Gutierrez: Immigration reform dead
Democrat urges Obama to issue executive order curbing deportations
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) criticized his House colleagues for failing to forge a deal and urged President Obama to issue an executive order curbing deportations.
WASHINGTON — In a major switch, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), a leader in negotiating with House Republicans on immigration reform, declared Wednesday there is no chance for a deal and called on President Barack Obama to issue an executive order curbing deportations.
Gutierrez pronounced immigration dead in a speech on the House floor, delivered as Friday marks one year since the Senate passed a bipartisan comprehensive immigration bill on a robust 68-32 roll call.
“You’re done. Leave the field. Too many flagrant offenses and unfair attacks and too little action while you run out the clock. You are out. Hit the showers. I’m giving you the red card,” Gutierrez said, using a World Cup reference.
“First of all, your chance to play a role in how immigration and deportation policies are carried out this year is over.
“Having been given ample time and space to craft legislation, you failed, the president now has no other choice but to act within existing law to ensure that our deportation policies are humane, that due-process rights are protected, that detention conditions are as they should be, and most importantly — that the people we are deporting are detriments to our communities, not assets to our families, economy, and society,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez had remained optimistic about the potential of a deal even after the surprise defeat of Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor to a tea party rival in the Virginia primary earlier this month, with immigration seen as one of several factors contributing to his downfall.
But on April 2 Gutierrez set a July 4 deadline for House Republicans to act, figuring that after the holiday recess — and with the November mid-term elections looming and Congress off for most of August — the difficult would become the impossible.
Gutierrez had cultivated relationships with key Republicans on immigration including Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fl.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (RWis.) and was in the position to cut a deal because he was willing to pragmatically compromise on a string of GOP concerns, just to get something done.
Ryan even came to Chicago in April 2013 for joint appearances with Gutierrez to discuss how to overhaul the system. While there is House GOP support for a variety of immigration measures that could pass, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) refuses to call individual bills for a vote because of objections of a hard-line GOP faction.
Gutierrez is stepping up pressure on Obama to act on his own to curb deportations, which have soared on his watch, and to extend temporary protections to “Dreamers,” youths illegally in the U.S. through no fault of their own.
Obama ordered Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to review deportation policies. Obama delayed a decision on whether to take executive action on deportations in order to give the House GOP leaders even more time to act, knowing that if he issued an order, Republicans would slam the door shut.
Indeed, on Wednesday Boehner announced that he will ask the House in July to approve a resolution to sue Obama, alleging the president abused his executive authority by taking actions without congressional approval.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was asked about Gutierrez declaring immigration dead at the Wednesday briefing.
Said Earnest, “I certainly would agree with the frustration that Congressman Gutierrez has expressed.”