In September of 2017, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) said that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly was a “disgrace to the uniform.” You see, things got a little heated since the Trump administration decided that they weren’t going to gradually wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a constitutionally questionable Obama executive order that allows the children of illegals to have protection from deportation if they meet the criteria (i.e. no criminal record). It has to be renewed every two years at the cost of $495, the filing fee. One could argue that it’s a $495 bribe to the government to no enforce its immigration laws, but I digress. White House lawyers saw the program as indefensible. As a result, there were only two options. A national injunction, which would be bad for everyone, or a gradual wind down with a six-month enforcement delay to grant Congress the ability to pass DACA legally. In fact, that’s where this entire program should have originated: the legislature. One could make a good argument that the Obama executive order is gross violation of separation of powers.
Still, 800,000 people benefit from DACA, which does require you to admit that you’re here illegally—while giving sensitive information, like where you live, in order to get protection.
On Wednesday, as we get closer to a government shutdown, the Illinois Democrat decided to bury the hatchet with Kelly, apologizing to him in a meeting. He said he did so in interviews with CNN and MSNBC. In an insane move, Democrats want a DACA deal tied with the budgetary one to keep the government open. They won’t support another clean stopgap measure to keep the government open.
While being interviewed by MSNBC’s Katy Tur, Gutierrez said he felt compelled to apologize; he’s refused to do so in the past. Tur asked Gutierrez if he brought up Trump’s “s**thole countries” remarks in the meeting, which the Democratic congressman denied, saying it wouldn’t have helped. Though he did thank Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) who pushed back on these remarks. Oh, and he called Trump a racist. Gutierrez decided to retire from Congress after the Thanksgiving holiday last year (via Free Beacon):
"I said to the general during the meeting, Katy: ‘I want to extend to you my most heartfelt and sincere apologies for ever questioning your military service, and I'm so sorry you lost your son. And I don't believe anybody should be questioning people that have lost their children in combat in service of the nation,'" Gutierrez said.
"He was very kind back to me at the end of the meeting, we shook hands, and he thanked me for my apology. And I think we're on better terms," Gutierrez added. "I think those are things that sometimes we have to do. Do I still believe that he is part of the architecture of hurting the Dreamers? Absolutely, but I think you can do one without the other."
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