Roland Gutierrez: “I rise this evening to begin what I hope will be the start of a constructive dialogue about our Nation's immigration…”

“I rise this evening to begin what I hope will be the start of a constructive dialogue about our Nation's immigration laws. There has been a lot of heated rhetoric about this topic in recent months. But what I believe has been lacking from this debate is a discussion of real solutions and an accurate portrayal of the real contribution of our Nation's immigrant community. In Congress, on cable shows and in newspaper columns across the country, we witness undocumented workers being unfairly and inaccurately blamed for all of our Nation's ills. In fact, it seems as though there are some cable show hosts out there who have made this practice the cornerstone of their programming. Just look at Lou Dobbs and his ``Broken Borders'' segment. If you ask me, it should be called the ``Broken Record'' segment. Because night after night after night, it is the same thing. It is about giving a platform to anti-immigrant extremists so they can espouse their misguided, misleading, and often malicious views. Mr. Speaker, I am the first to admit that our Nation's immigration system is simply not working. It is not meeting the needs of our Nation, it is damaging families, and it is hurting businesses. But rather than targeting Windex-wielding cleaning ladies, we should be talking about practical solutions. Do these individuals actually believe we should deport the more than 10 million undocumented working men and women working in this country? Do they think that is truly the answer?…”