Gutierrez Slams Obama on Immigration Reform

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...on-reform.html

This article mentions a meeting I was just at, at La Placita in Los Angeles, and I have to tell you, I haven't ever felt as hopeful for reform as the meeting made me feel. Everyone was very fired up. Roll call... were you there? (Shout out to a Dreamer named Jeff who stood up for all Dreamers and told his truth!)

The meeting included many inspiring speakers, TONS of media coverage, deeply touching stories from those facing immediate actions by ICE, and the people, on their feet, over and over, shouting "Si Se Puede,"
"Obama, Escucha, estamos en la lucha" and "El Pueblo, Unido, hamas sera vencido."

Gutierrez and Maria Elena Durazo both gave AMAZING speeches (of which I could understand about 85% because they spoke in Spanish, as few in the audience spoke only English, but some spoke only Spanish, so what follows isn't a direct translation) about how we have responsibility to keep fighting until we win, and saying, basically, that immigrants are already a part of America in everyway, and that our country depends on immigrants so much for the work they do, that denying them papers is a crime. Guttierrez told everyone there to imagine that one day there was a police sweep in their neighborhood, and helicopters overhead, and then you reach in your pocket, and are able to pull out papers and say, "I belong." And he said that is the moment we were all fighting for... it was just really inspiring.

Durazo spoke about the hypocrisy of a nation that entrusts its own children into the arms of immigrants, trusts them to care for their own kids, but deny those workers the rights that the child has by saying the workers are criminals.

Finally, Angelica Salas ended the meeting by asking everyone there to call Schumer and put the pressure on him, and Obama too. She gave numbers to call... (866)9563902 for the White House, (866) 967-6018 for Schumer. They are not direct numbers, but numbers to a service that gives you talking points and then connects you. When I called the directions were in spanish.... but call thru these numbers anyways because you already know ur talking points!

Anyways, I will post any media coverage I find. There were lots of TV cameras. Lots.

Love it! Too bad it was in Cali....I keep missin Guttierrez when he speaks in the Chi, can someone please keep me updated on his appearances in ChicaGo

Dam if only I drove. I should have gone =(. So what else did he say? Is he optimistic about this year? and do we say when we call those #'s?

He was very optimistic about next year, but keep in mind he was speaking at a rally meant to get folks fired up. He will be on El Piolin in the morning talking as well. He said that no one has the right to rest or be tired of the fight, because it is everyone's responsibility to fight for human rights. He said that he sometimes hears that someone thinks they should do some other bill, and to them he says, "show me a bill that is better than this bill." He talked about the responsibility we all have to tell representatives that immigration reform is coming, and that if on the day that all those new voters can vote, if representatives want support, they need to have supported this reform. He challenged us to go to representatives, get them to sign their name as supporters of this bill and say, whether you are a Dem or a Republican, if you will not support the bill, our community will find someone to run against you who will support it.

He also specifically gave a shout out to the Representative who wrote the Dream Act part of his bill.

If you speak spanish, the talking points will be given to you when you call those numbers... If you don't the talking point for the White House is to say that Obama won the states of Nevada, Florida, Colorado and probably New Mexico -because- of immigrant community votes, and that we are watching and expect him to keep his commitment. For Schumer, just say that you know he is working on a bipartisan bill, and that you thank him, and support him, and that a bill with a path to citizenship is urgently needed.

Also, they mentioned that there will be a March on Washington on March 21, and I imagine there will be regional actions to support that effort since many cannot travel, but he said, tell everyone you know to fix their mind on getting the message to Washington on that day. He said, we want, on that day, for Obama to pull back the curtains of the windows at the White House, that he should look out and see all the thousands of people who have come to demand that they keep the promise, and know that there must be action. Oh, and he made a comparison to his long marriage to his wife, and said that in such a relationship you make promises to each other, that you must be faithful, and compared that to the promises Obama made, and that this country has made in its relationship to immigrants, and said that he must keep those promises. He said that he admired and respected and loved Obama, and that he was not making a criticism of inaction based on hatred, but on love, like you do in a marriage, and when you love someone you tell them when they are making a mistake. It was -Amazing-.

Everything I just read here gave me chills.

I wish I could've been there.

Well someone needs to slam him because his talk is cheap