Mexico president lauds Senate approval of revised US immigration bill News
Mexico president lauds Senate approval of revised US immigration bill

[JURIST] Mexican President Vicente Fox [official website, in Spanish] has lauded Monday's approval by the US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] of an immigration bill that would provide temporary work visas to undocumented workers in the US and that rejected a House proposal to make the "unlawful presence" of undocumented aliens a felony rather than a misdemeanor. Fox credited huge marches by Mexicans [JURIST report] and other protestors in the US as a major contributor to the favorable vote, saying it moves the Mexican government closer to its goal of legalization for all Mexican migrants in the US.

US Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza [official profile] has nonetheless warned Mexican citizens in a letter [text] that the Senate Judiciary Committee proposal still must be passed by Congress and said the debate is likely to be "heated and at times contentious." Other parts of the bill propose increased border patrol efforts and the construction of a fence along 700 of the 2,000 miles of US-Mexican border. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially-integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation.

Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Stalin born

On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he would become leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for more deaths than any man in history.

Read documents regarding the USSR under Joseph Stalin from the U.S. Library of Congress.