This is not the only obstacle that Gutierrez believes the Democratic Party has to prepare for when it comes to issues of immigration. The Illinois congressman told Axelrod he predicts Trump will rescind or revoke the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy (DACA) before September 5, the deadline for the administration to take action before ten state attorneys general challenge the policy in court.
Gutierrez does not have much optimism for a legislative approach to immigration reform, telling Axelrod he believes that House Speaker Paul Ryan and Republicans in Congress will "never" give them a vote on it.
"What unites the Republican Party is being anti-immigrant. It is the one thing that unites them across the board," Gutierrez said. "There's no political will in the Republican Party to allow a vote for immigrants."
Gutierrez said that the Trump administration's response to any bipartisan efforts at immigration reform was to say "we're for deportation ... we don't want to discuss procedures of legalization."
When asked about chief of staff John Kelly, whose purview as the former secretary of homeland security was immigration, Gutierrez said "I don't think he knows what he's doing."
"I think he has absolutely no understanding of the Department of Homeland Security," he said, citing examples of what he believes is Kelly's supposed lack of awareness on the Supreme Court DACA ruling and "prosecutorial discretion" on deportations.
"He may be a great general but he knows nothing about the Department of Homeland Security," Gutierrez said.
So, what does Guittierrez want us to do? He opposes any compromise that includes enforcement. We might as well pack our bags and leave.
