Trailblazers in Black History: Barbara Jordan

Born on February 21, 1936, in Houston, Texas, Barbara Jordan was a lawyer and educator who was a congresswoman from 1972 to 1978—the first African-American congresswoman to come from the deep South and the first woman ever elected to the Texas Senate (1966). She captured the attention of President Lyndon Johnson, who invited her to the White House for a preview of his 1967 civil rights message. 

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This YouTube video was published on May 9, 2012.

 

The Immigration Act of 1990 mandated the creation of a bipartisan commission to examine the impacts of immigration on the United States and to make recommendations for future policy. The Commission, chaired by the late Barbara Jordan, issued its final report in 1997, but Barbara Jordan held a press conference in 1995 releasing the Commission's recommendations on legal immigration. The Jordan Commission called for an end to Chain Migration, the end of the Visa Lottery, and an annual immigration flow of 550,000 new immigrants per year with a focus on highly-skilled workers, the nuclear family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and the U.S.'s fair share of refugees and asylees (50,000/year).