WASHINGTON DC – Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez finished out his 26 years representing the 71%-Latino 4th Congressional District Friday with an exclamation that Congressional Democrats should "pay the ransom" for comprehensive immigration overhaul. Next week his successor, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia will succeed Gutierrez when the new session starts next week.
NBC reports on Gutierrez' comments at the Capitol about the current budget impasse over funding a barrier between the U.S. and Mexico:
“For my friends on the left, remember, there’s going to be a ransom that is going to be required,” Gutiérrez said of getting a comprehensive immigration overhaul measure passed in Congress. "Pay it. It’s the right thing to do, because we’re never going to be able to overcome the 60 votes in the Senate.”
“There are people on the right that are going to want certain things," he said in an interview with NBC News. "I don’t know if we have to give them a wall … but we’re gonna have to sit down and negotiate."
Gutiérrez says he will become a senior policy adviser with the National Partnership for New Americans, a group of immigrant and refugee rights groups in 37 states that help immigrants integrate into U.S. society. He also has said he plans to move to Puerto Rico.
