For Rahm Emanuel, what goes Around, comes Around

Chicago's Hispanics get an earful on Rahm Emanuel's immigration record

Hispanic voters, likely to be a key bloc in the Chicago mayor's race, are concerned candidate Rahm Emanuel did not do enough to help immigrants while serving as President Obama's chief of staff and are very concerned on his record of not supporting immigration reform to help certain subsets of undocumented immigrants.

Specifically, his rivals in the race to replace longtime Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley say Mr. Emanuel should have done more to push for legislation that would stop deportations of undocumented workers whose children are US citizens, on grounds of keeping families together. They also believe Emanuel, in his former position as White House chief of staff, could have helped to gain Senate passage of the DREAM Act, a bill aimed at helping young people who were brought to the US as children a pathway to American citizenship. It fell two votes short last month.

The backdrop in this mayoral race is the rising clout of Chicago's Hispanic voters. Among the major mayoral candidates, two are Hispanic. The conventional political wisdom is, in splitting their community, neither will win, but many analysts expect the Hispanic vote could be kingmaker in the likely event of a two-person run-off contest after the Feb. 22 election.

Under fire from US Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D) of Illinois, a national immigration rights advocate who is endorsing Gery Chico for mayor, Mr. Gutierrez charged in 2005, when Emanuel was chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Emanuel recommended moderate House Democrats facing close races the next year go ahead and vote for a tough immigration bill – one that was unpopular with much of the Hispanic community. Sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R) of Wisconsin, the legislation called for construction of more border fence and gave local law-enforcement officials greater incentive to check immigration status of offenders and to turn them over to federal authorities. The House approved the bill and, though it stalled in the Senate, the legislation fanned an already-hot immigration debate and prompted pro-immigrant protests across the US.

Stumping for Mr. Chico at a candidate forum hosted by the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Representative Gutierrez said, “The DREAM kid needed something Emanuel could have afforded him – somebody who stood up for them and said no to Sensenbrenner … we could have defeated the Sensenbrenner bill.”

Also at the forum, Claudio Holzer, a Roman Catholic priest who represented a local woman whose deportation in 2005 was met with massive protests from Chicago’s Hispanic community, criticized Emanuel for not intervening on her behalf. “Rahm Emanuel didn’t move one finger for her,” said Father Holzer.

The Chicago City Council recently passed a resolution urging President Obama to use his executive powers to stop deportations of undocumented workers if it separates them from their families.

Immigration reform is a hot topic in Chicago, where the Hispanic population has jumped 3 percentage points between 2000 and 2009 to make up one-quarter of total residents, according to the US Census Bureau.

Hispanics represent 15 percent of Chicago’s 1.5 million registered voters, according to city election officials. With their clout at the ballot box rising, they are being avidly courted by major candidates ahead of the mayoral election.

Emanuel's immigration reform credentials have been discredited by several candidates, among them Mr. Chico, a former Chicago schools president and chief of staff to Mayor Daley; former US Sen. Carol Moseley Braun; and Miguel del Valle, the city’s clerk and a former state senator.

Chico is Mexican-American and emphasizes his neighborhood roots on the Southwest Side, which is predominantly Hispanic. Mr. del Valle has stressed his life story as a child immigrant from Puerto Rico who became Illinois’s first Hispanic state senator in 1987. With two Hispanic candidates to choose from, the Hispanic vote is expected to be divided – some would say diluted. Neither candidate gives any indication of dropping out to try to solidify the Hispanic vote and lift the chance a Hispanic might win the mayor's seat.

Hispanic voters are largely undecided, according to a Chicago Tribune/WGN poll conducted in December. Thirty-six percent of Hispanics polled did not declare support for a single candidate. Emanuel was the top choice among those who did, with 27 percent. Del Valle was next with 14 percent, and Chico had 12 percent.

Gutierrez’s endorsement comes with a little more than six weeks until the Feb. 22 election in a race where the landscape has changed dramatically in the past few weeks.

"My reason is simple. Gery Chico is the most qualified candidate for mayor," Gutierrez said. "He doesn't need any on-the-job training."

"The best candidate for mayor is also a Hispanic candidate for mayor," Gutierrez said. "I have a message for Hispanics today. It's time to make history...and the time is now."

Gutierrez, who is of Puerto Rican descent, had considered running for mayor but announced in October he would rather stay in Congress and work on immigration issues.

Chico, who is of Mexican, Greek and Lithuanian heritage, is trying to get the support of Hispanics who make up about 20 percent of city voters.

The endorsement comes as Chico attempts to separate himself from the pack of contenders seeking to replace outgoing Mayor Richard Daley.

If no candidate receives the majority of votes next month, the top two vote-getters will face off in a runoff on April 5.

Chico also plans to begin airing a broadcast and cable television ad featuring Gutierrez this week.

Gutierrez has been critical of Emanuel’s handling of immigration issues, most notably saying Emanuel and President Barack Obama haven’t done enough to push a pro-immigration rights agenda.

Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus last week endorsed Chico after dropping out of the race for mayor. Chico is also being backed by Manny Flores, chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission and former alderman of the 1st Ward, current Ald. Joe Moreno, 1st, Ald. Danny Solis, 25th, and Ald. George Cardenas, 12th.

Parroting a Chico campaign theme, Gutierrez said several times Chico grew up in the Back of the Yards neighborhood and Chico would bring his neighborhood sensibilities to City Hall. The congressman also stressed Chico would become Chicago's first Hispanic mayor but he would represent all citizens regardless of ethnicity or race.

"I couldn't be prouder to be standing next to him," Chico said of Gutierrez. "He evaluated this race and took a good, hard look at the issues affecting our city."

Gutierrez acknowledged the endorsement was difficult, especially because he has known del Valle for years. But he said he finally agreed to back Chico based on his stands on the issues, including education and crime.

"Did it cause me to have to pause and think? Absolutely," Gutierrez said. "You cannot just brush aside someone like Miguel del Valle. I did not do that. I thought about it seriously and in the end I came to the conclusion I would be for Gery Chico."

Gutierrez also is playing a major role in Chico's first broadcast TV commercial, which is entirely in Spanish and will be airing only on Spanish-language TV stations. The campaign purchased more than $50,000 in time on Univision and Telemundo, a Chico spokeswoman said.

In the commercial, titled "Right," Gutierrez touts Chico's family history, including his grandparents coming from Mexico, as well as Chico's leadership roles with the public schools and the Mexican American Chamber of Commerce.

"I've known this man for many, many years and we've worked on a lot of things together going back to education and I'm proud to have his endorsement," Chico said.