Press Release - Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
LCCR: Frist Immigration Bill Violates Good Faith Senate Bipartisanship
Civil Rights Coalition Cautions Against Sidestepping Judiciary Committee
For Immediate Release
Contact: Scott Westbrook Simpson, 202.466.2061, simpson@civilrights.org
March 17, 2006
Wade Henderson, the executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the nation's oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition, released the following statement in response to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's introduction of S. 2454, the "Secure America's Borders Act," which takes the same divisive approach as the House took when it passed the controversial H.R. 4437:
"The civil rights community is surprised that Senator Frist would try to bypass the Senate Judiciary Committee which is working in good faith to produce a bipartisan and comprehensive immigration bill.
"Senator Frist's bill would instantly criminalize 11 million hardworking immigrants and those who help them. At the same time it would do little to improve our national security. This is not a bill that reflects positively on a nation built by immigrants. It is neither compassionate, nor does it fairly resolve the underlying problems that deserve to be debated and acted upon by the Senate Judiciary Committee."
