Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is motivating Latinos and the youth to vote, according to Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.

During a speech on the House floor on Tuesday morning, Gutierrez spoke about his visits at Chicago-area high schools -- most are U.S. citizens and Latinos, some with immigrant parents -- who will soon become eligible to vote. Gutierrez said most of the questions the students have asked him are about Trump, such as if he will become the next U.S. president, if he really wants to withdraw an individual's citizenship and if he wants to deport their parents.

"It is a very sad day when the first question a congressman gets from American high school students are about how much they should fear their own government, whether their own government is going to break up their families, whether their own government is going to treat them not as citizens and as equal partners, but as outsiders and pariahs in their own country," said Gutierrez, noting that Trump's televised appearance on shows including "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" adds that the businessman is "a celebrity that all America admires."

According to the congressman, the students asked Gutierrez on what he's doing to defend them against Trump. In return, Gutierrez asked them, "What are you doing to stand up for your community?" He said the students are planning to register to vote, but such civic engagement should not occur based on fears of deportation and racial profiling.

"Donald Trump is spurring youth voter mobilization like I have never seen before," said Gutierrez as he stood next to a large photo of the presidential candidate. "Nationally, we know that 93 percent of Latinos under the age 18 of are citizens and that every 30 seconds a Latino citizen turns 18. That's about one million a year for the next decade or so. If they are half as motivated as the young people I'm talking to in Chicago, Donald Trump could have a tremendous impact on the youth vote in the coming election."

Gutierrez charged that Trump wants to revert the U.S. to President Dwight Eisenhower's tenure when millions of immigrants, and U.S. citizens, were "evicted" from the country.

Trump was not the only Republican presidential candidate in mind. Ben Carson was also mentioned as the retired neurosurgeon said the idea of mass deportations is "worth discussing."

Gutierrez's speech comes a week after he also addressed Trump's scheduled hosting gig on the Nov. 7 episode of NBC's "Saturday Night Live." The Latino congressman called on Comcast and NBCUniversal to disinvite Trump from appearing on the live-night show as it shows America that every questionable comment the businessman made -- such as calling Mexican immigrants "rapists" and "criminals" -- would otherwise be considered acceptable.

Requests for comments from the Trump and Carson campaigns were not immediately returned.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Politics Editor Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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