A group of Democratic members of Congress opposed to Alabama's immigration law will be in Birmingham later this month to draw attention to what they say is a civil rights emergency.

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., met with seven colleagues plus staff members from more than a dozen other offices Wednesday to plan a pub­lic meeting in Birmingham for them to hear testimony from people af­fected by the law. The schedule has not been set, but it likely will be either Nov. 21 or Nov. 28, Gutierrez said.

U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., missed a planned visit to the state recently because of an airline mishap, but he supports the law as a sensible reaction to the failures at the federal level to crackdown on illegal immigrants. As mayor of Hazelton, Pa., he passed a similar city ordnance.

"The people in Alabama are doing this to protect their people. I wouldn't back down," Barletta said Wednesday night.

"I know the names they'll be called and the pressure from the groups and politicians, but the truth of the matter is there is a reason Alabama is doing what it's doing, because Washington has failed them," he said.

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