Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Gutierrez: House Will Use GOP's Piecemeal Approach To Immigration Reform

Huffington Post

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), a leading proponent of comprehensive immigration reform in the House, said Thursday in a radio interview that the GOP preference for a piecemeal approach is likely to win out.

"We are going to do them piecemeal, but in the end you're going to have a full menu," Gutierrez said on Chicago Public Radio's "Afternoon Shift." Gutierrez has said before that he's open to a piecemeal approach to immigration reform, as long as it eventually includes different measures affecting security, the so-called Dreamers and new workers.

Gutierrez acknowledged that Democrats need to change their strategy, given the current balance in Congress.

"Democrats in the House of Representatives have to stop negotiating from the point of view that they're in the majority," he said. "We're not."

Gutierrez also said that the piece of immigration legislation that is most likely to get passed will be a version of the Dream Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for the Dreamers, people brought to the United States as children who also meet other requirements.

"My sense is right now, it is the area we can reach the most consensus," he said.

"The parents, to me, need to be included in this process. I don't vilify them or condemn them," Gutierrez said, but added that Dream advocates themselves have succeeded in winning the argument.

"The basic premise of this -- I didn't really like it too much when [Dream advocates] made it, because if somebody's innocent, then somebody is guilty. And I think there's a lot of innocence going around in this process."

To read the full article, please click:  Gutierrez: House Will Use GOP's Piecemeal Approach To Immigration Reform

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