Paul Gosar clashes with Hispanic Democrats over his call for arrests at Trump speech

Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., clashed with Hispanic Democrats on Tuesday, after they sought to formally condemn him for calling on police to arrest undocumented immigrants attending President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech.

Gosar shot back in a statement Tuesday, saying he would not be intimidated by "left-wing non-sense."

The rhetorical skirmish is the latest involving the four-term Republican lawmaker, who has increasingly drawn national attention for incendiary and divisive remarks.

On Tuesday, New Mexico Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat and the leader of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, introduced a resolution asking the House of Representatives to condemn Gosar for “inappropriate actions that intimidated State of the Union guests and discredited the U.S. House of Representatives.”

In a party-line vote, the House voted to kill the measure. In the meantime, Gosar fired back an angry tweet.

“I will not be intimidated by her left-wing non-sense and efforts to silence my speech,” Gosar wrote in a statement shared on Twitter. “I have a First Amendment right to speak out against their advocacy for criminals, gang members, drug dealers, human traffickers and simple run-of-the-mill law breakers who have violated our immigration laws.”

For Gosar, it is another high-profile battle with his ideological opponents.

Last week, Lujan Grisham, and others, including Arizona Democratic Reps. Ruben Gallego and Raúl Grijalva invited "dreamers" — undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children by their families — to attend Trump's speech as their guests.

Gosar bristled at their move.

"Of all the places where the Rule of Law needs to be enforced, it should be in the hallowed halls of Congress," Gosar said in a statement ahead of the speech. "Any illegal aliens attempting to go through security, under any pretext of invitation or otherwise, should be arrested and deported."

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., refused to turn the Capitol into an immigration roundup. AshLee Strong, a Ryan spokeswoman, said: “The speaker clearly does not agree” with Gosar's comments.

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Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a fellow Republican, also frowned on Gosar's statement, tweeting, "This is why we can't have nice things."

That drew more angry words from Gosar, who acidly alluded to Flake's decision not to seek another term, "This is why you got forced out of office."

Even before the move to condemn Gosar on Tuesday, the Arizona chapter of the Anti-Defamation League wrote Monday that it was "shocked and appalled" by Gosar's statements last week.

“These types of statements do little to advance the discussion and undermine our ability to work towards a society that is fair and just for all Americans,” Carlos Galindo-Elvira, the group’s regional director, wrote.

After a spasm of deadly violence last summer involving white supremacists and those protesting them erupted in Charlottesville, Va., Gosar made national news for comments he made to Vice News.

In an interview that aired on HBO, Gosar suggested the Charlottesville rally was the work of a supporter of former President Barack Obama and that liberal activist George Soros may have been a Nazi collaborator as a boy.

That sickened his brother David Gosar, who demanded his brother retract his words.

"If (Paul Gosar) had any guts or decency, he would apologize to George Soros on Vice News," David Gosar said. "He never will because his base won't like it, but he owes that man an apology."

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Gosar is also facing a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union after he blocked people from corresponding on his Facebook page.

Gosar represents one of the most reliably Republican districts in Arizona, an area that spans much of the state's northwestern corner.

Follow the reporter on Twitter @ronaldjhansen. Contact him at ronald.hansen@arizonarepublic.com and 602-444-4493.