Senator Kennedy: A Champion for Immigrant Rights

Since I heard the news about Senator Kennedy's seizures on Saturday, I have been reflecting on his amazing place in history, fighting for civil rights for all. Especially since hearing the diagnosis of a malignant glioma, up until the positive news this morning that as I write this Senator Kennedy will be released from the hospital in a few minutes, there has been flood of positive reflections. I am sure he will return to work fighting for the rights of all, fighting right up to the last minute.

I wanted to focus on this article in found in today's Globe. It was a timeline of just some highlights of major legislative achievements of the man some have called the most successful Senator in history. I thought specifically significant was the bill listed as his first major achievement:

1965: Immigration
In his first major legislative accomplishment, the 32-year-old Kennedy managed the successful floor battle to pass the Hart-Celler Act, a reform of immigration policy that abolished quotas and lifted a 1924 ban on immigration from Asia.

The list is impressive and clearly incomplete. Looking to today and the recent immigration reform battles, Kennedy was essential in working with stopped-clock Republicans like Bush and McCain to form a real positive reform, and kept fighting strong for human rights even after the Democratic leadership decided to let the bill fail for tactical reasons, of both keeping the issue by abandoning solutions, and for giving anti-immigrant Democrats a sense of legitimacy. Looking over at the site OnTheIssues.org, Senator Kennedy's voting record over the past decade or so has been positively pro-migrant. Senator Kennedy proudly shows his support for immigrants on his own webpage, for example these articles on rallies he lead in support immigrant rights: "Kennedy Joins Thousands on the Mall for Immigration Rally" and "Kennedy Leads Irish Rally in Support of Immigration Reform"

Senator Kennedy has been a vital supporter of civil rights for all people in this country and this Commonwealth, and I wish him all the best in a strong and quick recovery, and I am sure he will continue to fight for people no matter what may hold him back.