Longtime immigration reform advocate set to retire

WASHINGTON—Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., a prominent leader on immigration issues, will not seek reelection next year, according to Democratic leaders who confirmed reports ahead of an official announcement. Gutierrez, 63, joined Congress in 1993. He is a senior member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and has been a leading voice in the effort to overhaul the immigration system. In recent weeks, Gutierrez has been one of the strongest critics of the Trump administration’s response to hurricane-battered Puerto Rico. Much of the island still remains without power. Gutierrez's parents moved to Chicago from Puerto Rico in the 1950s. In 2011, police arrested Gutierrez and other immigration activists outside the White House during a protest of President Barack Obama’s record-breaking number of deportations. Gutierrez labeled Obama “deporter in chief.” And in September, when President Donald Trump announced he would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program, Gutierrez protested outside Trump Tower in New York City. Police arrested him again after he refused to leave. In 2001, Gutierrez became the first elected official to sponsor legislation to give undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children a pathway to citizenship.