Labor Secretary Thomas Perez invoked the late labor leader Cesar Chavez in an official statement, citing his “vision and moral example” should be used to, among other things, “fixing our broken immigration system.” Left out of the statement was that Chavez was an outspoken opponent of immigration.

Chavez was the founder of the United Farm Workers in 1962. His efforts organizing poor Latinos in Southern California made him a highly regarded figure in labor and civil rights circles. His birthday, which is today, is a state holiday in California, Texas and Colorado.