Washington Post
By Liam Stack
June 24, 2015
An activist
interrupted President Obama on Wednesday at a White House event
celebrating L.G.B.T. Pride Month to demand an end to the deportation of
L.G.B.T. immigrants. The activist was escorted from the
room amid a chorus of boos and jeers from the assembled guests.
The activist,
Jennicet Gutiérrez, who is transgender and says she is in the country
illegally, interrupted Mr. Obama shortly after he began speaking,
calling from the back of the room, “President Obama, release
all L.G.B.T.Q. immigrants from detention and stop all deportations!”
President Obama displayed little patience with the heckler, telling her, “You’re in my house” before having her removed.
“Shame on you, you
shouldn’t be doing this,” he said, according to video of the incident
posted to YouTube by Reuters. “Can we escort this person out? You can
either stay and be quiet or we’ll have to take
you out.”
The crowd quickly
turned on Ms. Gutiérrez, drowning out her chants with shushing noises
and shouting of their own, including chants of the president’s name. One
man shouted, “Shame on you!” Another yelled:
“This is not for you! This is for all of us!”
In a statement,
GetEqual and Familia QTLM, activist groups of which Ms. Gutiérrez is a
member, said that her protest was held on behalf of “some 75 transgender
detainees” who they said were exposed to abuse
in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“There is no pride
in how L.G.B.T.Q. and transgender immigrants are treated in this
country,” Ms. Gutiérrez said in a statement. “If the president wants to
celebrate with us, he should release the L.G.B.T.Q.
immigrants locked up in detention centers immediately.”
On Tuesday, 35
members of Congress sent an open letter to the secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security to express their concern for lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender detainees held by the immigration
agency, writing that they are “extremely vulnerable to abuse, including
sexual assault.”
Mr. Obama has been
heckled by immigration activists before but has appeared more willing to
engage with them. During a speech in November on his executive order to
halt the deportation of undocumented individuals
whose children were born in the United States, Mr. Obama told a group
of hecklers, “What you’re not paying attention to is, I just took an
action to change the law.”
In November 2013,
Mr. Obama faced a heckler who said that the president had the authority
to stop deportations, a claim Mr. Obama rejected as false. When security
guards began to remove the young man and
several others, Mr. Obama said they could stay, adding, “I respect the
passion of these young people because they feel deeply about the
concerns of their families.”
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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