Rep. Luis Gutiérrez: Obama Immigration Enforcement Policies ‘Already Protecting Millions’ from Deportation

While the courts have continued to block President Obama’s executive amnesty programs, Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL) is acknowledging that the Obama administration’s changes to its immigration enforcement policies are already shielding millions from deportation.

Monday night the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s injunction blocking the Obama administration from granting unilateral amnesty and work permits to millions of illegal immigrants.

Gutiérrez, one of the most vocal amnesty advocates, expressed hope for the Obama administration’s appeal to the Supreme Court and optimism that executive amnesty would eventually go forward.

“The Supreme Court is on the clock and millions of American families are waiting. Whatever else the Obama Administration is working on today, I hope they are immediately appealing this decision to the Supreme Court so that we have swift resolution,” Gutiérrez said in a statement Tuesday.

The Justice Department signaled Tuesday it would take the matter to the Supreme Court.

While the illegal immigration population waits for the outcome, Gutiérrez highlighted that the Obama administration’s immigration enforcement policy — which prioritizes immigration enforcement, largely reserving removal for national security threats and aliens with a severe enough criminal record — is already shielding millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.

“In the meantime, how the United States prioritizes deportations is already protecting millions of families from being ripped apart by preventing the deportation of people with no criminal record and deep roots in the U.S.,” Gutiérrez said. “This will continue with or without a ruling from the Supreme Court.”

According to the Illinois Democrat, regardless of the court’s decision Monday, “The law and common sense are so clearly” on Obama’s side that the executive actions will be implemented eventually.

“As a country, we want millions of people who have lived here a long time to pay fees, submit to criminal background checks, and register with the government, and that will happen eventually, hopefully by next summer,” he said. “Individuals want to protect themselves and their families from deportation, and as a nation, we need to get beyond the charade of mass deportation policies that waste time and money and injure real lives, but do not get us any closer to the rule of law.”