Wealth & Money Quote by Luis Gutierrez

Gutierrez’s line is built like a quick legal brief delivered in the cadence of everyday commerce: not lofty ideals, just receipts. The intent is defensive but aggressive in its own way - a rebuttal to the familiar political insinuation that immigrants are economic freeloaders. By opening with “Let me respond with a few points,” he frames the debate as something already distorted, then moves to the “first” point as if the facts are stacked and ready to topple the premise.

The rhetorical trick is the list. “Income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, gasoline taxes, cigarette taxes” isn’t mere detail; it’s a drumbeat. He drags taxation out of the abstract and into the mundane rituals of American life: buying gas, buying cigarettes, buying anything. That last clause - “every tax when they make a purchase” - quietly shifts the moral frame. Contribution becomes automatic, baked into participation. If you’re in the marketplace, you’re already underwriting the state.

Subtext: immigrants are not outside the “we” politicians invoke; they’re already funding the very systems used to police them. It also sidesteps the most contested terrain (legal status, eligibility for benefits) and anchors the argument in something harder to moralize away: consumption and payroll realities. In the broader context of U.S. immigration fights, this is a strategic pivot from sentiment (“they’re hardworking”) to ledger logic (“they pay”). It’s not asking for charity; it’s demanding recognition - and, implicitly, political rights that match the bill they’re already paying.