Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez, D-Ill., was outraged that members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) were barred from a meeting with Thomas Homan, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
On Thursday, at the request of Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the speaker’s staffers asked Gutiérrez and other CHC members to leave the meeting, which was about the execution of President Trump’s controversial immigration policy. The Democrats were seeking clarification on the scope of the reported raids and arrests of undocumented immigrants.
In a statement released later that day, which was at times incendiary and sarcastic, Gutiérrez said not only are Trump’s “mass deportation” executive orders unprecedented but so are the lengths to which Ryan and Goodlatte will go to control information provided to congressional representatives.