Luis Gutierrez: 'I Lost' the Executive Amnesty Argument

Luis Gutierrez: 'I Lost' the Executive Amnesty Argument

On Wednesday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) conceded that grassroots American workers who oppose executive amnesty for illegal immigrants were more persuasive than he was, ultimately forcing President Barack Obama to delay his executive amnesty until after the midterm elections. 

Though Obama had said he would enact executive amnesty that could give work permits to nearly five million illegal immigrants “by the end” of summer, he decided to delay it to give Senate Democrats a better chance of retaining control of the Senate.

“I have made my argument to the President, to this White House, to his cabinet,” Gutierrez said to Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC. “I lost that argument.”

Gutierrez, a leading advocate for executive amnesty and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, gave Obama a wish list this spring that included granting temporary amnesty to everyone who would have qualified for a pathway to citizenship under the Senate’s comprehensive amnesty bill. Gutierrez, after encouraging Obama during a White House meeting to be as broad as possible in his executive actions, said he believed Obama would go big in stopping the deportations “of our people.”

Obama, however, conceded that the coverage of the illegal immigrant juveniles, nearly 90% of whom are teenagers, changed the politics of the issue. Senate Democrats, fearing they would lose control of the Senate if Obama enacted executive amnesty, also had been urging Obama not to act before the midterm elections.

Since Breitbart Texas broke the story in June of illegal immigrants being warehoused in Texas, illegal immigration has become one of the most important issues facing the country, as the mainstream media were forced to cover the issue. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found more than a 20-point swing in opposition to a pathway to citizenship. And support among black Americans for a pathway to citizenship has plummeted from 75% to 59% during the same period. 

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.