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DREAMers Lead Protest Against Former Lobbyist, Anti-Immigrant Rep. Bilbray

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After Arizona passed the viciously anti-immigrant law SB 1070, raising questions about whether the state was legalizing racial profiling, Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-CA) jumped into the fray by claiming that police officers wouldn’t have to resort to race in order to identify undocumented immigrants.  “They will look at the kind of dress you wear,” he said at the time. “There’s different type of attire, there’s different type of…right down to the shoes, right down to the clothes.”

Bilbray has been one of the leading anti-immigrant voices in Congress: he chairs the House Immigration Reform Caucus, which pushes aggressive immigration enforcement policies and wants to reduce all types of immigration (legal and unauthorized). And he’s been a leading anti-immigrant player outside of Congress, too, having spent time working as a lobbyist for the hate group FAIR.

This year, Bilbray is facing a tough reelection. He’s considered one of the most vulnerable members of Congress, according to the Washington Post. He’s being challenged by Democrat Scott Peters, a San Diego Port Commissioner.

Yesterday, immigration activists led by the DREAM Action Coalition showed up at Bilbray’s office to talk about shoes. They presented shoes to Bilbray’s staff to see if they could tell which shoes belonged to undocumented immigrants and which ones didn’t.  The activists weren’t the only ones there–a local Univision outlet, a radio station, and Hispanic newspapers also showed up.  Here’s one report:

Immigrant rights activists are putting pressure on Congressman Brian Bilbray, who is running for re-election in the newly minted 52nd Congressional District, which covers coastal and northern parts of San Diego County.

About a dozen young adults, some of them undocumented, stood outside Bilbray’s office in Solana Beach on Thursday afternoon, demanding he support the DREAM Act, which would legalize many young immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children.

Check out the photos from their visit:

We’re currently running ads in Bilbray’s district, which say:

Congressional candidate Scott Peters will fight for us. Peters rejects the extreme and racist positions of Brian Bilbray, who heads an anti-immigrant group in Congress. Instead, Scott Peters firmly supports immigration reform and the DREAM Act. This November 6th, we can’t
vote–but you can. Use your vote to help us make our dreams a reality.

And, here’s a video America’s Voice made to point out the idiocy of Bilbray’s notorious “shoes” statement: