Yesterday afternoon, the office of U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) released a statement disavowing any support or relationship with DREAMer and immigrant activist organizations NIYA (National Immigrant Youth Alliance) and DREAMActivist.org after one of their own was arrested in Gutierrez’ office. Up until recently, Gutierrez was tangentially involved with these DREAMer activist organizations in an attempt to help a group known as the “DREAM 30.” Just a few weeks ago, these thirty or so undocumented DREAMers voluntarily walked back into Mexico and tried to re-enter to request asylum at the U.S. border. Not surprisingly, all were detained immediately.

The DREAM 30 controversy

The DREAM 30 stated their goal in leaving and attempting to re-enter the U.S. was to bring awareness to the plight of undocumented immigrants in the United States, but also to finally obtain their own legitimate status in the U.S. through a lesser-known route: asylum. When granted, asylum protects immigrants in extremely dangerous circumstances from having to return to their country of origin, even if they don’t have legal status. As we outlined in a recent post, asylum has a specific set of restrictions and can be very difficult to obtain. The odds were very slim that most of the DREAM 30 would get it.

As it currently stands, 21 members of the DREAM 30 have been released, one was deported, and eight are still in detention and waiting for a decision. Several members of the DREAM 30 were eligible for deferred action but chose not to apply, in some cases as another act of protest. Many of them still have legal immigration issues to be sorted out, but it seems that most fared far better than current U.S. immigration policy would predict. Self-deportation as a form of protest is an extremely risky (and controversial) move that many prominent pro-immigrant groups have already declared detrimental to the immigration reform cause.

DREAMer arrested in Rep. Gutierrez’s office

The ideologies of the DREAM 30, NIYA, and DREAMActivist.org, and Rep. Gutierrez collided yesterday after a member of the DREAM 30 staged a protest in his office by demanding the congressman obtain pardons from President Obama for all the remaining members still in detention, not a small request by any measure. Gutierrez’s office summarized the incident on his Facebook page yesterday:

“This afternoon, representatives of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance (NIYA), DREAMActivist.org, and the #DREAM30 sat-in at the office of Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) in Washington, D.C. One activist, who was recently released from detention in El Paso, Texas at the request of Congressman Gutiérrez, was removed from the office of Congressman Gutiérrez for refusing to leave until the Congressman spoke personally with President Obama and secured the release of other detainees. The activists were asked to leave by U.S. Capitol Police. Two activists left the office. A third refused and was escorted out by U.S. Capitol Police.“

Members of DREAMActivist.org and NIYA have also boasted publicly on social media that they secretly recorded Gutierrez in private meetings with parents of the DREAM 30 detainees, where they allegedly caught him making disparaging remarks about their leaders, and have continued on a smear campaign throughout the day claiming Gutierrez is a traitor to the cause. This highlights a somewhat surprising division among immigration allies, since most will agree no other member of Congress has so consistently, publicly, and emphatically been in support of comprehensive immigration reform as Rep. Gutierrez.

United we stand; divided we fall

Over the past few months, NIYA and DREAMActivist.org have already garnered a reputation for being abrasive and disrespectful, especially online, often resorting to name-calling and harassment. Their supporters have called Gutierrez a phony and a liar, claiming he is an immigration activist for fame and recognition. It’s a bold claim to make, especially after the Congressman was arrested in an immigration reform protest just a month ago and has a longstanding reputation of being one of immigration reform’s strongest allies. It’s interesting to note that another member of the DREAM 30 was arrested in Rep. Ruben Hinojosa’s (D-TX) office that same day for the same reason, and he has escaped scrutiny from these groups. Being the more famous of the two congressmen, it makes sense to choose Gutierrez as a target if their goal was to get the most media attention.

Blaming Gutierrez for not obtaining pardons for the DREAM 30 (who all knew they were going to get arrested before they crossed the border) makes the entire movement look bad and doesn’t put DREAMers in a flattering light. Their demands were extreme and extremely misguided, and most likely based on poor legal advice and misinterpretation of current U.S. immigration laws.

Nobody wins when activist groups viciously attack each other just for the chance to prove one single faction is “the most right.” (Nobody wins except maybe in this case… the House Republicans and anti-immigrant groups.) Gutierrez himself will admit recent immigration reform proposals are not perfect, not even close, and nobody will get everything they want in one single piece of immigration legislation. If these groups are not interested in working with other viewpoints to get a comprehensive bill passed, they should be at least be able to admit they are in fact not true advocates of immigration reform and their mission is something else entirely.