President Obama was blasted by a top Latino ally on Monday for modifying his health-care plan in the face of conservative criticism.
The criticism was leveled in Spanish by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Democrat from Illinois who was the first Latino member of Congress to endorse Barack Obama for president.
Referring to the Obama administration, Gutierrez said: “Those who should be our friends, our allies, are more and more giving Rep. (Joe) Wilson, R-S.C., exactly what he wants to continue with this prejudice against our community.”
Gutierrez, who made his remarks in Washington, D.C., while participating in a panel discussion on immigration reform sponsored by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, was incensed by the Obama administration’s announcement over the weekend that it was going to bar undocumented workers from participating in the health insurance exchange.