After the Gavel – Anti-Immigrant Groups Respond to SB 1070 Ruling
The wrestling match between the Department of Justice and the State of Arizona ended with a bang – literally – on July 28 when Judge Susan Bolton gave her ruling over the controversial SB 1070 law, merely hours before it was supposed to go into effect.
The law, nicknamed ‘papers, please’, has caused quite a stir since it passed on the state level a few months ago because it called for racial profiling and the mistreatment of immigrants. This is not a very surprising fact considering that the anti-immigrant organization FAIR [Federation for American Immigration Reform] crafted SB1070 through its legal arm IRLI [Immigration Reform Law Institute]. Read more
Anti-Immigrant Groups Forced to Address Ties to White Nationalists
It’s no secret that the anti-immigrant movement in the United States has long and deep connections to white nationalist individuals and organizations. The current anti-immigrant movement is tainted by these ties and they follow the anti-immigrant individuals and organizations into whatever area they go. For years, civil rights organizations like the Center for New Community, the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, to name a few, have exposed these ties for the world to see.
Since the summer began we have seen many examples of anti-immigrant organizations forced to act in defense of their ties to white nationalist individuals and organizations. Here are a few examples:
Kris Kobach, a lawyer for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, the legal arm of the hate group Federation for American Immigration Reform, and his buddy Sheriff Joe Arpaio were forced to relocate a Kansas anti-immigrant event after the location raised concerns. Read more
The Anti-Immigrant Bigotry Smackdown – Round I
In light of the anti-immigrant movement’s pro-SB1070 rally this Saturday, June 5 in Phoenix, and all the nativist superstars who are coming out to represent, we got to thinking – who’s the biggest bigot of them all? It’s hard to tell, there are so many of them and they’re all skilled in the art of immigrant hating.
The only way to find out was to throw them in the ring and let them fight it out for the title of Biggest Bigot.
Welcome to the Anti-immigrant Bigotry Smackdown!
Anti-immigrant Rally In Phoenix Gets Ugly
Strange things are a-brewin’ within the nation’s anti-immigrant movement. Although anti-immigrant organizations of varying size and influence are enjoying the limelight as a result of Arizona’s racist law (SB 1070), it seems the attention has caused a few rifts.
And it all appears to be bubbling to the surface around the June 5 anti-immigrant rally in Phoenix. One clue is the ever-changing roster of sponsors for the event – like a game of musical chairs for far-right nativists. Originally, William Gheen was a big player, now he’s out. Then NumbersUSA, the mobilizing arm of the powerful John Tanton Network, has been demoted from an “official sponsor” to just a promoter-like role. So far NumbersUSA still has its logo on the event page, but is downplaying its involvement.
Then there are the changes on NumbersUSA’s website, which normally boasts impressive interactive features so members can share tips on politicians they don’t like or leave nasty comments. NumbersUSA’s online mobilizing and connection to supporters have arguably been its key to success. So it’s mysterious that the organization has been clamping down on its members’ freedom to express themselves. Just recently the site added a “report” option so that members can narc on each other, and also a disclaimer stating that its members’ views don’t reflect the organization’s. Read more
Clear Split Between ALIPAC and Tanton Network Over Upcoming Anti-immigrant Rally
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) leader William Gheen has always been a bit of a nut. Just last month Gheen inappropriately called for Sen. Lindsey Graham to admit he was gay at a tea party event, and who could forget when he said, “Call me old fashioned, but people should be able to shop at Wal-Mart without worrying about catching [t]uberculosis.” For years Gheen has had a close relationship with the more disciplined network of anti-immigrant groups run by John Tanton. He has attended events featuring FAIR (Tanton’s flagship organization) state groups and participated in strategy calls conducted by leaders of Tanton’s network.
Given Gheen’s past history with the Tanton Network, it was not surprising when he announced that ALIPAC would participate in an anti-immigrant rally on June 5 in Phoenix. Two days later, in its weekly letter to members, NumbersUSA, the Tanton Network’s mobilizing arm, announced it would also support the rally, stating it would “kick off other state efforts and a week long campaign called ‘Shop In Arizona.’” It appeared as if the Tanton Network and ALIPAC were working hand in hand. But then something went wrong. Read more
ALIPAC Cancels Rally Involvement Over Racist Controversy
Just over 3 hours ago, anti-immigrant group ALIPAC released a statement stating that it was pulling out of the June 5 and June 12 anti-immigrant rallies in Phoenix, AZ. ALIPAC claims that the person organizing the rally, Daniel Smeriglio, has strong ties to white nationalists. Smeriglio runs a group called Voice of the People based in Pennsylvania. In November of 2009, Smeriglio held an anti-immigrant rally in his hometown of Hazelton, PA. This video of the rally features a big man shouting into a megaphone who has been identified as Steve Smith.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) describes Smith as:
“a co-founder of the KSS,[he] is a former Aryan Nations member and former leader of the Philadelphia chapter of National Association for the Advancement of White People, which was created by former Klan leader David Duke but is no longer associated with him.”
Tea Partiers Don’t Understand the Real Threats to America
Filed under: American Identity, Culture, Economy, Immigration, Politics
Tea Partiers are right. Threats to America are real, but they don’t have much to do with political parties or presidential administrations.
This is exceedingly clear when a severe anti-immigrant law is passed in Arizona that puts individual rights at risk, yet the most newsworthy tea party activity was eviscerating a Republican senator at a tea party rally in South Carolina.
Last week many around the country watched in horror as SB 1070, a bill that gives sweeping power to local law enforcement to racially profile Arizona communities, passed state legislature and was signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer. The bill that Gov. Brewer just signed makes it a misdemeanor to lack proper paperwork in Arizona. It also requires police officers to attempt to determine a person’s immigration status if they form a “reasonable suspicion” that someone is undocumented. In Arizona, residents, especially those of color, now live in fear of the police.
Anti-immigrant Groups Featured at Tea Party Events
Today, affiliates of the anti-immigrant John Tanton Network will be given the platform at multiple tea party events nationwide, as will a few of their nativist allies.
Corresponding to tax day, anti-immigrant group ALI-PAC organized Tea Party Against Amnesty and Illegal Immigration events from April 15-17 in 52 locations nationwide. When ALI-PAC coordinated similar tea party events on November 14, 2009, they featured several speakers affiliated with the Tanton Network. ALI-PAC is designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Congressman Tom Tancredo, founder of the Tanton-affiliated House Immigration Reform Caucus, and William Gheen, president of ALI-PAC, will be guest speakers at numerous Tea Party events. Tancredo will appear in Tempe, Arizona and then fly to South Carolina. Arizona’s notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio is expected to speak at a tea party today in Arizona. Read more
A Day at a North Carolina Tea Party
By Deborah Austin and Cloee Cooper
As a mother, activist and community member from Durham, North Carolina of Mexican, Native American decent, I can personally attest to the racist behavior and remarks at the Tea Parties Against Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants on November 14, 2009. Why is this an important story to share months later? Among many people I know, the white nationalist agenda of today’s anti-immigrant movement is hard to understand. Not surprising considering the debate we see unfolding in our media surrounding immigration.
I have been following our nation’s debate closely with the immigration reform bill that Gutierrez recently introduced and the upcoming bill that Schumer intends to introduce. But honestly, how can we have a debate on immigration without noting the bigotry, violence and outright racism of our nation’s leading anti-immigrant groups? I attended the Tea Party on November 14 in Raleigh, NC. I hope that my experience might speak to the doubts that currently clout perhaps the most important debate regarding race in the 21st century. Read more
ALIPAC Dumps Dobbs
Looks like Lou Dobbs is losing fans all around this week. Southern Poverty Law Center’s Larry Keller posted this piece on SPLC’s HateWatch blog yesterday.
Lou Dobbs and Americans for Legal Immigration – ALIPAC – are divorcing, and the parting isn’t amicable. ALIPAC President William Gheen has notified supporters that his organization has withdrawn its support of Dobbs and suspended two websites promoting the former CNN showman for president.
In a lengthy E-mail, the heartsick nativist said it was “painful” to realize he misjudged Dobbs, and that ALIPAC hopes to “put this painful episode behind us.” Gheen added contritely, “We apologize to our supporters for being wrong about Dobbs.”It was a TV interview Dobbs did Nov. 20 on Telemundo’s Al Rojo Vivo that tore the bloom off the ALIPAC-Dobbs romance. Dobbs told interviewer Maria Celeste that “we need the ability to legalize illegal immigrants under certain conditions” and proclaimed himself one of the Latino’s community’s “greatest friends.” Read more
Anti-immigrant Sentiment is Racism
The United States has struggled historically when it comes to race. Slavery and the conquering of North America from the indigenous populations are two examples of how the wealth and prosperity of this country came at the expense of so many others. In both instances, the ‘others’ were people of color.
With immigration coming to the forefront of discussion in the coming year, it is a good time to remember the values this country has always taken pride in: equality, democracy, freedom and rights for all people. While we have yet to see such values come to full fruition, the fight to strive for them has made the United States a starship of civil rights. Read more
Disunity in the Tea Party Movement
When we see the pictures of tea parties on the news or in newspapers across the country, all of the attendees at the events seem to be arguing the same thing. Most of them are middle-aged white Americans who are against Obama and all he stands for. However, when we take a close look at the individuals or certain groups within the tea parties we see that there is actually many differing viewpoints within the movement and it is beginning to lose stability.
On October 31, a branch of the white nationalist organization, Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC), joined a tea party protest in Ripley, Mississippi. The CoCC stressed that “We as conservatives must come together for the good of the America Republic and our Sovereign States. We are fighting to unite the right wing. Stand With The Conservative Movement!” A day later at a tea party in Roanoke County, Virginia, home to notorious white supremacist Bill White, the Council of Conservative Citizens put fliers on cars promoting its organization. This prompted the Roanoke Tea Party to publicly disavow the Council of Conservative Citizens on its website. Read more
A Stunning Denial of Justice in Shenandoah
While the world was glued to flu coverage last week, justice crumbled in tiny Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. The tragedy began almost a year ago when Luis E. Ramirez was beaten to death by a group of white male teenagers. Reports of the attack describe it as racially-motivated and brutal. A report by CNN stated, “After a night of drinking, the teens taunted the undocumented worker with racial epithets, pummeled him to the ground and then kicked him in the head, court documents charge. He died in a hospital two days later.”
The trial for two of Ramirez’s attackers ended on Friday when Derrick Donchak, 19, and Brandon Piekarsky, 17, were acquitted of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and ethnic intimidation. Attorneys for the two attackers argued that Ramirez was in fact the aggressor against the four intoxicated teens. Right. Anyway, the all-white jury seemed to find that pretty plausible and only found Donchak and Pierkarsky guilty of simple assault. Everything about this story, from the investigation to the trial, stinks of old-fashioned collusion, cover-up, and bigotry. Read more
Immigrant Haters Promote Flu Hysteria
Anti-immigrant groups have begun seizing on the Swine Flu scare to spread hateful messages about immigrants. When Flu hysteria started to take hold over the weekend I said ‘wonder how long before hate groups start blaming Latino immigrants?’ The words barely passed my lips before ugly comments were circulating the internet.
William Gheen, head of ALI-PAC is placing the blame for all the American non-deaths at Obama’s doorstep. “The Obama administration’s failure to secure our borders against a possible pandemic is putting American lives at risk at a time when days and hours matter,” said Gheen. “The weak and inadequate “passive surveillance” described during Sunday’s press conference is offensive to the rational mind.” ALI-PAC is the same organization that last month was throwing a tea party tantrum, ironically protesting taxes that pay for things like…drum roll please…border security! Gheen seems to have forgotten what century it is! While ALI-PAC is busy berating the government for not erecting a barbed-wire fence against those pesky desert crossers, wealthy tourists are carrying the flu into the US fresh off their Cancun vacations. Read more
The Term “Anchor Baby” Is a Radical Affront to the Principles of the U.S.A. : Virgil Goode is a Disgrace
By Kyle de Beausset
I’ve come to expect figures like William Gheen of ALIPAC to completely strip an entire subset of people from their humanity with their words. It becomes grating to my ears when an elected official does so. Even more so when they dehumanize the very people they were elected to represent.
Watch the video above to see Republican incumbent Virgil Goode (VA-5th District) debate Democrat challenger Tom Perriello on the “anchor baby situation”. I’ve transcribed a great deal of the video read more
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