[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 41 (Thursday, March 9, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H1951-H1952]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TOWN HALL MEETING IN CHICAGO

  The SPEAKER. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt in my mind that the 
resistance to this President and his policies is growing in America's 
heartland. If the 1,200 people who came to my townhall meeting in 
Chicago on Monday night are any indication, there is a movement in the 
United States that is standing up to the fear, the racism, the lies, 
and the divisiveness that comes from the President, his people, and his 
Twitter account every single day.
  The Logandale School auditorium and gym was packed. No, not like The 
National Mall on Inauguration Day with wide-open spaces and the 
President's imaginary crowd of 1.5 million people. No, my townhall was 
actually packed like The Mall on the day after the inauguration for the 
Women's March. It was a diverse crowd of people who care about America 
and defending their country. It was overwhelming.
  We had Ahmed Rehab, the inspirational leader of CAIR-Chicago, talking 
about what was going on in Chicago to resist the President's new and 
unimproved ban on refugees and Muslims. He was joined by Equality 
Illinois, Planned Parenthood, and the Little Village Environmental 
Justice Organization, talking about how the people of Chicago are 
coming together to resist the President's attacks on women's health, on 
LGBTQ rights, on public schools and education, on women's rights, and 
on the environment.
  It was the intersection of all of the communities and the issues that 
are under attack by President Trump and his co-President Bannon. This 
townhall was the mother of all intersectionality events--right there in 
Chicago, in America's heartland.
  No, they were not paid activists. They were ordinary people trying to 
get answers and defend their community against an unprecedented threat 
coming from the White House and Republicans in Congress.
  For more than an hour, I answered questions, and then I stayed in the 
parking lot for another hour and talked with people who still had 
questions--and some were heartbreaking.
  A public school teacher I have known for years asked me how she can 
help her students. Her kids are being kept out of school or are losing 
sleep or are displaying signs of depression because of the fear that 
they have that they will be separated from their parents if they are 
deported. She wants to comfort them, but the reality is she cannot.
  Individuals asked me how they can protect families who are terrified 
that they will get separated and destroyed.
  Just this week, a mother I have known for years who has a stay of 
deportation and has been regularly reporting to ICE officials for years 
told me she is being deported in 6 weeks. She has a U.S. citizen 
husband and four U.S. citizen children, and she has complied with the 
law and she has complied and reported to authorities, only to be told 
that, under Trump, the rules have changed and she is now a top priority 
for deportation--not because she should be deported, but because she 
can be deported.
  This fear is having an impact on families and children. But what came 
through to me at the townhall meeting is that families, vulnerable 
immigrants, and millions of children with a birthright to live as 
Americans are not alone. There are thousands and thousands of allies 
who are joining together to defend families in Chicago and everywhere 
else.
  At the townhall on Monday, I appealed for help because this is the 
very same room that this coming Saturday, Mr. Speaker, my office will 
be holding a citizenship workshop. I asked those who are already 
citizens to come and help those who are applying for citizenship, and 
hundreds of hands went up in the air saying they are ready to help.
  We scheduled the citizenship workshop because we are unable to 
satisfy my constituents' huge demand for citizenship information. Some 
days we have lines out the door at my office on Fullerton Avenue with 
people wanting to know: How can I become a citizen of the United States 
of America?
  So all day Saturday, we will have a small army of family defenders 
trained in citizenship helping their neighbors pursue naturalization 
and the American Dream. Just as you see the school packed with voters 
and constituents, you will see the room packed this Saturday with 
people applying for citizenship to the United States of America and 
packed with Americans that are already citizens ready to help them.
  That is what Chicago is all about, and that is what the heartland is 
all about, and that is what America is all about.
  Women in hijabs and women in pink hats are standing together to fight 
attacks on Muslims and attacks on women's rights. Environmental 
activists are joining men and women who fly the

[[Page H1952]]

rainbow flag of the LGBTQ community to resist the President's agenda. 
The entire community will stand together as the mass deportation wave 
becomes a day-to-day reality in our communities. And the message is 
clear: if you come for one of us, you have to go through all of us.
  My constituents demanded I be a wrench in Trump's cruel agenda, and 
I, Mr. Speaker, do not intend to disappoint them.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Denham). Members are reminded to refrain 
from engaging in personalities toward the President.

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