Quotes from Luis Gutierrez

On Tuesday 26 July 2011, I was arrested in front of the White House along with a dozen other pro-immigrant advocates and clergy. We sat down on the sidewalk in front of the White House with a banner that read 'One Million Deported Under President Obama' and refused to move when the police ordered us to.

We must stand on principle and practicality, and we should be very clear that a policy aimed at driving out 10 or 11 million people is not a good one.

If you are brown, black, Asian, or anything other than an English-speaking, highly-trained technician, the Republican Party doesn't want you here.

I was arrested twice in demonstrations in front of the Obama White House in the push for DACA.

Punishing individual immigrants who are deeply embedded in American communities is not the mandate Trump was given when he was elected.

We believe that the way you dress and the shoes you wear are not probable cause for questioning or arrest.

Mr. Speaker, Americans want, need, and rightfully expect Congress to protect them from the prying eyes of identity thieves and give them back control of their Social Security numbers and personal health information.

The immigrant blame game is constant. Cynical politicians believe it drives poll numbers; cynical commentators believe it drives TV ratings.

I understand the frustration provoked by our broken immigration system. But 50 state immigration policies are just a recipe for more chaos.

And let us not forget the Social Security system. Recent studies show that undocumented workers sustain the Social Security system with a subsidy as much as $7 billion a year. Let me repeat that: $7 billion a year.

According to the study, approximately 16.7 million U.S. workers born in Latin America had a combined gross income of $450 billion last year, of which 93 percent was spent locally.

If immigration reform is bad for America's workers, then why does virtually every group that represents American workers support it so enthusiastically?

We need to decouple the movement for comprehensive immigration reform and justice for immigrants from the legislative process and from the Democratic Party process. They are too linked.

U.S. v. Arizona is a landmark case not just because of the constitutional issues related to who regulates and enforces immigration, but because of its civil rights implications, too.

I am a senior Democratic Member of Congress whose parents were born in Puerto Rico and for whom Puerto Rico self-determination has been - and remains - a central issue of my congressional career.

Lots of special interests play the immigrant blame game every day because they like things the way they are and don't see a need for change.

Immigration policy should be set and enforced federally.

Republicans will criticize whatever President Obama does because that is what they do.

The pro-life, pro-family Republicans are now pro-neonatal detention and deportation. It isn't enough to drive out the people not born here; now they want to drive out the ones that were.

The issue of immigration is one of the most complex and politically difficult issues because there is so much passion on all sides.

Legal immigrants have been an engine of economic growth, innovation, and entrepreneurship on this continent for longer than we have been a nation.

The American people overwhelmingly want to see smart policy that secures our families, our borders, and our economy.

In my experience, young people fighting for the passage of the DREAM Act and to prevent the deportation of those who are eligible are among the most committed and fearless advocates for change in this country.

I was the first Latino member of Congress to support Senator Obama's candidacy. For quite a while, I was the only one.