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REP. GUTIERREZ TRAVELLING TO ALABAMA FOR EVENTS PROTESTING H.B. 56 IMMIGRATION LAW
Congressman visits NAACP Convention in Eufaula and Rally in Birmingham October 21, 2011 Media Contact: Douglas Rivlin (202) 225-8203 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Washington, DC) -- Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) is visiting Alabama for a series of events on Saturday (10/22) that culminate in an "Alabama United: One Family, One Alabama" community event and rally in Birmingham's Fair Park Arena at 4:00 p.m. CT. The Congressman, who is the Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Task Force on Immigration and a leading proponent of immigration reform, is visiting the state to meet with residents and leaders and to see firsthand the impact of H.B. 56, the recently-passed "paper's please" law that seeks to drive immigrants and Latinos from the state. "Alabama's 'papers please' law has created a huge civil rights crisis for Latinos and all Americans across the nation," Congressman Gutierrez said. "When people are scared to send U.S. citizen kids to school because a state has asserted its alleged right to sow discrimination and division, there is something very wrong in America. When local governments deny access to water unless you can prove your status, when judges say you can only press charges against an abusive husband if you are willing to be deported, when a law turns neighbor against neighbor, we have to shine a spotlight on it and say: this is not America." The Congressman is calling on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano to suspend the deportation of immigrants with no criminal background who are picked up by Alabama authorities at least until Attorney General Eric Holder's challenges to the constitutionality of the law have been adjudicated. Congressman Gutierrez led the national effort that resulted in revised federal deportation guidelines announced in August that target serious criminals and national security risks, but direct federal authorities not to pursue prosecution against immigrants with deep roots in their

communities and no criminal activity, including military families, DREAM Act students, and the immediate families of U.S. citizens. "Nowhere is it more important for federal authorities to exercise prosecutorial discretion than in Alabama where a state has taken it upon itself to round people up or drive them out because of their appearance, accent, or lack of identification," Gutierrez said. "If Secretary Napolitano is serious about implementing a policy that targets real criminals, she must push back on a state that has decided to target everyone instead." Under Secretary Napolitano, DHS has deported a record number of immigrants each year of the Obama Administration, with 396,906 deported in the last fiscal year. For the most recent year, a slight majority of those deported were categorized as criminals, continuing a trend towards targeting convicted criminals for deportation. During his visit to Alabama, the Congressman will speak at the 59th Annual NAACP Alabama State Conference Convention in Eufaula on Saturday morning and then speak at a rally in Birmingham in the afternoon. He also plans private meetings with community leaders and advocates and to pay respects to the family of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, the monumental civil rights leader in Alabama who passed away on October 5. "A generation ago, people fled Alabama for Chicago and other places because they were being systematically denied freedom, equality, and opportunity," Rep. Gutierrez said. "The nation learned a great lesson from the civil rights struggle that was centered in Alabama and the South and led by great Americans like Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. Indeed, a Puerto Rican born in Chicago could never have had the opportunity to rise to be a Member of Congress were it not for that civil rights struggle. Now Chicago is coming back. I want to see if I can help the decent people who see the situation in Alabama as a great injustice." The Congressman's public events on Saturday, October 22, 2011 are as follows (all times local/CT):

7:30 am Breakfast Remarks / 9:00 am Plenary Keynote 59th Annual NAACP Alabama State Conference Convention, Lake Point Resort State Park, Eufaula, AL

4:00 pm "Alabama United: One Family, One Alabama" Rally Fair Park Arena, 2331 Bessemer Rd. Birmingham, AL Congressman's Remarks scheduled for approx 5:00 pm Hosted by La Jefa Radio and the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ) Additional invited speakers include Mayor William Bell, Birmingham City Council Members, local advocates, leaders and media personalities.

Background: Gutierrez Statement on Alabama Law Ruling (10/14/2011): http://bit.ly/LVG_101411

Gutierrez Statement on Record Setting Deportations (10/18/2011): http://bit.ly/LVG_101811 Gutierrez Immigration Page: http://bit.ly/LVG_Immigration Gutierrez Bio: http://bit.ly/LVG_Bio

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