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Roundup: Rep. Steve King Vs. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Immigration, Civil Rights, and Arpaio

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Yesterday we celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the many lessons from his life that inform the struggle for real immigration reform in the U.S. today.

Seth Hoy writes, at Immigration Impact:

His legacy will be remembered this week by people of all colors and creeds who still believe in the American dream and who continue to fight for equality, civil rights and the basic human dignity they deserve. Over the weekend, thousands of human rights activists took to the street in Phoenix, Arizona, to march for civil rights and for “long-overdue federal action on immigration.”

Here is a video from that 10,000-person Arpaio march, which we live-blogged on Saturday:

From ManEegee of Latino Politico, who attended the march:

That’s why it’s important to come together in public like we did – to signal to other political leaders (and hopefully, Department of Justice officials) that Arpaio’s actions are unacceptable. […] Each time the march is covered with commentary on the investigations and continue blowing the lid off the sheriff’s abuses, the more politically toxic he becomes and the feds are forced to act.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights also hosted a 1,000-person event in Chicago for immigration reform, which the Chicago Sun-Times covered. It featured the Reverend Jesse Jackson speaking about Dr. King’s legacy:

The Rev. Jesse Jackson invoked the memory of King — whose birthday is being commemorated Monday — in calling for a change in immigration policy.

“His fight was about immigration reform,” Jackson said. “It was about one set of rules” for all people.

And Jackson, like several others who spoke, highlighted the plight of the people of Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake there.