In Texas and elsewhere, no sanctuary from anger over immigration

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., was in town Saturday talking about immigration and the San Francisco snafu.

"I have two daughters, two beautiful daughters, and my heart aches for this young woman whose life was snuffed out because everyone ignored the record of a career criminal," he said on a visit for neighborhood forums with U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth.

Gutierrez said the suspect should "rot in hell."

Federal officials should have asked for a warrant to hold him, Gutierrez said, and should never again release anyone to any city that won't comply with federal requests.

Then Gutierrez made a simple point I haven't heard on all-mad talk radio.

"There's a reason this man is able to hide so easily," Gutierrez said.

"It's because we haven't taken the millions of good people who are here and put them on the books."

If we granted some sort of work permits or legal status to those immigrants who came as misdemeanor-level civil violators years ago but now live, work, raise children and pay taxes peacefully — well, then cities and counties could spend our money and time stopping violent ex-cons.

"Let's fix our broken system," he said.

"These jurisdictions just want people in the community to feel safe and let law enforcement do its job."

Gutierrez responded with surprise to a recent lawsuit over Texas county clerks or city secretaries refusing to issue copies of birth certificates for some American-born children.

According to the liberal Texas Observer, state health officials have advised legal registrars not to issue certificates if the parent's only ID is the matricula consular, an identification issued for citizens of Mexico living outside the country. Seventeen parents are suing after being turned away by registrars in Cameron and Hidalgo counties, the Observer said. Dallas County has posted a similar policy.

"They're children," Gutierrez said, "and they're citizens of this country. That's really unfortunate. Why take it out on them?"

Veasey said Republicans have a "phobia" against recognizing the much-criticized matricula consular.

"I don't know why those [registrars] are not doing their job, which is to issue birth certificates," he said.

"Those children are Americans."

Newborns should not make us mad.