Thread: Family story influenced Gutierrez to be leader on immigratio

http://www.belleville.com/mld/bellevill ... 573048.htm

Posted on Sat, May. 13, 2006
AP Interview: Family story influenced Gutierrez to be leader on immigration
DEANNA BELLANDI
Associated Press
CHICAGO - When U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez's parents left the island of Puerto Rico to come to the mainland United States, they weren't typical immigrants because they were American citizens, but they faced many of the same challenges.

They didn't speak English and were treated like foreigners.

"When I got to Congress I said, `Man, I would really like for someone to have been there to speak up for my mom and dad," Gutierrez said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "And I want to be a spokesperson for people that are new to this country."

Now he is. The Democrat, who is flirting with a run for Chicago mayor, is a leader on immigration in Congress, a decision influenced by his family story. On the Hill, he's chairman of both the House Democrats' and Hispanic caucuses' immigration task forces.

Gutierrez, 52, wants to see laws that give illegal immigrants ways to legalize their status. He favors a guest worker program. And he said he expects meaningful immigration reform to happen soon, but if not now, then before the 2008 presidential election.

"Something's gotta give," he said.

Without change, Gutierrez said, people who come to America in search of work have no way to become legal like generations of European immigrants did before them after landing at Ellis Island in New York.

"They showed up to Ellis Island, they didn't have papers," Gutierrez said. "They didn't need papers, they showed up."

It's not that simple now, he said.

"There is no Ellis Island for people to show up," said Gutierrez, who served as a Chicago alderman before being elected to the U.S. House in 1992. During that time, he has pushed for legislation to legalize undocumented immigrants and let them work in this country. He has also organized citizenship workshops in his district.

The immigration debate has heated up in recent months, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets in Chicago and other cities around the country to rally for immigrant rights.

It's a contentious issue that is dividing both political parties. Gutierrez is part of the minority in a Republican-controlled Congress where some members favor a harder line on immigration, including making it a felony to enter the country illegally.

President Bush generally favors giving the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants here a chance to earn their U.S. citizenship without leaving the country, but conservative House Republicans oppose those measures. The president also supports a guest worker program to let immigrants work for American businesses.

For Gutierrez, it's not just his parents' story that he has to draw on. It's his own experiences, too, and those of the immigrants who live in his heavily Hispanic district.

Born in Chicago, Gutierrez recalls how he struggled to fit in when his parents moved back to Puerto Rico when he was in high school. He fumbled with the language and was called a "Gringo" and "Americanito."

"I was an immigrant in a foreign land," he said.

Gutierrez's personal experiences and his stature in Washington are what help make him an effective leader on immigration issues, said Catherine Salgado, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Her group helped to organize a May 1 immigrants rights rally in Chicago that police said drew 400,000 people but produced no arrests.

"It is very, very important to have the support of somebody in his position," Salgado said. "We do need someone who understands the issues, and he understands the issues."

Gutierrez's focus has not been solely immigration. He was an original sponsor of legislation to ban some semiautomatic assault weapons, he lobbied to increase the minimum wage and he protested the Navy bombing range on Puerto Rico's Vieques Island.

Not everyone is pleased with Gutierrez's efforts to help immigrants here illegally.

"We're very saddened that Mr. Gutierrez took an oath of office that he is violating," said Rosanna Pulido, state director of the Illinois Minuteman Project. "He swore to uphold our Constitution and he also swore to protect America from foreign invaders. Now he is protecting these people who broke the law."

For his part, Gutierrez wants to see the momentum of the recent immigrant rights marches spill over into other areas, including a National Citizenship Day on July 1.

The goal is to set up workshops across the country on the weekend before the Fourth of July to help the 8 million people he said are permanent residents become U.S. citizens.

"Instead of marches in 50, 60, 70 cities, we're going to set up citizenship workshops in 50, 60 70 cities," Gutierrez said.

He said undocumented immigrants, while they can't vote, are a political force to be reckoned with because they have friends and family who do vote.

"Those family members want them treated fairly," he said.

I'm going from memory here {previous research}

Gutierrez is possibly related to several in Government

He was/is member of one of the "activist groups"

Might have been one of the leaders.

Side Note: quite a few of the latino politicos were &/or are members of these groups. It's been documented. That also goes for the JUSTICE DEPT.

This guy is another one that will sell anyone and everyone out for "his people". He beleives anyone that wants to be here should and doesn't do much to concern himself about the citizens. As far as I'm concerned, they should have some sort of rule that says even for these positions they must be 3rd or 4th generation from immigrant families so there isn't such a blatent personal agenda to resolve.