Congressional Members to Join Civil Rights Groups in Fight Against Alabama’s “Juan Crow” Law

In the days following passage of Alabama’s extreme immigration law (HB 56), many business, religious and civil rights leaders spoke out about the law’s damaging impact on immigrant communities, farms, businesses, and schools. Since then, many notable community and civil rights leaders have stepped forward to add their voice to those demanding a repeal of the law. {snip} This week, Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez met with members of several congressional caucuses–Hispanic, Black, Asian Pacific American and Progressive–to address what he calls Alabama’s “civil rights emergency.”

Last month, the Alabama NAACP joined the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ) to oppose HB 56. At the rally, Alabama United: One Family, One Alabama, Alabama NAACP president Bernard Simelton called the law “mean-spirited” and said that “we have to join forces and defeat it. We’re doing everything we can to get the law repealed–to demonstrate to our politicians that the law is unconstitutional.”

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Congressman Gutierrez and select Congressional members plan to hold a public meeting in Birmingham in late November so that those affected by the law have a chance to tell their stories. {snip}

“Justice-loving Americans from around the country were instrumental in shining a light on injustice in Alabama a half-century ago and came to the aid of young leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth,” Gutierrez said. “It is no different today. Those who see a great injustice occurring now against the people of Alabama must come to their aid.”

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