Birmingham City Council President on National Immigration Panel
Birmingham City Council President on National Immigration Panel
Birmingham City Council President Roderick Royal addressed the important contributions of immigrants in cities across the U.S. at a public discussion organized by AS/COA in New Orleans.
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Birmingham City Council President Roderick Royal is in New Orleans taking part in a national roundtable on immigration and its impact on cities.
Royal was invited to the conference presented by the Americas Society and Council of the Americas.
Other participants include New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, New York City's commissioner of immigrant affairs and the president of the New Orleans Business Alliance....
"The initial invitation arose out of the controversy surrounding Alabama's HB56 and the council's passage of a stand against HB56," Royal said.
The council in June 2011 passed a resolution condemning the state's tough immigration law, labeling it contrary to American principles and calling for a commission to study a more humane solution to the state's immigration problems. Mayor William Bell also affirmed the resolution.
At the time, several council members called the new law, approved by the Alabama Legislature and signed by Gov. Robert Bentley, a throwback to the state's long legacy of bigotry....
