Buzzfeed News
By Adrian Carrasquillo
December 13, 2015
Illinois
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a key figure in the fight for Obama’s executive
actions on immigration last year, will announce his endorsement of
Hillary Clinton Monday
morning in an op-ed on Univision ahead of their joint appearance at a
national immigration conference in Brooklyn, New York, in the afternoon.
In
a statement to BuzzFeed News, Luis Gutierrez emphasized uniting the
Democratic coalition. Women, Latino, labor, LGBT, Asians,
African-Americans, environmental, working-class,
and middle-class voters — “all of the groups the Republicans push away —
none of us can win unless we work together,” he said. “We each need
each other and Hillary Clinton is the leader who will unite us. Together
we are a winning coalition that moves America
forward.”
A
Clinton aide attributed the congressman’s support to the campaign’s
focus on immigration since, in the spring, when Clinton rolled out a
more progressive stance on the
issue, and the outreach since. The aide pointed to events Clinton has
done aimed at the Puerto Rican community in Orlando and on the island.
“That
is why Congressman Luis Gutiérrez will endorse Hillary Clinton,
Democratic Party candidate for U.S. president, tomorrow before her
address at the National Immigrant
Integration Conference (NIIC),” the aide said. “Gutiérrez is nationally
recognized for his tireless leadership championing issues of particular
importance to Latino and immigrant communities.”
Gutierrez,
who is known as a top voice on immigration policy with a knack for
media, knocked Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in June for leaving
immigration out of his speeches.
“I don’t know if he likes immigrants, because he doesn’t seem to talk about immigrants,” Gutierrez said at the time.
Since
then, the Sanders campaign has made a concerted effort to hire a
handful of high-profile immigration activists to work with a focus on
the southwest states and Nevada.
The campaign has also rolled out a robust set of executive actions
Sanders would take on immigration as president.
After
her event with DREAMers in May, Gutierrez noted that Clinton used to be
“paralyzed” on immigration, specifically mentioning Clinton’s infamous
opposition to driver’s
licenses for undocumented immigrants (a policy she now favors) during
the 2008 campaign.
The
tenor of the campaign has changed, however, since earlier this year
when Gutierrez was praising Clinton and Jeb Bush as leaders on
immigration, in a way that signified
the success of progressives on immigration. In the interim months,
Donald Trump roiled the Republican race with a markedly xenophobic and
restrictionist tone aimed initially at Mexicans and immigrants. Bush has
floundered.
In
this environment, Clinton has tried to position herself as a champion
for Hispanics, blasting Trump (and trying to handcuff him to the other
Republicans) while courting
endorsements from high-profile Latino figures like Obama cabinet
members Julian Castro and Tom Perez as well as celebrities like
Christina Aguilera and Ricky Martin.
Clinton,
who is at times viewed with distrust from activists because of past
stances and an establishment brand that has led to Obama similarly being
knocked, will be
introduced by Gutierrez at the NIIC conference.
She
will come with a story the activists will likely cheer, though. Her
Latino outreach director Lorella Praeli, a former immigration activist
for United We Dream who
served as an influential voice during the executive action fight, will
become an American citizen at a small naturalization ceremony put
together by the White House at the national archives along with others
on Tuesday, something Clinton will mention during
her speech Monday.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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