Luis Gutiérrez

We wanted to give it to you. And in our bill, 50,000, you get to come from the very first day with your wife.

There are undocumented people in this room. There are dreamers in this room. I am happy that the President used his executive authority.

One of the big problems in the prior amnesty is that... the enforcement agents didn't have access to that information.

We are not talking about giving U.S. citizenship to anybody. What we are saying is over some period of time that is arduous, you might gain legal permanent residence in the United States.

What we need to do is provide a system that will actually meet our needs both in the economy, whether it is high tech, whether it is agriculture, and that also respects the needs for American families to be united.

I think it would be such a tragedy if we became sidetracked on whether or not the 11 million here who responded to the help wanted sign at the border can never become right with the law and never have the aspiration to become an American.

We need to fix that ASAP, and we need do the other things we are talking about without doubt.

I believe that it would be a good piece for comprehensive immigration reform, and, as you suggest, I believe that there would be significant support for that.

We are reintroducing that bill today, by the way. It has broad bipartisan; it has the support of Republicans as well as Democrats, church leaders, members of the Hispanic Caucus, and now recently the President of the United States.

A hearing is a great start, but a hearing is not enough. Let us rise above the political fray.

By any measure Benita is an American success story, but under current immigration law she is in limbo.

What Americans deserve is a system that works; a system that is efficient, that is accountable...

Family unity has been the bedrock of our immigration system since the Immigration and Nationality Act was enacted in 1952.

I didn't come here to undermine anyone's work... but to work in a collaborative spirit.

I believe that this Committee is that important.

It is time we fully embrace that immigration is good for our country.

You just lit up our house.

I don't think we should look at immigrants and say, how are they going to get health care?

What do you think about the uncertainty in the life of 11 million undocumented workers when you give them certainty?

I think we need to do comprehensive immigration reform so when they pay taxes, it goes into the right account.

We believe we should welcome you and your talent and at the same time, not have to make a distinction.

We need to replace them, and we need to replace these assets.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. First, I would like to say that while we have been here, every minute, someone has been deported.

I don't believe any decent human being would argue that those children should be deported. We should give them citizenship immediately without thinking twice.

Let us have politics with principles, because the absence of one really leads us down a very treacherous road.