Univision anchor Jorge Ramos was in full “advocate-in-chief” mode during his Al Punto talk show this week.
In advance of President Obama’s executive order suspending the application of standing federal statutes to millions of unauthorized immigrants in the United States, Ramos invited two top supporters of Obama’s plans to his program, with dissenting voices nowhere to be found.
First up was Congressman Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL), who made several eye-popping statements that must be seen in order to be believed.
Gutiérrez asserted the President has “absolute power” to act on immigration, made wild racist accusations against the motives of the historic House and Senate Republican majorities recently elected by the American people and openly affirmed that Obama’s actions are raw repayment of political debt.
Here’s what Gutiérrez had to say regarding what he characterized as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ demand to collect on presidential political debt:
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has spoken with the President on more than one occasion. We have stressed that it be ample and that it be generous. Let me tell you what we said to him. We said, ‘Look, Mr. President. If there is a debt towards our community, a debt that you have been late in repaying, then it must be repaid with interest. We aren’t just expecting that which was owed, but (also) more due to the delays.
Despite long-standing suspicion that both the President’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and his new “SuperDACA” are an attempt to repay a political debt and atone for ignoring a previous commitment to enact immigration reform when Democrats had absolute control of the White House and Congress during 2009 and 2010, it is nonetheless jarring to hear the above sentiments articulated in such a brazen manner.
Gutiérrez’ braggadocio also drives a dagger into the narrative that executive action on immigration isn’t a big deal because Reagan and Bush 41 did likewise. Decades later, no one is even remotely suggesting that Reagan and Bush 41 took the actions they did in order to mollify an aggrieved political coalition partner - a clear contrast to the executive action that is in the works today.
To be clear, Gutiérrez is a frequent guest on Al Punto, and his Spanish-language pronouncements there are often blunt and demanding, in stark contrast with the more conciliatory tone he displayed the very same day on ABC’s This Week. Gutiérrez’ bemoaning of border-security talking points on This Week absolutely pales in comparison to what he said on Al Punto, as indicated below:
This Week:
We just came from an election cycle in which not only that they say the border wasn't secure, but that Isis was coming through and Ebola was coming through. They mixed all of this together and then they say that we're poisoning the well. All I am saying is this, there are 4 million American citizen children; you just heard the Speaker say that this is a fight that he's going to have with the President. He's wrong.
Al Punto:
...they were the ones that waged a destructive campaign to win the House and the Senate by saying 'those Mexicans come across the border, it isn’t secure. They’re taking our jobs, they bring crime and now they bring Ebola and they bring terrorists'. All lies. We are going to answer their lies with justice from this President.
Ramos responded as if he couldn’t hear enough of what Gutiérrez was saying, ending the interview by declaring “let’s hope so” and then “I hope you have a lot to celebrate.”
