March for Immigrant Rights

03-25-06 CNN In 2005, House Judiciary Chair James Sensenbrenner introduced and passed two extremely harsh anti-immigrant bills. In January, the REAL ID Act, now law, denied undocumented immigrants access to drivers’ licenses. The year ended with the passage of H.R. 4437 in the House, which not only criminalizes undocumented immigrants, but also family members, friends and church members who live with or come in contact with undocumented immigrants. Community organizations like the Korean Resource Center and the Korean American Federation would also be penalized for working with undocumented immigrants. Given this critical moment and highly anti-immigrant climate in Congress, groups such as KRC and other Korean American organizations coordinated mass mobilizations on March 25, March 26, April 10, and May 1. Altogether, 3 million people came together in California calling for just and humane immigration reform and opposing ineffective and mean-spirited proposals such as H.R. 4437. Immigrants from Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America, allies including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Cardinal Roger Mahony, have united to create this historical moment in the immigrant rights movement. The immigration debate now moved to the Senate, where immigration reform legislation including H.R. 4437 will be discussed.