Illegal alien advocate Rep. Gutierrez announces retirement from Congress
Illinois rep. Luís Gutiérrez, a thirteen-term congressmen known for his advocacy for illegal aliens, announced his retirement from the House.
Gutiérrez was a Chicago machine politician who got his start as an alderman during the administration of Mayor Harold Washington. When the courts carved out a Hispanic House district for Illinois in 1990, Gutiérrez ran and won.
Gutierrez, who has held his seat since 1993, is expected to announce Tuesday afternoon he's withdrawing the nominating petitions he just filed on Monday and will formally endorse Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.
Garcia, a Cook County commissioner, had forced Mayor Rahm Emanuel into a runoff election in 2015. His bid for Gutierrez's seat means Garcia will not challenge Emanuel again in 2019 as he had previously planned, sources tell POLITICO. With petition filing open on Monday, candidates for Gutierrez's open seat will have to turn in nearly 7,000 signatures in less than a week.
Sources say discussions between Garcia and Gutierrez began Friday. Two Democratic sources said that polling already had been done in the district and showed Garcia with a strong lead among possible opponents. In his 24 years in Congress, Gutierrez, 63, was an immigration reform activist who easily won reelection by some of the largest margins of the Illinois congressional delegation. Of late he's risen as vocal critic of the Trump administration's response in the wake of a devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico.
Garcia is far and away the most radical prominent politician in Chicago. He is a creature of the teacher unions and is big on redistributing wealth and fighting "corporate power." He ran for mayor in 2015 and took incumbent Rahm Emanuel to a runoff. He is considered a rising Hispanic star in Democratic politics.
As for Gutiérrez, I can't think of anyone who has done more to block immigration enforcement in the United States. He has advocated for the illegal alien's right to vote, for putting a stop to immigration raids, and for more "humane" treatment of illegals. Basically, he proposes doing absolutely nothing to stop the flow of illegals into the U.S. or deal with them once they're in the country.
If anything, Garcia will be worse on immigration and a loyal ally of radicals Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. He was going to run for mayor in 2019 but will now apparently serve in Congress after receiving Gutiérrez's blessing.
There is a chance that Gutiérrez will run for mayor of Chicago against Emanuel in 2018. Rahmbo is extremely unpopular and vulnerable. But to run for mayor, Gutiérrez must run against the Democratic machine – a prospect that might keep him on the sidelines.