“Si se puede! ; Si se puede! ; Si se puede!  ; Yes we can!” the crowd chanted in anticipation for representative Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois’ fourth congressional district to take the stage. First Councilmen Richard Baugh spoke , expressing his pleasure to have Congressman Gutiérrez in Harrisonburg because he knew what it meant for the fight for immigration reform.

“[Immigration reform] affects our lives directly whether it’s for ourselves, our co-workers or our neighbor. It affects Dulce, a dreamer who has been living in Harrisonburg since she was 3 and is currently in high school and who lives fearing that her parents could be deported,” Baugh said.

The crowd cheered as Councilmen Baugh finished his speech. He then introduced Congressman Gutiérrez, everyone became silent as they waited for Gutiérrez to begin.

In front of over 400 supporters, Gutiérrez voiced his support to Virginia residents who support comprehensive immigration reform, that will help the over 11 million undocumented people who live in this country obtain legal status.

He began by expressing his excitement for being in Harrisonburg that day, saying that it’s in places like this where we see change begin to happen. Then he talked about the current status of immigration reform, and how the current senate bill is not a proper solution. The current senate bill is broken he said, that it makes it impossible to for families to stay together, in ten years’ time it will be impossible for someone to bring their brother, mother, sister or any other family over. The current system has been broken, Gutiérrez explained, since congress shut down legal avenues in 1996 ,specifically section 245 i of the Immigration and Nationality Act, for people to fix their legal status. Gutiérrez recalled the immigration reform bill during the Reagan administration; people who paid their taxes while they were here illegally had the opportunity to come clean, declare what taxes they had been paying and claim it as their own. They could gaining the social security benefits they worked for. Under the current bill that isn’t possible since the federal government would seize billions of dollars from hard working individuals, he can’t stand to let that happen.

“I’m telling you this,” Gutiérrez said, “because that’s not a Democratic solution, that’s not a Republican solution, that’s a solution that had to be reached in the congress of the United States, people compromised, people sacrificed,” he continued to stress the importance of bipartisanship when formulation a solution. It can’t be one sided, regardless of what either side things both parties must come to an understanding that without the other, neither will get anything done.

“And why do we compromise and why do we sacrifice?” asked Gutiérrez, “Because somebody is going to die trying to return to this country, trying to be reunited with their wife or with their husband. Somebody is going to die on that border tonight. There’s going to be a woman in a field today picking crops who is going to get raped because she has no protection under our law. There is going to be a man who going to lose a finger, a hand, an eye, a life, because a scruples employer will exploit them until they are dead. Those things happen each and every day because today, today alone hundreds of American citizen children are crying because they’ve lost their mom and their dad we need to fix this broken immigration system, we are ready to make kinds of sacrifices that are necessary to it done. So don’t tell me this is amnesty, we are ready to sacrifice a lot and I am ready. I didn’t go to the Congress of the United States to deny people health care, but if that’s the price we have to pay I would vote for that senate bill today.”

“The AFL-CIO [American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations], labor organized across this country, sat down with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and reached a compromise to support comprehensive immigration reform, the Washington post and the New York times you read their editorial comments and what do you find? A vote for comprehensive immigration reform.” Gutiérrez said, Congress need not worry about their constituents, the American people want and are ready for reform. “There are many good men and women in the republican party that are ready today to bring about the kinds of changes that are necessary in our immigration system,” Gutiérrez said.

He recalled his encounter in Chicago weeks after the elect with Wisconsin’s representative Paul Ryan, “he said to me the following ‘you’re Catholic, I’m Catholic, and as Catholics we cannot permit the exploitation of 11 million people in this country’, he didn’t talk about a democratic or republican option, but one of justice.”

He also reminded those who continue to fight, that they cannot let down, that they must to continue to press for change, that they are going to face person and economic hardships in order to see change. “Consistency”, “Perseverance”, “Hard work” and “Compromise” where all heard by those attending in English and Spanish, cementing the idea that the fight is not over, but that there is still a chance to win.

Gutiérrez ended his speech by reminding everyone that 93 years ago the United States finally acknowledged a woman’s right to vote and that on August 28th would mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, for the thousands of men and women that were brutally beaten or even killed during their fight for justice, so that someday he could have been congress today.

“This is an important moment for the problem at hand, I want to say ‘Thank you’ to the people that through their sacrifice and hard work brought justice to this beautiful country. Are you ready to fight, Están listos para pelear; Are you determined to find justice?” Gutiérrez said. The crowd roared with excitement as the congressmen said he goodbyes and assured everyone that they were making history. The crowd chanted as the Congressman was leaving “Si se puede, yes we can” the sound died off and everyone left knew that their fight wasn’t over yet.

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