Rep. Shelia Jackson-Lee (D-TX) said today that the Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) promise to block immigration reform reminded her of rhetoric from old-guard southern segregationists in the 1960s.
Speaking at a presser criticizing the Arizona immigration bill, Lee said Graham’s decision to call for his energy bill to be debated before immigration reform reminded her of southern senators who attempted to block civil rights legislation decades ago.
“We say, ‘so what?'” she said, referring to Graham’s promise to block immigration unless energy comes first. “We will not be intimidated by you.”
“We are reminded of the Dixiecrats who said, ‘We will not be moved [on Civil Rights bills],” she said.
Lee said comprehensive immigration reform will be on the agenda despite Graham’s protests.
“We will not be moved by any southern senator — or a senator from anywhere else,” she said. “This is not a call to arms, it is a call to action.”
After the press conference, Jackson-Lee told me that she wasn’t calling Graham and other Republicans blocking immigration reform ‘Dixiecrats’ per se, but that their rhetoric sounded like that of segregationists.
“The eras can be compared,” she said.
Correction: This post originally misidentified which Rep. Lee made these comments about Graham. It was Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), not Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). We regret the error.
