Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) introduced a resolution in Congress calling for the designation of Cesar Chavez's birthday, March 31, as National Border Control Day. The late civil rights icon and founder of the United Farm Workers union was a strong opponent of illegal immigration and supporter of increasing border controls.
Introducing the resolution, Rep. Gohmert said in a statement, “Cesar Chavez was best known for his passionate fight to gain better working environments for thousands of workers laboring in harsh conditions on farms for low wages….(I)t was his firm belief that preventing illegal immigration was an essential prerequisite to improving the circumstances of American farmworkers; and in 1979, in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., he demanded that the federal government enforce the immigration laws and keep illegal aliens out of the country. Therefore, it only seems appropriate to deem his birthday as, ‘National Border Control Day’ –seeing that Chavez spent his life addressing the harmful effects that illegal migration might have on this country and advocating for a legal immigration process.”
A new web site also calls for March 31 to be designated as National Border Control Day. The site includes information of Chavez’s emergence as a union leader and his struggle against illegal immigration.
