CHICAGO - Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez is wild with anticipation that Barack Obama will be re-elected in November, and that his second term would prove to be a game changer for America's immigration policy, the Hill wrote late last week. Gutierrez said the sheer number of Latinos voting against Mitt Romney will force GOP leaders to support reforms for fear of alienating those voters indefinitely.
“I’m absolutely positive he’s going to [prioritize immigration reform],” Gutierrez said Friday of Obama, “because the Republicans are going to take such a beating in this election that they’re going to propose [their own plan].”
Gutierrez does have a challenger in the near Westside 4th CD - a Republican businessman born in Puerto Rico.
Hector Luis Concepción says Gutiérrez is “abusing his power in Congress against the 3.5 million citizens of Puerto Rico,” through his frequent speeches on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives criticizing the Fortuño administration for its handling of University of Puerto Rico protests and plans to build a natural gas pipeline.
Concepcion is working to connect to the 330,000 Puerto Ricans living in the 4th CD, many which have historically not been active in the voting process. He attributed Puerto Ricans' voting apathy to Gutiérrez' failures, saying the veteran congressman’s “broken record of campaign promises” over the years has rarely been followed through with concrete action.
Concepcion ramped up audiences at a downtown Chicago Tea Party rally in 2011:
More information about Hector Concepcion is at his website www.hectorconcepcion.com
