. When the Washington Post published internal memos from Homeland Security headquarters to their field agents instructing them that their job performance would be judged by filling deportation quotas for simple visa and immigration violations, all of the President's lofty promises about a new approach went out the window. Either the President, Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano, and ICE Assistant Secretary Morton have been misleading the American people and Congress about their enforcement priorities or they have no control over what their agencies are doing.

At a minimum, the President has failed to put his heart into reforming immigration. He has dropped the ball in the first year of his presidency and as we head into election season in his second year, we are seeing more of the same. Unless the President acts forcefully in the coming weeks to drive the immigration reform issue forward, we are going to see a lot more of the devastation we are seeing in Arizona this week. I know the President knows what we need to do. We need comprehensive immigration reform to diffuse the crisis we are facing. We need the federal government to assert their supremacy over the immigration issue and make it clear to state legislatures, cowboy cops, and the American people that the federal government is in charge and effectively enforcing and regulating immigration. We need legal immigration as an alternative to illegal immigration and a way of getting the millions of unauthorized immigrants already here to get legal and get in compliance with our laws.

The President knows what we must do, but he alone must summon the political will in Washington to do it. The short-run calculations of politics are deeply rooted and hard to overcome, but as we saw in the health care debate, he can do it if he wants to. He needs to stop appeasing those who embrace the persistent fantasy of MASS DEPORTATION or the delusion that by making America so hostile and uninviting, tens of millions of immigrants will deport themselves. Obama the President needs to stand up for what Obama the candidate and what Obama the Senator and what Obama the Chicago community organizer stood for and lead the Congress towards reform.

But I'm already afraid that for the people of Arizona, he has waited too long. Even if an immigration reform bill passed tomorrow, Latino families in Arizona still face the prospect of going out into a hostile world next week. I know thousands of Latino families will hesitate before dropping their kids off at school or will have that terrifying twinge of fear before venturing out to buy groceries or go to work. If we allow police-state tactics in Arizona to continue, the level of basic community security will erode and civil unrest could escalate. The President must act now to diffuse the Arizona panic and take control of a deteriorating situation that could become a national crisis.

What do we do to improve our Current Broken Immigration Processes?

Most people know and understand our current immigration policies are Broken.

Congressman Gutierrez has submitted an Immigration Reform Bill. Whether you agree with him or not, you must agree our policies are broken.

From my perspective, there are 3 strategies:
1. We can DO NOTHING and stay in Status Quo (broken immigration policies; promote racial profiling)
2. We can enforce current laws and demand Mass Deportation
3. We can fix the broken processes, fix the problems in Immigration Courts and support Comprehensive Immigration Reform

As I've been studying this issue, various groups have different perspectives. For example, Farm Bureaus promote Temporary Worker Programs:
"Federal lawmakers and the new administration also should complete an unfinished immigration bill left over from 2008. They expressed support for immigration reform that provides a more efficient temporary worker program for agriculture. They voted to support improved training for employers to help them understand and better use the current H-2A seasonal agricultural worker program, and better information delivery for new users of the program."

It is clear we cannot sit still and do nothing. What should we do to improve our current broken processes?

Rep Gutierrez at Large Chicago Immigration Rally: "2010 - The Year for Immigration Reform!" Jesse Jackson invokes memory of MLK at Rally!

Chicago Sun-Times Reports:

With zeal befitting a church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, Rep. Luis Gutierrez told 1,200 people jammed into First Baptist Congregational Church on the West Side on Saturday that America can no longer put meaningful immigration reform on hold. Gutierrez -- pushing his own immigration reform bill -- said Latinos didn't turn out in droves to support then-Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama only to see his administration "be the administration that's deported more people than the last administration."

And while Obama has come under fire for trying to tackle too many issues at one time, Gutierrez told the supportive crowd: "This is the year we're going to get it done!"

Saturday's rally, entitled Full Citizenship and Full Employment for Full Equality, featured Chicago area lawmakers as well as union and religious leaders -- all calling for major changes in immigration law. By some estimates, there are 12 million people living illegally in the United States. Gutierrez says his immigration bill "keeps people working, but understands the needs of our economy. It gives a pathway to citizenship, but understands that immigrants must learn English, pay taxes and contribute to their communities."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson invoked the memory of King -- whose birthday is being commemorated Monday -- in calling for a change in immigration policy. "His fight was about immigration reform," Jackson said. "It was about one set of rules" for all people. And Jackson, like several others who spoke, highlighted the plight of the people of Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake there.
Too often, Jackson said, would-be Haitian immigrants are unfairly turned away from U.S. shores. "We should play by one set of rules, whether you're from Cuba, Haiti or Mexico," Jackson said.

Gutierrez also took a swipe at his own faith, saying the Roman Catholic Church should stand up for immigration reform the way it fights against abortion. "My church is a church that should watch every action of unfairness and injustice that has occurred in the Congress of the United States, and not just one or two that they decide to choose," he said.

Breaking News: Rep. Luis Gutierrez to Introduce Immigration Reform Bill on Tuesday

Breaking News: Rep. Luis Gutierrez will introduce Immigration Reform legislation to Congress on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009. I will be joining Local and National leaders who support CIR tomorrow for a sneak peak at the bill and to learn more about why the Congressman is moving forward now and how we will make reform a reality in 2010. Stay tuned for continued updates over the days and weeks ahead!

Chicago SunTime.com
Rep. Luis Gutierrez renewing push for immigration reform Tuesday
December 11, 2009 8:56 AM

"Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity"

- to be Introduced December 15(Washington D.C.)

On Tuesday, December 15, Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) will introduce new legislation, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP), to the U.S. House of Representatives. Gutierrez will be joined by members of many different faiths and backgrounds, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Black Caucus, Asian Pacific American Caucus and Progressive Caucus.

Who:

Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (IL-4), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Immigration Task Force

Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-12), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic

Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (NY-11), Whip of the Congressional Black Caucus

Rep. Mike Honda (CA-15), Chair of Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA-6), Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus

Rep. Judy Chu (CA-32)Rep. Joseph Crowley (NY-7)

Rep. Pedro R. Pierluisi (PR-At large)

Rep. Jared Polis (CO-2)

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-9)

Rep. Jose E. Serrano (NY-16)

Other Members of Congress

What: Introduction of Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation

When:12:30 pm, Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Where:Room 2220, Rayburn House Office Building

"We have waited patiently for a workable solution to our immigration crisis to be taken up by this Congress and our President," said Rep. Gutierrez. "The time for waiting is over. This bill will be presented before Congress recesses for the holidays so that there is no excuse for inaction in the New Year. It is the product of months of collaboration with civil rights advocates, labor organizations, and members of Congress. It is an answer to too many years of pain --mothers separated from their children, workers exploited and undermined security at the border-- all caused at the hands of a broken immigration system. This bill says 'enough,' and presents a solution to our broken system that we as a nation of immigrants can be proud of."

Legislation Core Principles:

. Pathway to legalization for undocumented workers
. Professional and effective border enforcement
. Smart and humane interior enforcement
. Protecting workers
. Verification systems
. Family unity as a cornerstone of our immigration system
. Future flows of workers
. AgJOBS
. DREAM Act
. Promoting immigrant integration