Rep. Luis Gutierrez: Justin Bieber wouldn’t be safe in Arizona (video)
The Biebs made a cameo on the House floor today — sort of.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) made a floor speech about the Supreme Court’s ruling on Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law in which he referenced a certain Canadian-born pop star. The staunch immigration reform advocate used side-by-side images of well-known public figures, including Bieber next to girlfriend Selena Gomez, to illustrate how difficult it would be for law enforcement to pick out which one is an immigrant.
“Round two -– for our young fans of C-Span — is Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez,” said Gutierrez. “These young people have overcome their very different national origins and became apparently a happy couple. I’m sure Justin helped Ms. Gomez learn all about American customs and feel more at home in her adopted country.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he added, “because I’m not a trained Arizona official, I somehow got that backwards. Actually, Ms. Gomez, of Texas, has helped Mr. Bieber, of Canada, learn all about his adopted country. Justin – when you perform in Phoenix – bring your papers.”
In his speech, Gutierrez praised the Court for knocking down most of the Arizona law, but expressed concern that it let stand the provision that requires state law enforcement to conduct immigration checks on anyone they stop who they suspect is in the U.S. illegally. Immigration activists fear that could lead to racial profiling.
“This law is not just a problem for people who are undocumented,” he said. “It is not just a problem for immigrants. It is not just a problem for anyone who ‘looks’ like they might have come to America from somewhere else,” he said. “It’s a problem for every American who cares about freedom.”
(Photo: Screenshot, C-SPAN)
