Gutierrez: Immigration Activists "Will Not Be Deterred" By Court Setback
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Congressman Luis Gutierrez and other immigration activists in Chicago denounced a federal judge's decision blocking President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration, but remained undeterred in their support for overhauling the nation's immigration system.
The Chicago Democrat shrugged off a Texas judge's temporary block of the president's executive orders that would spare as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.
"They went shopping, and they shopped for the most conservative anti-Obama judge they could find; and they got the decision they were shopping for," he said.
The White House has said it will appeal the judge's ruling, and Gutierrez said he expects the appeal to succeed, saying the president's authority on immigration matters is well-established.
"This process can be delayed, but we as a community will not be deterred. Let's make it absolutely clear that the president's actions are well-established in legal precedent; both in laws that have been enacted by the Congress of the United States, and in positions upheld in the Supreme Court of the United States," he said.
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The congressman said he's urging immigrant communities to continue signing up millions of families for the protections offered by Obama's executive orders, and he's participating in some related events this week.
Republican Congressman Bob Dold said he might not like Obama's methods, but he wants to end the standoff on overhauling the nation's immigration laws.
"Certainly, what we've got right now, is we've got to focus on Department of Homeland Security funding, as for what's going through the Congress. I was one of just a handful of Republicans that was not in favor of the appropriation tying it to the president's executive order," Dold said.
