During an interview on CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) lit into Republicans regarding their words and actions surrounding the crisis at the border involving migrant children from Central America. The Congressman tore apart Texas Governor Rick Perry’s rationale for wanting the National Guard called to the border as Gutierrez stated that the border is more secure than it has ever been. He pointed out to host Bob Schieffer that the number of deportations has increased under President Obama while the number of illegal crossings has decreased.
Below is from the show’s transcript:
BOB SCHIEFFER: We’re back now with Congressman Luis Gutierrez, whose district is in Chicago, O’Hare Airport, Midway Airport, kind of the northwest and–
REP. LUIS GUTIERREZ: Northwest, southwest side.
BOB SCHIEFFER: –side of it, and we thank you for coming back to Washington to join us this morning. You just heard Rick Perry, some really strong words about the President. He said basically he’s just not interested in solving this problem on the border.
REP. LUIS GUTIERREZ: Well, Governor Perry’s just wrong on that issue. Let’s first go, he kept repeating “the border, the border, the border,” and he wants to put more National Guardsmen in and if he put more National Guardsman in, the children wouldn’t come. The children come, Bob, fleeing violence and torture, murder and rape.
And so, they’re going to continue to come as long as those conditions exist and we don’t fix our broken immigration system. Let’s just put in context what the governor just said. So at the height of George Bush’s President in 2002, I’m sorry, not the height, during George Bush’s Presidency, 1,600,000 people apprehended crossing the border between Mexico and the United States.
Today it’s under 400,000. But George Bush, average of about 200,000 people deported a year, average over his eight years. Over six years of President Barack Obama, 400,000. Over two million deported under already. So (unintelligible) border and border, in terms of deportation, there has been enforcement.
Gutierrez also brought up the law that was first passed in 2002, and then reauthorized in 2008, that allows children from certain countries in Central America to apply for asylum once they’ve reached the border.
GUTIERREZ: So you can keep throwing money and talk about enforcement, enforcement, enforcement, but you’ve got to put money also into your judicial system, and you’ve got to put money in a comprehensive program that deals with the issue. I want to make one last point to the Governor, look, these are children. I’m happy he didn’t demonize the children, but there is a demonization that goes on. And all I say to the Governor is I wish you understood and accepted the law of the land, Governor. And the law of the land in 2008, we adopted in the Congress of the United States an anti-trafficking law. But wait, it wasn’t only in 2008 that we said protect the children, we said protect the children in 2002 when we created the Department of Homeland Security. (unintelligible) signed by President Bush said, “We must treat children who arrive at our shores differently.”
After providing the facts regarding border security and the law of the land, Gutierrez went for the head shot on the GOP. He discussed House Republicans and the offensive way they talk about immigration in this country. Specifically, he highlighted comments made by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), who both have made extremely offensive statements in the past regarding Hispanics and immigration.
BOB SCHIEFFER: Let me just ask you about this, because I hear this from Democrats, as well as Republicans, and prominent Democrats are saying, “You know, if the President was going to Texas, he should have gone down to the border and he should have taken a firsthand look into this.” Do you think he would have been better off if he had done that?
REP. LUIS GUTIERREZ: Absolutely. I think the President should have gone down there, stated what the law is. In 2008, Bob, we– look, Louie Gohmert from Texas hasn’t even seen an immigrant that he hasn’t thought was bringing disease to this country. And went on the, no, went on the House Floor this week to compare the invasion of children to our incursion into Mexico to seek out Pancho Villa, to our reaching the beaches of Normandy. So they put it in these terms.
But Steven King from Iowa, he always says they’re criminals. He can never say “immigrant” and “criminal” without (unintelligible). They voted for the 2002 and 2008 law that say, “Protect.” So when there were calmer times, right, levelheaded people thinking about the issue, we put the children’s interests first. Remember bipartisanship? This wasn’t a Democratic bill–
Regarding Gohmert, Gutierrez was referring to a speech that Gohmert made on the House floor last week where he did actually bring up Normandy and likened the situation at the border to an invasion.
It was absolutely refreshing to see a Democrat call out the GOP’s blatant racism regarding not only this humanitarian crisis, but the whole issue of immigration reform. Gutierrez has worked tirelessly over the past few years to make comprehensive immigration reform a reality, only to see it killed in the House by Republicans who have allowed the most extreme elements of their party to take charge on an issue that the vast majority of Americans support. You can sense that Gutierrez is just tired of it all and is going to speak from the heart on these issues.
Good for him.
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