Immigration

This MLK Day remember the importance of 14th Amendment

Written by Cloee Cooper

On Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, we should remember the cornerstone of  civil rights in the U.S. – the 14th Amendment.

The 14th Amendment was written and enacted to give full rights to former slaves. It is the affirmation that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are, in fact, U.S. citizens. It is integral to the civil rights of African Americans and women, and is a crucial facet of American identity. Currently, we are in a political climate where the 14th Amendment is under attack.

Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), and State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI) are behind this attack. Earlier this… Read more

Politics

Exclusive Footage: Sen. Russell Pearce endorsed JT Ready

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

Human League exposes the relationship between J.T. Ready, a former leader in the neo-Nazi group National Socialist Movement (NSM) and Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce.

This video shows State Senator Russell Pearce endorsing JT Ready (AZ’s most famous White Supremacist) in 2006 for Mesa City Council. The footage has never been seen by the public until now. The footage and the Mormon Document and picture was given to Steve Lemons (Phoenix New Times) by a confidential source. He gave me a copy. You can get more info here: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2010-1…

Politics

Who is to blame for the lack of progress in Haiti?

Written by Garat Ibrahim

It has been one year since the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti. World attention vividly captured the impact of that tragedy through television and a lot of people around the world sent contribution to help the people of Haiti. Billions of dollars were pledged by Western countries to help Haitians rebuild and resettle.

But that has not been enough and Haiti is still suffering. In the last weeks the international media outlets are looking for who is accountable and they seem to have aid organizations in their sights.

There has been a lot of blame heaped on NGOS for not making enough progress, and it might be partially deserved, but there are many more factors.

Politics

John Tanton’s journal calls Islam “Menace,” wants no Muslim immigrants

Written by Stephen Piggott

Yesterday, the publishing arm of the John Tanton Network, The Social Contract Press (TSCP), issued a press release calling for an end to Muslim immigration. The statement introduced the latest issue of the white nationalist journal The Social Contract, which is devoted entirely to what it calls “The Menace of Islam.”

John Tanton founded TSCP and still serves as the journal’s publisher.

Wayne Lutton, The Social Contract’s editor, echoes the press release in his introduction to the issue, stating: “What evidence is there that Muslim “integration” is possible? It seems clear to us that it is (past) time to halt Muslim immigration to the United States.”

Lutton further states that “There are… Read more

International

Haitian immigrants targeted by the anti-immigrant movement

Written by MJ Olahafa

A year ago, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the island of Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, killing more than 230,000 people. Today, roughly a million remain homeless amid the debris and stuttering reconstruction efforts in Port-au-Prince.

Last year’s earthquake was just one of the disasters the people of Haiti suffered in the last few years. In August and September of 2008, Haiti was hit by four consecutive hurricanes (Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike) which killed over 800 people, displaced tens of thousands of Haitians and devastated the Haitian economy. If there was ever a country which fit the description and had a need for Temporary Protective Status [TPS], it is Haiti.

The Bush Administration… Read more

FAIR Publishes New Report

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

On Thursday, January 13, anti-immigrant hate group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) published a new report titled “Immigration, Population Growth and the Chesapeake Bay.” The report attempts to blame immigrants for the alleged environmental degradation of Chesapeake Bay.

Ecopolitics

Rep. Bachmann’s reckless rhetoric targets environmentalists

Written by Rebecca Poswolsky

In a 2009 interview on a conservative radio program, Michele Bachmann urged Minnesotans to become “armed and dangerous” against Obama’s energy tax bill to reduce carbon emissions.

According to the Huffington Post, when Bachmann was asked about the White House-backed cap-and-trade proposal to reduce carbon emissions, she told WWTC 1280 AM:

“I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us ‘having a revolution every now and then is a good thing,’ and the people – we the people – are going to have to fight back hard if we’re not going to lose

… Read more

Politics

Sarah Palin and the Pied Pipers of Political Violence

Written by Eric Ward

It’s only been four days since the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Giffords of Arizona and already the rightist spin machine is operating at full throttle.  As calls for civility grow, the American public must also remind those practicing the politics of division that actions speak louder than words – particularly when those words continue to flirt dangerously with justifications for political violence.

Media accounts confirm alleged perpetrator Jared Lee Loughner specifically targeted Giffords. Written notes recovered by law enforcement suggest that Loughner pre-planned the crime. Facebook posts along with YouTube videos also suggest that, while struggling with mental health issues, Loughner embraced issues long promoted by rightist movements in the United States.  In The… Read more

Politics

NumbersUSA: “We Should Watch Our Language”

Written by Stephen Piggott

After the brutal Suffolk County murder of Marcelo Lucero in November 2008, Roy Beck, executive director of anti-immigrant group NumbersUSA had a message for members: “WE SHOULD WATCH OUR LANGUAGE.”

Beck warned NumbersUSA members against using hateful rhetoric and told them to concentrate on talking about immigration numbers only. Beck wrote, “But it is incumbent on all of us who fight for lower immigration to emphasize the importance of not allowing our language about the problems of immigration policies to stir up hatred, and especially not violence, against immigrants or people who may look like immigrants,” indicating that he in fact believed that language could incite hatred and violence.

But the actions and… Read more

Immigration

Center for Immigration Studies and the Arizona border

Written by Rebecca Poswolsky

We have recently received requests from readers asking that we clarify details surrounding a group called Center for Immigration Studies and its activities in Arizona.

Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) was founded in 1985 as a project directly under the control of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The Washington, D.C.-based think tank portrays itself as a mainstream organization that studies the impact of immigration in the United States.

More accurately, CIS is part of the John Tanton Network, a web of controversial anti-immigrant organizations orchestrated by John Tanton, the founder of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

For many years the Tanton Network has used claims of environmental degradation to… Read more