Gutierrez blasts Congress for inaction on immigration
by Satta Sarmah
Oct 09, 2007
Saying current immigration policy is more about politics and xenophobia than good public policy, U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Chicago) lambasted Republicans and members of his own party Tuesday for their inaction on immigration reform.
Speaking to an audience of more than 300 at Northeastern Illinois University’s 13th Annual Equity in Action Conference, Gutierrez said he and other Democrats submitted measures for comprehensive immigration reform that proposed stringent background checks on undocumented immigrants, a mandatory six-year waiting period to gain U.S. citizenship for immigrants required to return home, and mandatory English-immersion and civics classes.
Gutierrez said all these measures were rejected by Congress for political reasons.
“This is really not about public policy,” Gutierrez said. “This is about the color of the skin of the people who would be legalized under the program.
“Xenophobia in America is nothing new.”
Gutierrez said legalizing the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States is a matter of both economic and national security.
“You want to have a secure nation after 9/11 and you have 12 million people [and] you don’t know who they are, where they live, how they bank,” Gutierrez said. “I want to bring them out so we know where they are.”
Jessica Moen, a senior at the university, said that although she hadn’t been following recent debates about America’s immigration policy, she agreed the current policy needs to be changed.
“They could send back people that are really trying to make an effort to stay here,” Moen said. “That’s not fair.”
Gutierrez said fellow Democrats have failed their constituency on this issue, and the actions of House Democrats have been "shameful" when it comes to immigration reform.
“When it comes to the war in Iraq, we don’t consult with the Republicans. When it comes to raising the minimum wage, we don’t consult with Republicans,” Gutierrez said. “Why is it that all of a sudden the Democrats have to consult with Republicans when it comes to comprehensive immigration reform?”
“We’re the majority now. It is the responsibility of the Democratic majority to take this issue on,” he added.
Lucrecia Antalejo, a foreign languages and literature professor at the university, said U.S. government has failed to resolve immigration issues because the country lacks any form of an immigration policy altogether.
“We don’t have any; that’s the bottom line” Antalejo said. “If we have so many undocumented people, we don’t have any policy.”
