CBS "Face the Nation" - Transcript: Immigration

Interview

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BOB SCHIEFFER: Welcome back to FACE THE NATION. Well, we're going to pick up on the discussion about the President's decisions on immigration reform. And we're joined by two Hispanic members of the House--Republican Raul Labrador. He joins us from Boise in his home state of Idaho and in the studio, Illinois Democrat Luis Gutierrez. Congressman Labrador, it seems to me the President has put the ball in the Republican court. What do you think what he did or was illegal or legal, whatever you think about it, what are Republicans going to do about it or just what are you going to do now?

REPRESENTATIVE RAUL LABRADOR (Judiciary Committee/R-Idaho): Well, there's several things that we need to do. Number one, it was illegal for the President to do this. He has been saying it for the last three years that he did not have the authority to do it and now he changed his mind. I think it's also unfortunate because right after the election he looked into the camera and he disagreed that his policies were rejected. He looked into the camera and he told the American people that this election was about working together with Congress, specifically, working together with the Republican Party. And this is what he does right after the elections, so, instead, of uniting us like he promised seven years ago that he was going to do he's dividing the nation in every single area. But what we should do is a lot of different things. Number one, I think we should censure the President of the United States. I think it's unfortunate that he did this. I think we need to lay out clearly why this is unlawful. I think we need to pass a funding bill that separate homeland security from that funding bill. And I think we also should require the President of the United States to go through a comment period, just like we have to do for regulations under the Administrative Procedures Act. And finally, and I think this is the most important part, we can't take the bait from-- from the Democrats. We can't say we're not going to do immigration reform. We need to tell the American people what we're for. And we need to show them the step-by-step approach that we have been doing in the House. It's unfortunate to hear the President and other Democrats say that we haven't done anything. We have passed legislation out of the House and the Democrats have refused to work with us on that legislation.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, are you going to try to pass some sort of legislation during this lame duck or are you going to let it go till next year?

REPRESENTATIVE RAUL LABRADOR: You know if it was my-- my decision I would start passing legislation. In fact, I asked our leadership to start passing legislation two weeks ago. I think we need to start with the Border Security Bill. I think we need to show the American people that we're serious about border security. I think we can do something like we already passed out of the House of Representatives--

BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, what did--

REPRESENTATIVE RAUL LABRADOR: --that we pass the hi-tech immigration.

BOB SCHIEFFER: What did your leaders say when you said we ought to do this? Did they give you any indication that they are going to?

REPRESENTATIVE RAUL LABRADOR: I think we're going to start doing things. As you know I serve on the House Judiciary Committee and the immigration subcommittee. And I think we're going to pass legislation. But it's not going to be the legislation that the President is asking for. We have rejected the legislation the President has been asking for. We, as Republicans, do not think you should give amnesty first and-- and talk about security later, which is what the Senate bill did. We think security, border security, is foremost in-- in our minds and in the minds of the American people. We need to do that first and then we need to do a step-by-step approach where we'd reform the entire immigration system that is completely broken.

BOB SCHIEFFER: All right.

REPRESENTATIVE RAUL LABRADOR: And we can then do what the American people want us to do.

BOB SCHIEFFER: All right. But let me go to Luis Gutierrez from the Democratic side of the aisle. So what is your response to that and where do you think this is going to happen--

REPRESENTATIVE LUIS GUTIERREZ (Judiciary Committee/D-Illinois): A couple of things--surprise, surprise, surprise. The President of the United States, I mean to listen to my friend from Idaho, anybody would think that the President of the United States when he gave the State of the Union address last January kind of took the gavel away from the Speaker of the House after he finished his State of the Union address. He said to the nation, if you do not act, I will use the powers that I have, as President of the United States, to begin to fix the broken immigration system. He repeated that. Speaker Boehner called him at the end of June and said, "Mister President, notwithstanding all your good efforts, notwithstanding all my good efforts, the House will not act on immigration reform." And what did he say? I have called my cabinet together and I will act on the immigration thing. So it seems to me that the argument is now we're going to start legislating. Well, it's twenty-three months into the legislative session. They control the House of Representatives. They don't need a single vote from the Democrats. We could have been in conference right now. I am not saying to my friend Raul Labrador, that they needed and he knows that I did-- I never said this. I said let's pass a House bill. I just want to make sure, Bob, when they said, no gay families, we didn't walk away from it. When they said there was no path to citizenship. We didn't walk away. When they said we needed to do it in parts and pieces, we didn't walk away. When we gave them thirty thousand more border patrol agents, we found the way to finance that. I think the problem here, if you listen to Mister McCaul and you listen to my friend Raul Labrador. They mix things up. They want border security, border security, border security. Comprehensive immigration reform secures the border. You cannot secure the border and tell because they keep talking about a border, but you know which border they're talking about, the border between Mexico and the United States. Let me suggest to the American people that there are other borders, it's called LAX, it's called Kennedy, it's called right here Washington Dulles. It is called airports all over this country. Millions of undocumented workers are in the United States that came through those borders. If you want a bill and you truly want to secure our community the President, Bob, was forced to act. Last, think about it a moment, they want to censure the President. The President has said, I'm inviting millions of people to come forward, go through a background check, a criminal background check at their own expense, pay the taxes that they owe, go back and work and raise their American citizen children, Bob. I think children are special and they're special no matter what the immigration condition of the parents that they have.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, let me just ask you this. Some people are already saying that the President taking this action is just going to cause a flood of immigrants to come in now because they want to come in and get in on this deal.

REPRESENTATIVE LUIS GUTIERREZ: You want to know something, great question. Number one, let me say the following, there's no path to citizenship for the five million that the President is offering. They can't get a single benefit, welfare benefit from the government. They can pay all the taxes that you and I, I'm sure you feel better and I feel better that they're paying taxes. I'm sure, you and I feel better that they have gone through a background check. Now we can put the resources on criminals. So what the President has says, look, I want to go out to felons, I want to go out to criminals. I don't want to break up families and go out to children. But let's suggest this; we're going to put more border patrol agents on the border because now they don't have to do as much interior enforcement. Actually, here's a good thing do you know that under the President's program the border patrol is going to be able to go and get an increase in their pay. Why? Because commensurate with their new responsibility they should get paid. The President was very clear in his message. He said, if you're a criminal in the United States, things just got worse for you because we're coming after you. Because guess who we're not going after, we're not going after kids, we're not going after families, we're not deporting a thousand people every day who do not present a threat to America.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Let me-- I know both of you have come to this with considerable passion. Congressman Labrador, I'm going to let each of you thirty seconds, tell me what is the most important thing that the American people need to know about this right now. You go first.

REPRESENTATIVE RAUL LABRADOR: The most important thing they need to know is that we need to follow the law. If the President wasn't forcing the law, we wouldn't have the problem that we have right now at the border. We are going to have a flood of people coming to the border. I think it's the same thing that happened with the amnesty of 1986, it's the same thing that happened just a couple of years ago with the docket decision and I think that's unfortunate. And the last thing that we need to know is that we do need to pass immigration reform. It has to be conservative immigration reform. The American people would like to do something about the twelve million people that are here but the most important responsibility that we have as members of Congress is to protect both borders. I have the border at the North--Idaho. It has the border with Canada and we are concerned about that border as well not just the Southern Border.

BOB SCHIEFFER: All right.

REPRESENTATIVE LUIS GUTIERREZ: I said just to the American people, check the tape. It's the first time any border has ever been spoken about by a Republican. That isn't the border between Mexico and the United States. Now that's a step in the right direction. So I said to the American people, my friend Raul Labrador wasted the last twenty-three months. They could have acted. We could be in conference right now, passing a bill, benefitting the American people. Bob, they have a hundred and eighty days starting January first, before the first person applies for a work permit under the President's executive authority. When I would speak to them, toll up your sleeves, you were sent to Washington to govern. You have a majority in the Senate. You have a majority in the House. And I am ready to sit down with my colleague and fix the problems that America is confronting.

BOB SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, I want to thank both of you.

REPRESENTATIVE LUIS GUTIERREZ: Thank you.

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