Appearing on MSNBC after President Obama’s speech announcing executive amnesty, Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez told host Rachel Maddow that Republican disbelieved Obama’s border claims because they wanted to use “xenophobia” and “bigotry” against Mexicans.
MADDOW: The first thing the President announced tonight in his three part plan was yet further resources to the border, yet more resources in terms of stopping people from crossing in the first place, catching them when they do, and sending them back. [Republican operative Steve Schmidt] said no Republican in the country believes that is true. That’s obviously a fake assertion. What’s behind the refusal to believe that deportations are at an all-time high, that border enforcement are at an all-time high? Why is that seen as a myth if you’re a Republican?
GUTIERREZ: Because I think, look, if you want to make it about people from Latin America, if you want to use xenophobia, if you want to use bigotry and hatred and presidents [sic], then you want to mix up the facts. The fact is that 40 percent of the undocumented didn’t come through that border. They came through LAX they came through JFK they came through O’Hare, they came through Miami. They came here legally to this country, and overstay.
And one of the congressman, he said when they crossed into America. Because it’s always about crossing into America. Guess what, they fly into America and they come on boats to America and they come here to do a number of different things and they overstay. They don’t want to talk about it. They always want to make this about our neighbors to the South.