Luis Gutierrez is a man who had a strong approach
socially when it comes to immigration reform. He intends to utilize his DREAM
act to reach the members of the senate and hopefully pass his bill into law. In
order to do so, Gutierrez targets other congressman and the United States
public as his audiences. The reason why is to persuade congressmen by having the
influence and the support of the public, but also have a major backing him;
which in turn would make his DREAM act more powerful.
“We
need a 21st century immigration system to regulate a 21st
century labor force. We need to have a system of legal immigration that
employers and immigrants actually use so that we have control over who comes and
who is here (Gutierrez).” Those two sentences taken from Gutierrez’s government
page signify that he is intending to use the support of the public; especially
workers to influence other congressmen of his ideas.
He goes on to say, “We
ought to have an immigration system that honors families and keeps them
together. People should come to this country with a visa, not a smuggler and we
should have a system that allows them to so within reasonable limits tied to
our economic and societal needs and that is adjusted over time (Gutierrez).”
Using the terms “families” and societal”, as well as “economic” we can infer
that Gutierrez is hitting the emotional side of his ideas hard. He wishes to
focus on families with the intent that if immigration reform were to happen,
the improvement in the family structure would also improve our economic and
societal standing. In a sense of prediction, who knows? While that is
irrelevant, it raises the question of if that is possible which Gutierrez wants
to raise, because that draws attention to the DREAM act.
“In 2001, I authored
the Immigrant Children’s Educational Advantage and Dropout Prevention Act (H.R.
1582) to provide legal status to minors who had lived in the U.S. for at least five
years and who are students (Gutierrez).” This quote definitely keeps Gutierrez’s
priorities in sight by directly stating what the DREAM act is doing. While that
act from the quote evolved into the DREAM act, it holds true to the idea of
protecting families, youth of America, and establishing a foundation for a
stronger immigration system.
The tactics used by
Gutierrez are intriguing, because he uses his way to capture the emotion of the
public to support his unique side of the immigration struggle: family. But, he
backs up his emotional stance with his position in the government, and with the
fallacious sense of a hasty generalization. Sure, it sounds enticing to support
the bill due to Gutierrez’s credibility and his intentions. But it may not
prove positive by helping families.
Since the DREAM act has
not yet passed the senate, it is most likely due to the lack of hard evidence
to support such a claim that Gutierrez is making. Therefore, that diminishes
his credibility in the senate, which leaves Gutierrez with only an emotional
appeal; sense logic will lead to a reoccurring of diminishes and skeptical
opposition. With the division of the senate and house already in the sense of
Democrats and Republicans, Gutierrez should play a bit more geared towards the
party that would not focus on the societal aspect of immigration reform. In
doing so, he would build a stronger argument for his DREAM act.
And finally, making
public with photos and meetings with people about the bill will most definitely
increase Gutierrez’s chance of passing his bill. “On December 15, 2009, the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus joined almost 100 Members of Congress to
introduce H.R. 4321… (Gutierrez).” That partial statement grants credibility to
Gutierrez because he was able to make public his act.
References:
Gutiérrez, Luis V.
Congressman Luis V. Gutiérrez. Luis V. Gutiérrez,
2014. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.
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