Lou Dobbs talks with open-borders zealot Rep. Luis Gutierrez

Excerpt

Lou Dobbs talks with open-borders zealot Rep. Luis Gutierrez

Lou Dobbs Tonight -- CNN -- July 29, 2004
Live from the Democrat Soiree in Boston

Partial transcript from show:

Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Illinois is Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Immigration Task Force. He joins us tonight from Boston. Congressman, good to have you with us.

ILLINOIS CONGRESSMAN LUIS GUTIERREZ, CHAIRMAN OF THE CONGRESSIONAL HISPANIC CAUCUS IMMIGRATION TASK FORCE: Thank you. Nice to be with you, Lou.

DOBBS: I hope you can hear me as the noise is building there at the convention center.

GUTTIERREZ: I can.

DOBBS: The President has introduced an immigration policy, has established himself clearly as a friend of the Hispanic community. What is it that Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards will do for Hispanics in this country, as they consider their vote that the current administration does not or has not?

GUTIERREZ: Well, I think, on the immigration level, we were filled with a lot of hope and great expectations when on January 7th the President spoke about a new initiative to take the 8 to 10 million undocumented workers, many of whom are from Latin American countries, and to incorporate them fully into our society and take them out of the darkness and the shadows.

But Lou, quite honestly, he hasn't done anything. The rhetoric has not been matched with any merits on the house floor and any legislative proposal. We know that our team, the Kerry-Edwards team, has in the first 100 days made a commitment to making that legislative initiative a reality in the Congress of the United States. I think -- yes, sir?

DOBBS: I'm sorry. Just to interrupt you, but you know, according to the most recent Pugh research, immigration ranks last among the principal issues; the major issues for Hispanic and Latino voters in this country. Why is that your focus?

GUTIERREZ: Well, because I wanted to give you a special area which the posters always seem to miss, Lou. I think what we need to understand is that my daughter goes to school with children who, when they graduate, can't go on to college even though they're class valedictorian.

Every day in my community, Lou, this actually happens. There are American citizens whose wives are being deported because they can't fix their papers. We have a huge population that works in our agricultural and, you know, the agricultural industry wants a bill passed.

We need a bill passed so that those agricultural workers can have decency in pay and in terms of the work conditions that they have to work on. And yet we haven't seen any of those.

So it may not poll well, but I'll tell you, it's a very important emotional issue, and it's something at that strikes at heart and at the soul of our community.

DOBBS: At the community. As you know, Congressman, the fact is that the Hispanic vote in this country is not homogeneous, it is heterogeneous. It is diffused.

And a number of Hispanics, if we can put a number, approximating 8 to 12 million illegal aliens don't have the right to vote. Immigration is important, as you put it, to the community. But ultimately, the community is the nation.

And immigration reform on the part of -- to be put forward by Senator Kerry, we've heard nothing about it, have you?

GUTIERREZ: Yes, we have talked to the Kerry campaign. And if you look at the Democratic Party platform, it is very, very clear that they have indicated that there is going to be a road to permanency, to legalization of their status here in this country. And that's an important objective.

I know, Lou, that it doesn't poll well. I know that because I have a lot of arguments with the campaigns and with the Democratic Party structure. But if you watch Hispanic news, if you watch Univision, if you watch Telemundo, if you listen to the radio...

DOBBS: I watch Univision.

GUTIERREZ: Then you know they start the broadcast and many times end the broadcast with immigration as a key, vital issue that impacts our community.

Now, I will agree with you that, if you look, it's about jobs. It's about fair taxes. It's about decent schools. And we can have a debate about those issues because truly the Latino vote is about America. It's about the greater issues. It's about us being incorporated fully into this society.

DOBBS: And that is a very important issue for all Americans. Luis Gutierrez, Congressman, state of Illinois, we thank you and wish you a successful convention tonight as you watch your nominee accept the party's nomination.

GUTIERREZ: Thank you, Lou, for having me.

DOBBS: Thank you.