Republicans introduce tougher immigration bill in US House News
Republicans introduce tougher immigration bill in US House

[JURIST] Republicans introduced the Secure Borders FIRST (For Integrity, Reform, Safety and anti-Terrorism) Act [press release] to the US House of Representatives Tuesday as a challenge to the White House-sponsored immigration proposal. The bill declares English the nation's official language, requires background checks on all workers, bars all current illegal immigrants from gaining legal status, and calls for an additional 18,000 border patrolmen to be in place by 2008. The proposal also includes a seven-page rebuke of President Bush's approach to immigration reform.

The bill's authors, Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Peter King (R-NY) [official websites], created the bill as a direct response to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 [S 1348 summary; JURIST report] currently on hold in the US Senate. The Los Angeles Times has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.