Uphold Kennedy's Legacy on Immigration Reform

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-01-14 15:30:00 UTC
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Since his passing, Senator Ted Kennedy's voice has been sorely missed among progressives. On Tuesday, Massachusetts voters will decide who takes his seat.

Change.org blogger Pema Levy has a post up on Women's Rights about the need to elect Democratic candidate Martha Coakley in order to pass Kennedy's baby, health care reform, and to protect women's health and reproductive rights. But there's another issue that he devoted his life to, which Tuesday's election will impact: comprehensive immigration reform.

Coakley supports a path to legalization for America's undocumented immigrants. Her Republican opponent, Scott Brown, on the other hand, has just received an endorsement from the aggressively anti-immigrant Americans for Legal Immigration PAC -- with, Salon reports, ties to, big surprise, hate group FAIR and the John Tanton Network. (The president of ALIPAC, William Gheen, has issued an amusing denial where he simultaneously tries to distance his group from FAIR and defend them. Oh, and he also says that ALIPAC is not "right wing." Really now? That's going a bit far, isn't it?)

ALIPAC applauds his disdain for comprehensive immigration reform with a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants. He's also high on their list for opposing in-state tuition so that undocumented students can afford to attend college.

If we want comprehensive immigration reform, we want Coakley. Pema's post on Women's Rights provides information on ways both Massachusetts residents and others can help make this happen.

Photo credit: weinbergagain

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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