Ruby Cramer BuzzFeed Staff
U.S.
Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez met Tuesday with Obama administration officials to
discuss the path forward on comprehensive immigration reform. Image by Chip Somodevilla /
Getty Images
Posted
Representative Luis
Gutierrez and five other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus met with
White House officials Tuesday in the Roosevelt Room to discuss the
administration's plan to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform, the
Illinois Congressman, a key figure on the issue, told BuzzFeed.
"It's clear to me
from that meeting that they have a plan, they're working, and their team is
expanding," he said.
Gutierrez said the
discussion surrounded "who goes first" — the Senate, House, or White House
— on the push for immigration legislation. "We talked about what the
president wants and what his vision is," said Gutierrez. "And I gotta
tell you, we're in a good place."
As evidence of the
momentum on immigration, Gutierrez compared Tuesday's meeting with one he had
in March 2009 — which he found lacking — with the president and White House
officials.
"In March 2009,
it's like, no, I don't have a plan, I don't have anybody in charge, and I don't
have a team of people working on this," said Gutierrez, who was told at
the 2009 meeting that the figure heading up immigration would be then-chief of
staff Rahm Emanuel.
"The chief of
staff is in charge of everything. It was like being told there was no one in
charge," he said. (Gutierrez declined to the Obama officials present for
Wednesday's meeting.)
Cecilia Muñoz, White
House Director of the Domestic Policy Council, will likely take a leading role,
he said. "Cecilia has been in every meeting I've had with the president.
She's been the link," said Gutierrez.
As discussions continue
in the House and Senate — particularly around Sen. Marco Rubio, who laid
out his immigration plan in the Wall Street Journal last week — a
more solid path forward for Congress and the Obama administration would emerge,
said Gutierrez, "by the end of February or early March."
Immigration reform will
also be a central focus of the president's State of the Union address next
month, said the Congressman.
"The president has
spoken about it in his last three State of the Unions. You can speak about
something without it really being remembered. But something tells me you're
gonna remember immigration in this State of the Union address," he said.
The meeting, called
Monday, was a show of assurance to immigration advocates in Congress that
reform remains a priority despite the administration's recent focus on the
fiscal cliff and gun control.
"It's a big
priority, and it's gonna be an all-out press," said Gutierrez.
"There's a team of people that the White House is working on this. They
made clear to us that the team was evolving and expanding."
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