Free Republic

They always say Hispanics do jobs that other Americans won’t do. Believe it. You even see it in Congress. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) is getting ready to do something that none of his non-Hispanic colleagues are the least bit anxious to do: introduce a bill calling for comprehensive immigration reform. Why the hesitation? Simple: grabbing hold of this thorny issue is a sure way to lose friends and infuriate people. Here are three things to keep in mind about the legislation: (1) It will likely be the template for what Gutierrez recently predicted would be a rebooting of the immigration...

... President Obama was blasted by a top Latino ally on Monday for modifying his health-care plan in the face of conservative criticism. The criticism was leveled in Spanish by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Democrat from Illinois who was the first Latino member of Congress to endorse Barack Obama for president. Referring to the Obama administration, Gutierrez said: "Those who should be our friends, our allies, are more and more giving Rep. (Joe) Wilson, R-S.C., exactly what he wants to continue with this prejudice against our community." Gutierrez, who made his remarks in Washington, D.C., while participating in a panel...

(CNSNews.com) – In emotional testimony before a House joint panel this week, a Virginia man recalled the death of his teenage daughter in 2007 – a death caused by an illegal immigrant who was driving drunk and who had been arrested twice before the crime, but was not deported. “Two years ago this week, my 16-year-old daughter, Tessa, and her best friend Allison were killed as they were sitting at in intersection waiting for a red light to change,” Ray Tranchant said, as friends placed a photograph of Tessa Tranchant on an easel behind him. Since his daughter’s death, Tranchant,...

SAN FRANCISCO — The 109th and 110th editions of the U.S. Congress debated and battled but never came up with a major immigration bill that its members could pass. Whether the 111th Congress will fare any better remains to be seen. In the first of what is likely to be many more salvos, a Chicago-area congressman will be touring the Bay Area this weekend, issuing a faith-focused call to make immigration reform a national priority — even as foreclosures, health care and urgent economic troubles vie for President Barack Obama's attention. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat, is scheduled to...

Rep. Luis Gutierrez and his friends from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will be conducting a nationwide tour to push for "comprehensive immigration reform", i.e., amnesty. What I need you to do is to organize local efforts to go to these meetings and ask him or his nationally-known colleagues questions designed to discredit them. Video of that can then be uploaded to Youtube. Note that I'm talking about questions designed to show that they're lying or not telling the whole truth or that they haven't thought through the impacts of their policies. I'm not talking about rants, open ended questions, and...

Obama pick faces questions over bombers' clemencyBy PETE YOST Associated Press Writer Originally published Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 2:05 PM WASHINGTON — New York police detective Anthony S. Senft's life changed forever when a bomb set by Puerto Rican separatists exploded, blowing him 15 feet in the air and blinding him in one eye. Now, he's angry that Eric Holder, who played a key role in awarding clemency to the bombers, is in line to be attorney general. Holder, as President Bill Clinton's deputy attorney general, worked closely with the Justice Department's pardon attorney to raise the possibility of...

Most notable among the petitions for clemency granted during Holder’s tenure is the request from 16 members of a Puerto Rican Marxist terrorist group, the Armed Forces of National Liberation, known by its Spanish acronym FALN, which engaged in a robbery and terror campaign in both the U.S. and Puerto Rico during the 1970s and 1980s. The clemency petition, which was supported by Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-N.Y.), Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) and Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), became the subject of fiery controversy after it was revealed that none of the convicted terrorists had renounced violence and that their victims had not been...

Three Democratic lawmakers who spoke Wednesday about alleged anti-immigrant coverage by conservative media outlets were not aware of a recent State Department travel alert warning Americans about military-like "combat" along the southern U.S. border in Mexico, where Americans are being kidnapped and murdered. "The situation in northern Mexico remains very fluid; the location and timing of future armed engagements there cannot be predicted," said the State Department alert. "Armed robberies and carjackings, apparently unconnected to the narcotics-related violence, have increased in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez. Dozens of U.S. citizens were kidnapped and/or murdered in Tijuana in 2007." When asked about...

Plan would grant temporary legal status to millions and offer a path to citizenship.WASHINGTON -- Bipartisan legislation to be unveiled today in the House of Representatives would offer temporary legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants but would require them to leave the country before they could be eligible for permanent residency and U.S. citizenship. The bill by Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., is the first major immigration legislation to be introduced in the current session of Congress, as lawmakers address the status of more than 11 million immigrants in the country illegally. A comprehensive Senate immigration...

March 21, 2007 Yesterday, Congressmen Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) held a conference call with reporters in which they announced their intention to introduce a "comprehensive immigration reform" bill on Thursday. There were few substantive details released at that time, but sources tell us that at the very least, the bill will contain some sort of amnesty provision for illegal aliens currently in the United States. This morning, CongressDaily reports that Congressmen Flake and Gutierrez, who had been participating in negotiations with Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA) about the components of a new immigration bill,...

Two Democratic congressmen who could have mounted formidable challenges to longtime Mayor Richard Daley announced Thursday that they will not run for mayor next year because of their party's new found power in Congress. The power shift on Capitol Hill bodes well for both Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. and Luis Gutierrez. "More than any time since I took my initial oath of office, I am excited, eager, and downright giddy about the prospects in Washington," said Jackson, the son of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. "In short, Tuesday's election made for a big night, and a new day." Jackson said...

Weekend Talk Show *Preview* for DATE HERE (not the live thread)Journal Editorial Report (Paul Gigot) - FNC show page Meme: Don't believe what the dinosaur media is telling you about November, but don't discount it, either Topics: "Runs, Hits and Errors"A discussion of GOP prospects (from OpinionJournal web site) After Tom DeLay's departure, how bad does November's election now look for Republicans, and can they do anything to stop a rout? The 2006 elections: With DeLay out of the picture, can the GOP get its mojo back? (FNC web site)Baseball steroids (from OpinionJournal web site) Major League Baseball finally confronts...

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Tom Tancredo and an Illinois congressman traded charges of racism during a heated confrontation following a televised appearance Wednesday on immigration reform, both their congressional offices confirmed today. Tancredo and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., are frequent sparring partners on the talk show circuit as Congress works to pass some version of immigration reform. Tancredo is a leading advocate of tougher enforcement against illegal immigrants and people who hire them. Gutierrez, the son of Mexican immigrants, calls Tancredo's approach "ugly policy" motivated by racism. On Wednesday, they appeared together on CNBC, and when the cameras stopped rolling the...

Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Chicago) Tuesday invited the president of the company that makes American Girl dolls to visit Pilsen after the firm angered some Hispanics by describing the neighborhood in a storybook as "dangerous.'' Meanwhile, Ald. Daniel Solis (25th) said he had set up a meeting for next week with a representative from Mattel, American Girl's parent company, to discuss what he said was "probably an unintended mistake.'' The Wisconsin-based American Girl rankled some when it set the back story of a new doll in Chicago. The storybook describes how a Mexican-American girl named Marisol Luna moves to suburban...