U.S. Congressman Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois, one of the biggest proponents for immigration reform in Congress, and other elected officials are kicking off a nationwide tour this month – starting on the East Coast – to discuss the recent executive action orders issued by President Barack Obama. 

The first public forum on this multi-state stop is scheduled to take place Jan. 14 in Providence, Rhode Island, according to the Providence Journal. 

The aim of the tour appears to be an educational forum across several states around the nation, where Gutierrez and others can help immigrants learn more about the executive action orders and what it means for them.

Having served as U.S. Representative for Illinios' 4th District since 1993 – when he became the first Latino from the Midwest to be elected to Congress – Gutierrez, a Chicago native with Puerto Rican roots, has been one of the most active members of Congress on immigration reform. In 2009 and 2011, Gutierrez traveled across the country, calling for support of comprehensive immigration reform and putting a stop to deporting families when he spoke at many public events.

Obama's Nov. 20 executive actions placed a halt on deportations for millions of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. and allows undocumented parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents to apply for work permits under a new deferred action program. Experts projected that the executive actions could affect roughly 5 million immigrants nationwide.

Gutierrez has been urging people to apply for the program, having stated on MSNBC's "The Rundown" in December that the program would be "unlikely" to unravel under a future president if large amounts of undocumented immigrants enroll. 

"We've put them on the books, they are paying taxes, they've gone through a background check, they don't represent a threat, and they have American citizen children and now we are going to deport them and their kids?" he said on MSNBC, according to The Hill. 

Chicago is home to roughly 1.4 million immigrants, the seventh-largest immigrant population in the U.S., who make up 18 percent of the Windy City's overall population. There are approximately 511,000 undocumented immigrants in Illinois, according to a report from the left-wing Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights released in February 2014.

Gutierrez will be joined by U.S. Rep. David N. Cicilline, D-Rhode Island, Providence Mayor-elect Jorge O. Elorza and Central Falls Mayor James Diossa for the Jan. 14 forum at the Providence Career and Technical Academy, according to the Providence Journal.