[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24218]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     IMMIGRANT WORKERS FREEDOM RIDE

  (Mr. FILNER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, when I was a college student over 40 years 
ago, I was one of the first Freedom Riders in Mississippi. With fellow 
students, we went to jail to spotlight for Americans the injustice and 
inhumanity of racial segregation.
  Last week as a Congressman, I was able to meet and make personal the 
historical connection with the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride. Tens of 
thousands of immigrants rode across our great Nation to spotlight for 
Americans the injustices and inhumanity of our current immigration 
laws.
  The Freedom Rides in the early 1960s did lead to the elimination of 
the laws of segregation. Let us work today to protect the rights of 
immigrants in the workplace, to ensure their civil liberties and civil 
rights, to reunite immigrant workers with their families, and to create 
a path to citizenship for those who work hard every day, pay their 
taxes, and support their families.
  Let us truly salute the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride with real 
congressional action.

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