Illinois Congressman Luis Gutiérrez, a Democrat from the 4th District, said he and a group of fellow Latino lawmakers were asked to leave a meeting — which they had requested — with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on Thursday at the bidding of House Speaker Paul Ryan.

ICE also cancelled a planned Feb. 14 meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other Democrats in the House at the last minute, Gutiérrez said. That meeting was rescheduled "and turned into a Republican-led meeting" that was invitation-only, he added.

Gutiérrez, now serving his 12th term, said Ryan's staff asked him to leave the meeting, tweeting, "Never before in 20 plus years has this happened." He added, in Spanish, "With Trump in the White House we have a dictator in Congress."

ALSO READ: Immigration Sweep Nets 48 Arrests In Chicago Area

He also said he believes recent ICE raids could be just the beginning for undocumented immigrants who fear deportation.

On Trump ICE raids: "It is simply the very tip of the spear. It's going to get worse, I fear." The Atlantic https://t.co/ANaZ9a6en2 #twill pic.twitter.com/h3NMfhlR3G

— Luis V. Gutierrez (@RepGutierrez) February 17, 2017

Gutiérrez issued a statement after he said he was excluded from a meeting in the U.S. Capitol with ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan on Thursday:

"Rep. Gutiérrez was asked to leave the meeting by staffers for Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) at the request of Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Speaker Ryan. Several other Members were excluded from the meeting with the ICE official, including Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-CA), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Lou Correa (D-CA), Ruben Kihuen (D-NV), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Norma Torres (D-CA) and Juan Vargas (D-CA)."

Asked about members being asked to leave, Goodlatte said the meeting arrangement was "agreed upon ahead of time," according to Politico, and Ryan's spokeswoman AshLee Strong said that his office "organized a small bipartisan briefing that was, at the request of DHS, limited to members with jurisdictional interests in immigration enforcement."

The meeting prompted concern from some attendees that all undocumented immigrants are at risk for deportation thanks to President Donald Trump's executive orders.

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"I was alarmed and deeply troubled by his explanation of how the president's executive orders would impact the immigrant community," Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, a Democrat from California, said in a statement. "In effect, every undocumented person in America is now vulnerable to arrest and removal as a result of the president's orders."

"We know that the president uses fear — fear of Muslims and fear of immigrants and refugees — as the misguided motivations for his policy decisions," Rep. Linda Sanchez, a Democrat from California, vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said a day before the meeting. "The raids conducted by ICE over the past week are a tool to incite fear, and they don't reflect our values as a country."

.@RepLindaSanchez: ICE raids "a tool to incite fear," have had "a very serious chilling effect across our country" https://t.co/KTU3yljHUz pic.twitter.com/0074SrHFgu

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) February 15, 2017

In spite of those concerns, an ICE spokeswoman said Homan emphasized that ICE "does not conduct arrests indiscriminately," and arrests are made on a case-by-case basis, NBC reported.

But the ouster from Thursday's meeting has left Gutiérrez with more concerns about Trump's immigration agenda and the tactics his administration is using to carry it out.

"In 20-plus years, I have never heard of the Republicans controlling what meetings Democrats can have with officials of the Executive Branch and never had a staffer ask me to leave a meeting to which I am entitled to attend," said Gutiérrez, who represents areas of Cook County including Brighton Park, Hermosa, the Lower West Side, Gage Park, Avondale, Logan Square, Humboldt Park, South Lawndale and Bridgeport.

He continued:

My constituents have questions about who is being targeted by ICE, which DREAMers with DACA they are targeting for deportation, which victims of domestic violence ICE is deporting, which immigrants at church shelters are being targeted. We know the statements by Trump about targeting criminals is a lie, but we were hoping someone could give us the truth or any information at all.

The new mass deportation executive orders are unprecedented, but so are the lengths to which the Speaker and Chairman Goodlatte are going to control the information being disseminated to Members of Congress. I expect such dictatorial shenanigans from the Trump Administration, but not from competent, compassionate legislators like Speaker Ryan or from legislators like (House Judiciary Committee Chairman) Bob Goodlatte. Do they have ear pieces feeding them orders from President Bannon or the others making decisions in the White House?

Speaker Ryan is not an emperor and does not control who I meet with. My colleagues and I asked for this meeting and we still have not been given details by ICE about who they are deporting, why, and how. We simply have hit a stone wall and now Republicans in the House are cooperating in limiting the information that we can provide to our constituents.

ALSO WATCH: DHS Weighed National Guard For Immigration Roundup

Image via Rep. Luis Gutiérrez's office

