FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM
The SPLC announced today that (finally) it is declaring the Federation for American Immigration Reform a Hate Group. This designation has been a long time coming and is well deserved. The SPLC reports:
"...At the center of the Tanton web is the nonprofit Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the most important organization fueling the backlash against immigration. Founded by Tanton in 1979, FAIR has long been marked by anti-Latino and anti-Catholic attitudes. It has mixed this bigotry with a fondness for eugenics, the idea of breeding better humans discredited by its Nazi associations. It has accepted $1.2 million from an infamous, racist eugenics foundation. It has employed officials in key positions who are also members of white supremacist groups. Recently, it has promoted racist conspiracy theories about Mexico's secret designs on the American Southwest and an alternative theory alleging secret plans to merge the United States, Mexico and Canada. Just last February, FAIR President Dan Stein sought "advice" from the leaders of a racist Belgian political party.
FAIR officials declined repeated requests for comment.
None of this — or any other material evidencing the bigotry and racism that courses through the group — seems to have affected FAIR's media standing. In just the first 10 months of 2007, the group was quoted in mainstream media outlets nearly 500 times with virtually no mention of its more unsavory aspects. Stein was featured on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" at least 12 times in the same period, along with countless appearances on other television news shows. And, perhaps most remarkably of all, FAIR has been taken seriously by Congress, which has called upon its officials to testify on immigration more than 30 times since 2000...."
According to the SPLC, there has been a 35% rise in hate crimes against Latinos since 2003. According to the SPLC:FAIR officials declined repeated requests for comment.
None of this — or any other material evidencing the bigotry and racism that courses through the group — seems to have affected FAIR's media standing. In just the first 10 months of 2007, the group was quoted in mainstream media outlets nearly 500 times with virtually no mention of its more unsavory aspects. Stein was featured on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" at least 12 times in the same period, along with countless appearances on other television news shows. And, perhaps most remarkably of all, FAIR has been taken seriously by Congress, which has called upon its officials to testify on immigration more than 30 times since 2000...."
"...Dec. 11, 2007 — The country's leading anti-immigration organization — whose leaders have testified repeatedly before Congress and are frequently quoted in the media — has ties to known racists and a long track record of bigotry, according to a new report released today by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
The group, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR):
is the creation of a man who operates a racist publishing company and has compared immigrants to "bacteria;"
has employed members of white supremacist groups in key positions;
has promoted racist conspiracy theories; and
has accepted more than $1 million from the Pioneer Fund, a racist foundation devoted to eugenics and to proving a connection between race and IQ.
FAIR and its ties to white supremacy are examined in the latest issue of the SPLC's quarterly Intelligence Report..."
The group, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR):
is the creation of a man who operates a racist publishing company and has compared immigrants to "bacteria;"
has employed members of white supremacist groups in key positions;
has promoted racist conspiracy theories; and
has accepted more than $1 million from the Pioneer Fund, a racist foundation devoted to eugenics and to proving a connection between race and IQ.
FAIR and its ties to white supremacy are examined in the latest issue of the SPLC's quarterly Intelligence Report..."
"... In the memos, written to colleagues on the staff of FAIR, Tanton warned of a coming "Latin onslaught" and worried that high Latino birth rates would lead "the present majority to hand over its political power to a group that is simply more fertile." Tanton repeatedly demeaned Latinos in the memos, asking whether they would "bring with them the tradition of the mordida [bribe], the lack of involvement in public affairs" and also questioning Latinos' "educability."
Echoing his 19th-century nativist forebears who feared Catholic immigrants from Italy and Ireland, Tanton has often attacked Catholics in terms not so different from those used by the Klan and the Know-Nothing Party of the 1840s. In the WITAN memos, for instance, he worried that Latino immigrants would endanger the separation of church and state and undermine support for public schooling. Never one to miss a threatening and fertile Catholic, Tanton even reminded his colleagues, "Keep in mind that many of the Vietnamese coming in are also Catholic."
The leaked memos caused an uproar. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Walter Cronkite quit the board of a group Tanton headed, U.S. English, after the memos became public in 1988. U.S. English Executive Director Linda Chavez — a former Reagan Administration official and, later, a conservative commentator — also left, calling Tanton's views "anti-Hispanic, anti-Catholic and not excusable."..."
In 1997, John Tanton wrote that immigration was overwhelming American "Whites".Echoing his 19th-century nativist forebears who feared Catholic immigrants from Italy and Ireland, Tanton has often attacked Catholics in terms not so different from those used by the Klan and the Know-Nothing Party of the 1840s. In the WITAN memos, for instance, he worried that Latino immigrants would endanger the separation of church and state and undermine support for public schooling. Never one to miss a threatening and fertile Catholic, Tanton even reminded his colleagues, "Keep in mind that many of the Vietnamese coming in are also Catholic."
The leaked memos caused an uproar. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Walter Cronkite quit the board of a group Tanton headed, U.S. English, after the memos became public in 1988. U.S. English Executive Director Linda Chavez — a former Reagan Administration official and, later, a conservative commentator — also left, calling Tanton's views "anti-Hispanic, anti-Catholic and not excusable."..."
Undaunted and ignoring the "Hate"Group label, Michell Malkin today quotes Tanton flunkie Roy Beck and Numbers USA. It seems Jim Gilchrist, one of the minutemen et. al has endorsed Mike Huckabee. If Gilchrist is for him, I'm against him. Gilchrist is truly one of the most despicable people in the country and a fitting associate for John Tanton, Roy Beck, and Dan Stein. Evidently Malkin feels right at home with these people, all of whom have been cited by the SPLC as minions of hate. Evidently there is no shame or conscience remaining in the conservative movement. Evidently Huckabee lacks the courage of his "Christian" convictions to denounce Gilchrist and all he stands for. I once had respect for Huckabee. No longer. He has proved he is nothing but a shill for Tanton's web of hate.
Mentioned in this current SPLC article about Tanton is the publication Vdare. Michele Malkin is a regular contributor to Vdare.
"...is not FAIR's only link to the Vdare.com hate site. Joe Guizzardi, a member of FAIR's board of advisers, is the editor of Vdare.com. He writes there frequently about how Latin American immigrants come to the United States in order to "reconquer" it — a conspiracy theory pushed by numerous hate groups...."
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