Rep. Gutierrez Demands a Presidential Pardon for Illegal Aliens

Today [June 29], Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) held a press conference calling for President Bush to grant a Presidential pardon for 6 illegal aliens who had been deported. The illegal aliens sneaked back into this country some time ago and had been living here in violation of the law. They all individually returned to Mexico for a short visit and then attempted to sneak across the border once again, only this time they were apprehended by the Border Patrol. They were summarily deported, in accordance with the laws of the United States.

Congressman Gutierrez is the chief cosponsor of the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, a bill that would give all illegal aliens legal residence in exchange for a small fee. Gutierrez referred to the border as, “an inflexible law that must be changed.” During the English portion of his speech, Gutierrez bemoaned the fact that the law did not permit illegal aliens to cross the border freely.

Congressman Gutierrez invoked the phrase “comprehensive immigration reform”, but his solution to the immigration crisis would end deportation altogether and open the borders completely.

The Rev. Jessie Jackson, president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, made a guest appearance, calling for Hispanics and African Americans to form a, “strategic alliance.” Jackson also spoke in support of “comprehensive immigration reform,” and in the same breath declared that, “we all must at least be a bilingual society.”

[FAIR Comment: Any genuine comprehensive immigration reform would enforce the law and strengthen the border, not abandon them altogether.]

-- Report for FAIR by James Larsen