Hysterical congressman calls John Kelly a “disgrace to the uniform he used to wear”

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Congressman open-borders himself, went on a rant today against John Kelly, the White House chief of staff. Gutierrez pronounced Kelly, who served in the Marines for more than 40 years, “a hypocrite who is a disgrace to the uniform he used to wear.” Gutierrez added that Kelly “has no honor and should be drummed out of the White House along with the white supremacists and those enabling the President’s actions by ‘just following orders.'”

Gutierrez never served a day in the military. He has no standing to call anyone a disgrace to the uniform.

In any case, it is entirely consistent with Kelly’s military background for him to help execute the lawful orders of the U.S. president. That’s particularly true in this case, where the order effectuates the demise of an unlawful presidential order substantially similar to one that courts have already invalidated.

Gutierrez obviously disagrees with Trump’s decision on DACA. However, it is offensive and, frankly, stupid for him to cast that policy disagreement in personal terms.

Gutierrez claims that Kelly, when he was Secretary of DHS, “lied straight to the faces of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus about preventing the mass deportation of DREAMers.” Gutierrez declines to cite the specific promise Kelly allegedly made; nor, absent a transcript or a recording, would I be inclined to take Gutierrez’s word for what Kelly said.

Furthermore, it is far from clear that Trump’s DACA decision will lead to the mass deportation of the so-called dreamers. All they are sure to lose, assuming no congressional fix, is their secure status and the benefits that go with it.

Gutierrez doesn’t deny this. All he accuses Kelly of “is executing the plan to take away [the dreamers] lifeline and taking steps to criminalize young people who live and work here legally.” Clearly, that’s not the same things as the mass deportations Kelly allegedly promised to prevent.

Anyway, it is Congress, not the Trump administration, that criminalized the dreamers. Ending DACA merely vindicates the decision Congress made.

If anyone is betraying an institution in which he has served, it is Gutierrez. He’s been in Congress for decades. Yet, he demands that DACA remain in place even though it constitutes an end-run around Congress. DACA amounts to executive branch repeal of Congress’s decision on the status of, and the benefits that will accrue to, those who came to the U.S. as kids without the legal right to do so.

Those who disagree with Congress’s decision should work to change the law, rather than personally insulting individual members of the executive branch who merely carry it out. In cases like this, one almost wishes dueling was still permitted.

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