Rep. Luis Gutierrez on Wednesday accused President Obama of abandoning the Democratic Party on immigration by ordering raids on illegal immigrants over the holidays, and said that tactic is something Democrats have come to expect from Republicans.
“This is not the Democratic Party’s solution to the immigration question, nor should it be America’s,” the Illinois Democrat said on the House floor Wednesday. “We expect heated calls for raids and deportations from the other side.”
“We hear their calls for walls, bigger jails and further restrictions on legal immigration,” he said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 121 illegal immigrants, mostly in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina, over the holiday weekend. The raids are part of the Obama administration’s plan to target illegal immigrants from Central America who have evaded deportation.
But while conservatives say the arrests are just a drop in the bucket compared to the millions of people in the country illegally, Gutierrez said that even arresting 121 people is enough to strike fear in the hearts of immigrants.
“What is undeniable is that such raids strike maximum fear in immigrant communities,” he said on the floor. “The government is saying they could be coming to your house, and they could be coming at any time.”
He said many illegal immigrants will now be too scared to go to school or work for fear of being apprehended. “Not even a week into the new year, and 2016 has turned into one of fear and hiding,” he said.
“The raids by the Obama administration on families from Central America must stop,” he added. “They’re a cruel reminder of a discredited policy.”
