06/18/13 Below are remarks from Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), who delivered a speech on the House floor about today’s markup of the SAFE Act in the House Judiciary Committee: Remarks on Immigration, U.S. Congress, June 18, 2013 Mr. Speaker – Later today, the Judiciary Committee will mark-up the first immigration-reform bill offered by Republicans in the [...]
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06/07/13 By Yoli Navas: Every day, families are being torn apart by the deportation of undocumented parents of US-citizen children. Human Impact Partners estimates that in the past year anywhere between 60,000 and 150,000 children have been separated from either one parent or both by the nation’s “heartless detain-and-deport immigration laws.” This week, Rep. Luis Gutierrez [...]
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02/28/13 The House Judiciary Committee held two hearings today, on two different topics (agriculture and E-Verify), yet the takeaway was the same: immigration reform must happen as soon as possible, and must include a path to citizenship. During Tuesday’s agriculture hearing, businesses and farmworkers found potential for an agreement on legalization, with several participants agreeing on the need [...]
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11/30/12 In the first vote on an immigration bill since this month’s election, the Republican-controlled House rehashed an old policy and passed a version of a bill that already failed earlier this year, 245-139.  Twenty-seven Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the legislation. The STEM Jobs Act, sponsored by anti-immigrant Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), would increase visas [...]
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10/17/12 Following the presidential debate last night, we put together a Twitter roundup of our favorite comments on the debate.  Today, we’re putting together a blog roundup of responses commenting on who did better during the immigration segment of the debate, hitting Romney for his repeated use of the slur “illegals,” lifting up how Romney wants [...]
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09/07/12 This week’s Democratic National Convention represented a clean break from the old and discredited conventional wisdom that for Democrats, immigration is an issue best avoided when talking to general election audiences.  Instead, and in contrast to last week’s Republican National Convention, Democrats embraced the new paradigm of immigration politics, one that recognizes that leaning into [...]
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09/06/12 Yesterday featured some stark reminders of why politics and elections matter. On stage at last night’s Democratic National Convention, DREAM Act advocate Benita Veliz spoke to the assembled delegates and television audience and shared her compelling personal story: “I graduated as a valedictorian of my high school class at the age of 16, and I [...]
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09/03/12 On Tuesday night, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro will be the first Latino to give the keynote address at a Democratic National Convention. He has been major Latino surrogate for Obama. And, Castro is from the same part of Texas as House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith. There couldn’t be a more stark contrast on immigration than the [...]
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07/10/12 US News and World Report offers two members of Congress with opposing views on President Obama’s bold move to provide relief to DREAMers. On one side is Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who supports the President’s action: If anyone still had any doubts about the legal ground on which the president stands with his recent announcement, he [...]
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06/27/12 Immigration reform champion Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) took to the House floor this morning to discuss the Supreme Court ruling on SB 1070, Arizona’s “show me your papers” law. Gutierrez gave a quiz titled, ”Pick Out The Immigrant.” Watch the speech below.  You’ll hear Gutierrez ask how Arizona officials determine which of the following are immigrants [...]
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06/09/12 It’s finally here!  Our panel at Netroots Nation 2012 discussing the importance of the Latino vote begins Saturday, June 9 at 10:30 AM. Speaking on the panel were Doug Rivlin from the Office of Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), ten-term Congressman and stalwart immigrant rights defender; Markos Moulitsas, founder and publisher of Daily Kos; Gaby Pacheco, an immigrant rights leader from Miami who helped [...]
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06/05/12 Representative Luis Gutierrez is one of our fiercest champions on immigration reform, and isn’t afraid to speak truth to power. Quite admirably, he never backs down — even when the person he’s challenging is one of the most powerful people in the world: President Barack Obama. “Today’s New York Times editorial, ‘A Start on the Dream,’ eloquently [...]
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06/04/12 Old theories about the politics of immigration are giving way to new realities, as demographics and the results of recent elections make the political case for pro-immigration positions.  But too many candidates in both parties remain wedded to the “conventional wisdom” about the politics of immigration.  Mitt Romney, for example, clearly believes in the old [...]
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05/30/12 Pundits and politicians across the political spectrum all agree: the Latino vote will be crucial this November and beyond as a growing demographic becomes increasingly influential in electoral politics.  Two years ago, the Latino vote erected a “Western firewall” in Colorado, Nevada, and Colorado that saved the Senate for the Democrats.  This year, they are [...]
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05/02/12 Netroots Nation 2012 is fast approaching, and there’s just one more day  — today, Wednesday, May 2  — to apply for a scholarship.  Every year, America’s Voice Education Fund sends ten activists passionate about immigration reform to Netroots, and there’s still time for you to be one of them. But make sure you apply by [...]
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