When the Extreme becomes Mainstream

There are probably no two people in the media who are more associated with the immigration issue than CNN's Lou Dobbs and NBC's Pat Buchanan. Both have revitalized their careers by becoming self-proclaimed experts, and have probably logged more media face-time discussing the issue than any two people in American. Recently, they met on Dobbs' show to discuss their common concerns:

Video Link

Yet if one were to compare some of the rhetoric used in the segment:

DOBBS: And congratulations on the new book, a best seller doing great.

Let me turn to the very first thing. The first chapter, declaring that the American century is over. I would like to share this with our viewers. "America is indeed coming apart, decomposing, and that the likelihood of our survival as one nation through mid century is improbable and impossible if America continues on her current course. For we are on a path to national suicide." My God, I don't think you could be more pessimistic.

BUCHANAN: Well that is where we are headed, Lou. As I write in the last chapter, we can still have a second American century. But look what is happening. You've got 12 to 20 million illegal aliens in the country, 38 million immigrants. The melting pot that turned our grandfathers and great grandfathers into Americans is cracked, broken and rejected as an instrument of cultural genocide. You have that going on in the country at the same time that the dollar is going down, the manufacturing base is being exported, you're overextended abroad with a smaller army than we had in 1939. All of these things are hitting at once and I don't get the awareness of the gravity of the crises comes at us.

…

DOBBS: We're back with Pat Buchanan, author of the important new book, which I highly recommend, "Day of Reckoning." Let's deal with an issue on the minds of Americans. That is the issue of illegal immigration. What has to be done?

BUCHANAN: Well first thing, you've got to secure the border. If we don't do it, it won't exist anymore in ten years. You've got to crack down on businesses that hire illegals. You've got to cut off the magnets by ending social welfare benefits as they voted to do Arizona. You've got to end this absurd practice that if someone comes to the United States and has a baby the next day it is automatically a citizen for life and entitled to a whole lifetime of benefits. I think you need a time-out on legal immigration of about 250,000 a year. This is the sea into which illegals move. We need another time out to get the melting pot up and running again.

DOBBS: What about the 12 to 20 million illegals in this country?

BUCHANAN: Start the deportations with gang members, felons, scofflaws and you start with felons and people who are drunk drivers and others. Then you start the process by cracking down on business, removing the magnets, they'll go home. What draws them here is free education, welfare, good jobs, good paying jobs much better than in Mexico. Basically business and the welfare, the social safety net draws them here.
CNN

With these quotes from hate groups complied back in the spring of 2001 by the Southern Poverty Law Center:

"America's culture, customs and language are under assault from foreigners who come to live here and, instead of learning the American way of life, choose to impose their own alien cultures, languages, and institutions upon us... . [E]thnic cleansing ... may seem a harsh term to apply here in America, but it accurately describes the expulsion of Americans from their communities by illegal aliens."
— AMERICAN IMMIGRATION CONTROL FOUNDATION

"[S]ince that time [about 1950], Western culture faces a growing and potentially fatal crisis: the widespread folly of believing that Hmong and Haitians can carry that culture forward as meaningfully as Europeans."
— AMERICAN RENAISSANCE

"These men [ranchers who capture illegal border-crossers at gunpoint] are the true heroes of our troubled times! Every illegal alien they halt is one less that will go on our welfare rolls, overcrowd our schools, bring in more drugs to poison our kids, or rob, rape and murder another innocent American citizen."
— CALIFORNIA COALITION FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM

"[T]he meaning of this massive increase in non-white and non-Western populations groups within U.S. borders is that the United States is not only ceasing to be a majority white nation but also is ceasing to be a nation that is culturally part of Western civilization."
— COUNCIL OF CONSERVATIVE CITIZENS

"America becomes darker — racially darker — every year, and that is the direct result of our government's immigration policy. ... We White people, we descendants of the European immigrants who built America, will be a minority in our own country. ... [M]alicious aliens [European Jews] came into our land and ... spread spiritual poison among our people, so that our spirits became corrupted and our minds became confused."
— NATIONAL ALLIANCE

"Unless stopped now, massive illegal immigration from the Third World will surely make America more like the Third World than the nation of our forefathers. ... Forced integration and unrestrained immigration destroy schools, neighborhoods, cities and ultimately nations."
— NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WHITE PEOPLE

"[T]he very underpinnings of America are being gnawed away by hordes of aliens who are transforming America into a land where we, the descendants of the men and women who founded America, will walk as strangers... . Unless we act now ... we will be helpless to halt the accelerating dispossession of our folk."
— NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR EUROPEAN AMERICAN RIGHTS

"America is not just a geographical entity. It is a nation with certain values. I'd go beyond the proposal of a zero immigration moratorium and say we should begin deportation. Deportation now!"
— THE SOCIAL CONTRACT PRESS

"The Mexican culture is based on deceit. Chicanos and Mexicanos lie as a means of survival. Fabricating false IDs is just another extension of that culture ... [which] condones everything from the most lowly misdemeanor to murder in the highest levels of government."
— VOICES OF CITIZENS TOGETHER

"[Even] beyond immigration, legal or illegal, the very numbers of non-Whites already here, and their high birth rate, are enough to plunge North America into a banana republic status within two decades or less. ... [After America is split up into racial mini-states, if] an area like Florida wanted to accept the dregs of the Caribbean, let them, with the understanding that the second this mud flood oozed into the sovereign state of Georgia, it would be 'lock and load' time."
— WHITE ARYAN RESISTANCE

compliled spring, 2001 by SPLC

It becomes obvious that ideas that were once relegated to the vilest fringes of the extreme far-right have become mainstream. Note just how many of the sentiments expressed in these statements by hate groups can now be heard almost daily coming from both the media and politicians. Republican politicians, the right-wing noised machine, and now the main stream media, have managed to shift the whole national debate, and possibly the nation itself, to a point where this kind of eliminationist rhetoric is now the accepted norm.

This shift can be seen quite clearly in this segment from the O'Rielly Factor, where Sen. John McCain, discussing comprehensive immigration reform legislation, allows O'Rielly to lecture him unchallenged about the supposed "liberal plan" to "change the complexion" of America by breaking down "the white, Christian, male power structure".

Video Link

Back in March, 2006 The Nation examined this shift to the far right through the eyes of former grand wizard of the KKK, David Duke.
.

Relaxing in the Hyatt lobby, (David) Duke reminisced about his glory days. "I was the first candidate who ran against affirmative action. And I predated Clinton on welfare reform," Duke told me. He rehashed his controversial term as a Louisiana state representative and his losing 1990 Republican gubernatorial candidacy, in which he captured more than 60 percent of the white vote. He happily recalled his 1977 Klan Border Watch, when he and seven other Klansmen drove a few sedans in circles along the California-Mexico border, waving a shotgun in the moonlight while dozens of reporters in tow tried not to crash their cars into one another.

Back in those good old times, in 1982, explaining the Klan's anti-immigrant advocacy, Duke said, "Every new immigrant adds to our crime problems, our welfare rolls and unemployment of American citizens.... We are being invaded in the southwest as if a foreign army were coming over the border.... They're going to take more and more hard-earned money from the productive middle class in the form of taxes and social programs." And Duke called for the deportation of all undocumented immigrants and harsh penalties for businesses that employ them. "I'd make the Mexican-American border almost like a Maginot line," he said, referring to the militarized barrier France constructed between itself, Italy and Germany after World War I.

At the time, Duke was widely dismissed as little more than a turbo-charged version of the paranoid style--"the Klan's answer to Robert Redford," as reporter Patty Sims described him in 1978. But today his anti-immigration rhetoric sounds not so remote from one of top-rated CNN host Lou Dobbs's fulminations during his daily "Broken Borders" segment. Duke's Klan Border Watch, meanwhile, served as the forerunner and inspiration of the Dobbs-touted Minutemen groups that have proliferated from the Mexico border to Herndon, Virginia, the city that hosted the American Renaissance conference, where disgruntled locals hold regular protests outside a day-labor center. Under pressure from Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo, chair of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, and with sponsorship from House Judiciary Committee chair James Sensenbrenner (tough-talking heir to the Kotex fortune), the Republican-dominated House has approved a bill that makes it a felony to be in the United States illegally, mandates punishment for providing aid or shelter to undocumented immigrants and allocates millions for the construction of an iron wall between the United States and Mexico. Duke may have fallen short on the national stage, but his old notions have gained a new life through new political figures.

The Nation, 3/23/2006

In the 20 months since The Nation first published this article things have only gotten worse. As every Republican presidential candidate falls over themselves trying to race further and further to the right, David Duke must be grinning ear to ear.

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When evil words turn to evil deeds

The heated rhetoric coming from the "anti-illegal-immigration" camp over the last two years has had numerous effects on political discourse. While managing to turn the debate over meaningful immigration reform toxic, leaving many politicians unwilling to do the hard work of crafting much needed legislation, it has had the unwanted added effect of empowering some who advocate truly hateful and dangerous agendas to act out their violent and extremist ideas.

Reports from the Anti Defamation League and the Southern Poverty law Center have documented the growing intrusion of hate groups like the KKK and neo-Nazis into the "anti-illegal-immigration movement".

But perhaps even more dangerous has been the a growing proliferation of violent "homegrown" organizations and possible "lone wolf" fanatics willing to take their twisted agendas to the extreme.

In the past weeks there has been growing evidence that there is a catastrophe just waiting to happen, as domestic terrorist plots were uncovered to attack immigrants on a scale much larger than had yet been seen.

In late April, government agents infiltrated a "militia" in Alabama with plans to use machine guns and grenades against local Mexican immigrants. The group was armed and ready to proceed and were already scouting locations for their attack, when agents closed in, leading to the arrest of five members.

In Washington DC a local minuteman was found with a stash of semi automatic weapons and explosives in his home after being arrested after a scuffle at the May 1st immigration rally in that city.

Both these incidents point to the growing violent radicalization of the most extreme elements within the "anti-illegal-immigration" movement.

Fueled by the daily tirades of O'Reilly, Dobbs, Buchanan, or Limbaugh, and the caustic political rhetoric of Tom Tancredo and scores of other "border enforcement" politicians, radical fringe elements, those who would normally be relegated to the periphery, are further emboldened and urged to action in their belief that they represent the "mainstream" of American thought.

Political discourse and debate need never be passionless, but the level of vitriol accepted as constructive debate has increasingly grown to a level that now seems to border on the dangerous. With talk of "invading hordes" of "disease ridden aliens" pouring over the border daily, the line between responsible political debate, and eliminationist rhetoric has become blurred ... especially for those predisposed to violent racists acts.

In the case of Tyler Joseph Froatz, the man arrested in Washington DC, he was not only a member of the local Herndon Minutemen, but also the conservative Internet based discussion forum Free Republic where he was regular poster and attended rallies and other events sponsored by the group. This acceptance of Froatz's anti-immigrant views by the Free Republic crowd could only lend credence to his belief that he was in the mainstream of conservative thought.

Even when he was clearly part of a violent radical fringe as demonstrated by his actions.

A self-proclaimed Herndon Minuteman whom police arrested in a tussle at an immigration rally Tuesday now faces weapons charges after federal authorities found a cache of guns and explosives at his Northwest Washington home.

Law enforcement officials searched the apartment of 24-year-old Tyler Joseph Froatz after U.S. Park Police found several weapons on him Tuesday outside the demonstration at Meridian Hill Park, including an M-1 rifle and a map of an embassy in his Jeep.

The Examiner"Anti-immigration activist arrested at demonstration faces weapons charges", May 4

Police say that on Tuesday, Froatz, was counter protesting at an immigration rally in Meridian Hill Park when he became embroiled in a fight with immigration rally organizer. According to police, Froatz bent the organizer's left arm and scratched her hand, before leaving the area to don dark camouflage clothing. Police arrived and arrested Froatz and found a host of weapons on him including a hammer, taser, and a loaded flare gun. In addition, Detective Robert Freeman of the U.S. Park Police testified that Froatz was carrying two knives including a "12 inch dagger-style knife."

A search of Froatz's nearby Jeep recovered a loaded M-1 rifle and ammunition. A map of a local embassy and a detailed, hand-drawn sketch of the park with lines pointing towards the center of the protest was found in the front seat of the Jeep, Freeman said.

But those items were overshadowed by what investigators discovered in Froatz's apartment in the 5300 block of 8 th St. NW. Freeman described a home bristling with a variety of bladed weapons, 13 guns and more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition. Froatz did not have a permit for the guns which include a fully-loaded 12-gauge shotgun and a .45-caliber pistol.

Police also discovered an explosive resembling a Molotov cocktail. The cocktail was found in a Welch's grape juice bottle wrapped in a t-shirt and appeared to be a mix of gasoline with a jelly-like substance which if it exploded would stick to a person "like napalm," Freeman explained.

The Examiner, "Judge refuses bail to armed protester",May 4

click to watch video

Kristinn Taylor, credited in press accounts as a "friend of Floatz" or "member of a local anti-immigration organization", is in fact the co-leader of the DC chapter of the hard right Free Republic and knows Froatz well, although he now claims he was unaware of Froatz's violent leanings.

Kristinn Taylor, a friend of Froatz who attended the hearing, expressed shock that the "nonthreatening," and chatty 24-year-old could hurt anyone.

"Like a lot of people who feel strongly about the immigration issue, he was out protesting," Taylor said, who added Froatz was not working for Free Republic during his protest.

"He didn't say anything about killing illegals or nothing like that."

link

Froatz was refused bail by D.C. Superior Court Judge, John Hess, who expressed concern that he posed a threat to the area. Considering the severity of the charges, it seems likely that Froatz will go to prison if convicted. His next court appearance is May 17.

While Froatz can be viewed as a mentally disturbed "lone wolf," drawn to violence with the tacit support of the media and politicians all too willing to play into his psychosis with talk of "illegal-aliens invasions," and "disease ridden aliens" mooching off the American people, taking their jobs, and lowering standards for all …. The same cannot be said for the "Alabama Free Militia." Although inspired to action by the same kind of rhetoric that inflamed Floatz, the group of five domestic terrorists have much more in common with Timothy McVie, and his brand of organized terrorism, than the "lone lunatic" model applied to Floatz.

Five members of a self-styled militia were denied bail Tuesday after a federal agent testified they planned a machine gun attack on Mexicans, but a judge approved bail for a sixth man.

…snip…

Adam Nesmith, an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified that the five - Raymond Kirk Dillard, 46; Adam Lynn Cunningham, 41; Bonnell Hughes, 57; Randall Garrett Cole, 22; and James Ray McElroy, 20 - planned a machine-gun attack on Mexicans in Remlap, a town just north of Birmingham, and went there on a reconnaissance mission April 20. The agent provided no further details.

During the raids last week, agents recovered 130 homemade hand grenades, a grenade launcher, about 70 hand grenades rigged to be fired from a rifle, a machine gun, a short-barrel shotgun and 2,500 rounds of ammunition, authorities said.

Local and federal officials returned to the area Tuesday because authorities got information that explosives could be hidden in a cave, said Stanna Guice, spokeswoman for the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department. Officers on foot and horseback converged in a field and worked outward to search for a cache.

Arizona Republic, " 5 accused in Alabama militia case planned attack on Mexicans", May 1, 2007

The heavily armed Alabama Free Militia planned to attack a group of Hispanics in Blount County and had orders to open fire immediately if they saw the feds coming, an ATF agent said Tuesday.

Adam Nesmith of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives testified during a federal court hearing that the men had a plan to attack a group of Mexicans in the Remlap area with machine guns.

Nesmith said two of the men and a confidential informant went on a reconnaissance mission to Remlap on April 20, six days before federal, state and local law enforcement officers carried out last Thursday's raids in four Alabama counties, confiscating truckloads of explosives, 130 grenades and 2,500 rounds of ammunition.


Nesmith said Raymond Dillard, described as the militia major, and James Ray McElroy, a private, were the two who traveled to Remlap.

Nesmith said Dillard, who had the highest rank, told the informant there were standing orders that if the militia saw the feds coming they were to open fire immediately because "they are the enemy."

…snip…

The ATF and the Alabama State Fire Marshal's Office initiated an investigation into the group about seven weeks ago. They used the confidential informant to infiltrate the militia and document grenade-making with video and audio recordings. The informant had met Dillard at a DeKalb County flea market in the fall.

Birmigham News, "Agent says militia targeted Hispanics", May 2, 2007

Clearly both these instances demonstrate that both luck and excellent police work helped to thwart what would have been catastrophes of a grand scale.

Yet we hear little in the media of this growing trend. It is always after a Columbine, Virginia Tech or Oklahoma City that we analyze and look for causes and possible prevention for such disasters.

But this time, one of the factors leading to this increase in violence is evident and could easily be addressed… the growing vitriol and hyperbolic rhetoric coming from the anti-illegal-immigration camp. One need only go to the forums and chat boards of such groups as the Minuteman or Save Our State to see the proliferation of "invasion" rhetoric where undocumented immigrants are compared to animals and vermin to see the handwriting on the wall. It is only a matter of time until something horrendous happens.

And only then will we finally have our "national dialogue" about this issue.

Then we will look at the effect this kind of socially acceptable hate speech, spewed out daily by media talking-heads, right-wing radio and politicians, has had in bringing on the kind of catastrophe that can no longer be swept under the carpet by a complacent and enabling media.

But at the cost of how many innocents lives?

tags: immigration, racism , hate crime, hate speech, Alabama Militia, Tyler Froatz

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Missing funds cause rift in vigilante group

Last summer news of missing funds initiated a near meltdown within the ranks of the Minutemen. When financial statements showed that much of the $1.6 mil dollars raised to build barricades along the border was unaccounted for, Minuteman Civil Defense Corp founder, Chris Simcox, faced numerous defections and challenges to power from disgruntled fellow vigilantes.

Now his former partner, and Minuteman Project co-founder, Jim Gilchrist, has been ousted from the leadership of his group amongst allegations of the misappropriation of $400,000 in donations intended to fund border patrol activities.

Although Gilchrist denied the allegations, saying the controversy "could very well bring an end to the entire Minuteman Project", the case has now moved to a California courtroom where a judge will be making a decision that could very well determine if Gilchrist will remain the public face of the vigilante movement.

A behind-the-scenes power struggle over control of the Minuteman Project spilled into an Orange County courtroom Monday with ousted co-founder Jim Gilchrist asking a judge to give him back control of the citizen border patrol group.

Superior Court Judge Randell L. Wilkinson said he would issue a ruling within a few days.

Gilchrist, 58, a national figure in the fight against illegal immigration, was removed as president of the Minuteman Project this month by its board of directors, which accused him of abusing his power and leaving more than $400,000 of the organization's money unaccounted for.

Gilchrist, a retired accountant from Aliso Viejo, denied the allegations but said the controversy "could very well bring an end to the entire Minuteman Project. There are groups around the country with the name, but we are the most well known and the most powerful."

Gilchrist said in an interview that his opponents were motivated by "a greed for power and a false perception of an endless stream of money."

Gilchrist said all money raised by his organization was accounted for and that his critics had leveled false allegations to gain control of the organization.

LA Times Feb. 27,2007

Yet, Gilchrist's opponents see things a little differently.

Deborah Courtney, the group's recently appointed treasurer, said in an interview that a direct mail company helped raise $750,000 for the group in 2006, but that she believes the Minuteman campaign received only $311,000. Courtney said she and others had been unable to trace the rest of the money.

…opponents also allege in interviews that he used Minuteman funds to promote the book he co-wrote — "Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America's Borders" — but kept the royalties.

LA Times Feb. 27,2007

Additionally, a complaint against Gilchrist was recently filed with the Internal Revenue Service by opponents who alleged that he never obtain nonprofit status for the group and that he used another organization's nonprofit status to receive discounted nonprofit postal rates.

Infighting, power struggles and questions of financial misconduct are nothing new in the world of the Minutemen. The Minuteman Project has been plagued by controversy from the start. The question is; will Gilchrist survive this newest round of rebellion from within?

The Minuteman Project has never been too particular about who they associate with and has a long history of association with far-right fringe elements like the neo-Nazi National Alliance, Joe Turner's Save Our State, and Barbara Coe of the CCIR (California Coalition for Immigration Reform.)

Since the split between Minuteman Project co-founders Simcox and Gilchrist that left Gilchrist at the helm of the original organization with Simcox running the rival Minuteman Civil Defense Corp, Gilchrist has been forced to compete with a growing number of new vigilante groups for members, funding, media attention and allies. Currently there are about 200 loosely affiliated Minuteman groups operating across the country – with new ones starting all the time. This added competition has left Gilchrist vulnerable to attacks from both the fringe right and those wishing to move the group into the mainstream.

Opponents state that Gilchrist has outgrown his usefulness to the "movement" and it's time for its chief spokesman to take a powder.

Robert Vasquez, a former county commissioner in Idaho who sued companies that hired illegal workers, said top conservative Minuteman leaders turned against Gilchrist, including Barbara Coe. She heads the California Coalition for Immigration Reform and co-wrote Proposition 187, the ballot measure that sought to deny undocumented immigrants certain public benefits.

"Sometimes a position becomes bigger than the man," Vasquez said. "It's unfortunate that it has reached this point." (1)

"It is absolutely traumatic," said Coe, of Huntington Beach. "I had total loyalty to him, and I reassured Jim many times. I pleaded with him, I begged him to [work] with us who were trying to resolve the problems with the Minuteman Project."(2)

(1)LA Times

(2) LA Times Feb. 27,2007

Marvin Stewart, who to replace Gilchrist in February after a vote by board members, said Gilchrist's charisma "is what got me on the team. It attracted people across the nation to come aboard…. But when we talk about the rule of law as an organization fighting illegal immigration, we too as an organization must be in compliance with the rule of law, when we allow these things to occur with any organization, we send a message to the public."

As a centralized Minuteman movement slowly unravels, to be replaced by a loose-knit amalgam of vigilantes and cazamigrantes (immigrant hunters) around the country, it is inevitable that we will see an increase of violence and racially motivated attacks.

In the fall of 2005, when there were only approximately 40 spin-off groups (as opposed to today's 200), the Southern Poverty Law Center chronicled the growing violence in these spin-off groups.

Trigger happy," Goliad County, Texas, Sheriff Robert DeLaGarza thought to himself. It was early July and DeLaGarza was meeting with members of the Texas Minuteman Corps, a new vigilante border patrol outfit that started recruiting in DeLaGarza's county in June.

"They kept talking a lot about shooting illegals, and what they could and couldn't do to make it self-defense of life or property," DeLaGarza said. "One woman kept asking, 'Well, what if they reach for a rock, can we shoot them then? What if they're on private land? Can we shoot them for trespassing?'"

DeLaGarza gave the vigilantes a stern warning: "My community doesn't tolerate racism or racist violence in any form. I told them that if they step one inch out of line, I'm going to hammer their ass."

Later that month in California, two Mexicans were wounded in separate shootings the same night along a 14-mile stretch of the border between Campo and Tecate, Calif., that was being patrolled by the California Minutemen, another new vigilante border patrol group.

…snip…

Inspired by the Minuteman Project, … more than 40 anti-immigration "citizens border patrol" and "internal vigilance" groups have formed since early May. The original Minuteman Project's leaders, Jim Gilchrist and Chris Simcox, have little or no control over most of these splinters, spin-offs and imitators.

SPLC

More recently we've seen increased violence aimed at migrants. This past month alone there were three separate incidents along the Arizona border, two resulting in deaths. We cannot be sure if these attacks were the actions of border vigilantes, or other criminal elements, but whenever there is a growing movement like that of the Minutemen, with it's mix of racism, militarism, and xenophobia, conditions are ripe for violence. When this is coupled with a lack of any real centralized leadership or accountability, violence is all but inevitable.

The original Minuteman Project was already the home of numerous far-right white supremacist and neo-Nazi deviants. Like a cancer, the further break-up of the group will only send these infected cells out to further metastasize and spread their message of hate and violence to infect the nation.

Related:
San Diego Union-Tribune
Washinton Times


tags: immigration, Jim Gilchrist , minutemen, vigilantes

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Violence escalates at the border

From the "If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck" department comes this story of murder at the border:

Gunmen attack migrants, kill man and injure teen


Authorities are searching for four men who attacked 12 undocumented immigrants, killed an Eloy man and shot a teenager, Pinal County Sheriff's Office officials said.

Authorities said David Norris Jr. was driving a pickup truck containing 12 illegal immigrants late Saturday in an Eloy farm field when four heavily armed men in a white full-size van began firing on them.

All four men were wearing military-style berets, camouflage pants and shirts, authorities said.

"As far as being a group we don't know that yet," said Pinal County Sheriff's Office Detective Buddy Johnson, who is investigating the case. "Is there any group of people we are looking at? No. Anybody can dress in anything and they can do this."

Detectives aren't sure of a motive, that the attackers could have been vigilantes, rival smugglers or criminals trying to steal drugs, although no drugs were found in the truck, Johnson said.

"Anything's possible, we are taking all the information we can," Johnson said.

Arizona Republic

OK …let me get this straight.

Four guys dressed in camo with military-style berets ambush a pickup full of people they assume are undocumented immigrants in the middle of a farm field and Sheriff Buddy Johnson's not sure whether they are part of an organized group?

Were they going to a costume party?....did they just happened to all pick the same outfits that day like a couple of starlets who show up at an awards ceremony in the same dress?

Let me clue you in Barney Fife …Any time four guys are wearing the same clothes, that makes them part of group … you know, like a sports team …..it's called a uniform Detective.

So Detective Johnson, who do you think these men in military-style uniforms might be?

Do you know of any group or individuals in the area that are in the habit of dressing up and roaming around the desert looking for migrants?

Norris, 46, of Eloy, was fatally shot and 19-year-old Andres de Jesus, from Oaxaca, Mexico, was shot in the leg during the attack, authorities said.

"They told them to get down to the floor and then they shot and everyone started running," said Alejandro Ramos, a spokesman with the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, from the immigrants' reports. "They didn't take anything. It's pretty strange. We aren't sure who (the attackers) are."

...

Johnson said due to the large amount of blood found in the back of the pickup, a third victim may have also been shot but has not been found.

The four suspects were wearing military-style berets, one red and three black, and green camouflage pants and shirts, authorities said.

Three of the suspects are described as White and one Hispanic, who spoke limited Spanish, authorities said.

Most of the undocumented victims fled from the attack, but authorities were able to talk to five witnesses, ages 14 to 24, who helped produce a sketch of one of the attackers, Johnson said.


Arizona Republic

Let's see. We've got four guys, three white and one Hispanic, dressed paramilitary-style who order a truckload of migrants to lie on the floor then start shooting at them.

No drugs are found in the truck and they didn't take anything, so "criminals trying to steal drugs" seems far fetched.

They spoke limited Spanish so "rival smugglers" looks like a long shot also.

So who does that leave?

Come on detective think about.

Here I'll give you a clue:



What do you think…is it possible?

Could it be one of the myriad of border vilgilante groups roamimg the desert?

The night of April 3, armed vigilantes camped along Border Road in a series of watch posts set-up for the Minuteman Project, a month-long action in which revolving casts of 150 to 200 anti-immigration militants wearing cheap plastic "Undocumented Border Patrol Agent" badges mobilized in southeastern Arizona. Their stated goal was to "do the job our government refuses to do" and "protect America" from the "tens of millions of invading illegal aliens who are devouring and plundering our nation."

At Station Two, Minuteman volunteers grilled bratwursts and fantasized about murder.

"It should be legal to kill illegals," said Carl, a 69-year old retired Special Forces veteran who fought in Vietnam and now lives out West. "Just shoot 'em on sight. That's my immigration policy recommendation. You break into my country, you die."

Carl was armed with a revolver chambered to fire shotgun shells. He wore this hand cannon in a holster below a shirt that howled "American bad asses" in red, white and blue. The other vigilantes assigned to Station Two included a pair of self-professed members of the National Alliance, a violent neo-Nazi organization. These men, who gave their names only as Johnny and Michael, were outfitted in full-body camouflage and strapped with semi-automatic pistols.

Earlier that day, Johnny and Michael had scouted sniper positions in the rolling, cactus-studded foothills north of Border Road, taking compass readings and drawing maps for future reference.

"I agree completely," Michael said. "You get up there with a rifle and start shooting four or five of them a week, the other four or five thousand behind them are going to think twice about crossing that line."

With a grilled sausage in one hand and a cheap night vision scope in the other, Johnny scanned the brush in Mexico, spitting distance away.

"The thing to do would be to drop the bodies just a few hundred feet into the U.S. and just leave them there, with lights on them at night," he said. "That sends the message 'No Trespassing,' in any language."

Arizona Showdown Southern Poverty Law Center

Jeez, how many migrants have to be attacked or killed before people start to realize that these people are terrorists and murderers? Yeah, the majority are a bunch of blowhard racists who never even waddle out of their lawn chairs longer then it takes to grab a hotdog or a beer, but in amongst them are some certifiable psychos and sociopaths. Anyone who has spent any time at their websites or read their internet forums knows what they really believe and what they are capable of doing. They advocate hatred and violence. They view themselves as "warriors" and "patriots" in a battle against an "invading horde."

Anyone who doubts they are capable of this level of violence is dangerously naïve.

My advice to Detective Johnson ... open your eyes ....and do your job, damn it.



Anyone with information on the attack is asked to call the Pinal County Sheriff's Office Homicide Division at 1-800-358-4636 or 1-520-866-5105.




tags: immigration, border deaths , vigilantes, Arizona border

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Virtual Vigilantes

Not content to spend the entire day sitting in the hot sun in hopes of spotting a border-crosser or two, anti-immigrant vigilantes have turned to the internet as the newest weapon in their war against the undocumented. In the past two years, a growing number of websites have sprung up where ordinary citizens can report people they suspect of being undocumented or those who employ them. None is more controversial than, WeHireAliens.com, where people are encouraged to anonymously submit written information accusing businesses of hiring illegal workers, often naming specific employees as "illegal aliens".

The site, launched in February 2005 by a Riverside California man, requires no actual proof of illegal practices beyond the statements of its anonymous informants before it publishes the accusations along with addresses, phone numbers, and at times other personal information about the accused. WeHireAliens.com not only recommends that the businesses it lists be boycotted, but claims it forwards all the information about the businesses and suspected "illegal aliens" to ICE, the FBI and the Social Security Administration.

These practices have raised serious questions about privacy rights, libel and slander, and the legality of these kinds of anonymous public accusations.


tags: immigration, vilgilantes , WeHireAliens, legal rights

The site, that lists over 2,800 businesses in 47 states, now averages between 750,000 to 1 million hits a month, according to its founder, Jason Mrochek, Yet, Mrochek admits that he doesn't check or confirm accusations from contributors before posting or sending information to authorities.

Mrochek reviews the information to see if it seems credible. If he deems the accusations add up to what he calls "reasonable suspicion," he goes ahead and posts the company on a list of businesses to boycott and then forwards the information to ICE, the FBI and the Social Security Administration.Mrochek said he makes no effort to verify any submitted information, or notify companies, before posting accusations on his site.

He said, however, that he rejects about 50 percent of the claims, usually because the information is too vague. "We leave it up to (people who visit the Web site) to decide how compelling the information is," he said.

Mrochek said several businesses have threatened to sue him after their companies were posted on the site. But none has so far.

Arizona Republic

Reading through some of the postings on the site it becomes quite obvious that the veracity of many of the claims is highly questionable and Mrochek's bar for "reasonable suspicion" is set quite low. Many of the informant's posts seem to fall into a few easily recognized categories.

(all names have been changed, links are not provided as it would only aid in furthering slandering the accused)

THEY LOOK ILLEGAL TO ME

"I have been working in the area lately and have seen that the majority of workers entering the building thru the back,are hispanic. While I cannot state that 100% are illegals. It is a safe bet that most are."

"I am working in a Liquor store and when we get delivery from ACME,who distributes Budweiser beer.The delivery guy speaks very poor English"

"This company has been hired by our "homeowner's association"…. Illegals are in our yards every week mowing lawns, edging, and other lawn maintenance. I recently planted flowers and other plants, and was concerned about them being mowed over or destroyed. When I approached one of the employees while he was working in my yard, he could not speak one word of English. He had to get another person to talk to me. That person could hardly understand what I said either. After much pointing, they figured it out. I believe that the supervisor overseeing the job who sits at the truck the entire time is a legal citizen, but there is no way any of the others are."

RECENTLY FIRED EMPLOYEES

"I was recently terminated from this company to allow a mexican's brother come in and take my place! WHY? He will work for less!"

"My boyfriend got a job from John Doe at ACME last week. All his employees are Mexican.(Most of them are). Johnnie was pushed out of the job because one of the mexicans cousins came here recently from Mexico, and needed a job. So Johnnie was "let go" and was told that Juan's cousin did not require any training."

SOMEBODY TOLD ME

"I was working at ACME for a subcontractor on a construction project during the spring of 06. I was talking to some of the maintenance workers and they told me that they thought over 70% of the assembly workers where illegal workers."

"The plant where I work, ACME employs roughly 200 employees. I would guess 80% Mexicans Or Hispanic. One Legal mexican told my co workers in a conversation that only a few, maybe 6 to 10 were legal. All the rest were illegal and were going to march in protest in Atlanta on monday May 1st."

THE BOSS TOLD ME

"They employee maexicans only. Cause they are can pay less money. I hear the boss said this many times. I work there years in the past."

"He has told me that he employes many illegal mexicans.He was braging that he does not have to pay taxes or insurance. He pays them in cash."

I'M MAD AS HELL

"I was married to this fool. He hired illegal aliens from Mexico, they had fake social security numbers."

"They employed my husband and he was employed with an illegal SS card and an expired work authorization in June 2005. I went and sat down with the general manager and told them what he had done. Tampered with his SS card. … They treated me like I was a criminal and ask me not to come back on the property or call the buisness. This happened the day after I went in and reported him. I called the buisness to see if they had let him go. I was talked to very badly and my husband was committing adultrey with their Parts Dept Manager [Jane Doe] she is pictured on their website. My husband is John Doe…. His employer and the woman he was cohabitating with knew full well that he was married and that I was his sponsor! I was granted my divorce on March 6th 2006. I am willing to testify as to his tampering with his SS card and anything else I can to get him deported ASAP. …. INS knows ALL of this and have known all this since August 2005!!!! Apparantly he is appealing their decision …and I do not care what he has obtained since I reported this, maybe a temporary work permit, I have no idea … My husband as of August 2005 was NOT a permannet resident. I was his sponsor through marriage. When I signed on as his sponsor..we were told that IF he broke the law, he would be deported, IF I withdrew my sponsorship, which I did, he would have to leave...he reamins here. WHY???? I am ANGRY!! …My husband is BRITISH and I was very stupid and took me awhile and everything I had to realize that he was here for the good life and a GREEN CARD!!"

Quite obviously the site provides a means to vent frustrations, settle vendettas, express racism, and engage in gossip and hearsay.

Ultimately, it will come down to the question of whether this kind of virtual vigilantism is legal. Particularly in the cases where the names, addresses, and phone numbers of those suspected of being undocumented are posted along with the businesses they work for.

The site has raised a number of concerns. One is that disgruntled employees or competitors could use the site to tarnish the reputation of law-abiding businesses. Another is that assumptions about an employee's legal status based on race or ethnicity could lead to false accusations.

"The virtual vigilantism of this site encourages anonymous informants and the trafficking of whispered innuendo. That is not characteristic of a free society that values due process and the right to confront your accuser," said Farrell Quinlan, Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry spokesman.

Indeed, some of the "evidence" that lands businesses on the site seems racially tinged, or stems from second- and third-hand sources. Phoenix employment lawyer Neil Alexander said the site could be considered slanderous.

"If you accuse somebody publicly of engaging in criminal activity you can potentially be liable for defamation or libel," Alexander said.

Arizona Republic

These practices have led to complaints from those who have been wrongly acussed.

In November someone who claimed to be a former employee of Glendale Welding Co. accused the steel tank manufacturer of hiring "illegals a day after they crossed the desert." Owner Bob Carlson was outraged when he found out his company was on the site.

"It's totally made up," Carlson said.

The accusation also angered Glendale resident Robert Juarez, 55, a 23-year veteran of the company. Juarez, who is Hispanic, was born in Texas. He said he resents when people assume Latinos are undocumented immigrants.

"I'm Hispanic, but I am not an illegal," Juarez said.

The company employees 22 welders, Carlson said. Half are Hispanic, but all but three were born in the U.S. Those born in Mexico have work visas, Carlson said. "It's like witch hunting," he said.

Arizona Republic

Often in the past we have seen societies where citizens are encouraged to inform on their neighbors, be the eyes and ears for the ruling party, or publicly denounce and accuse wrongdoers without providing substantial evidence. We saw it in Nazi Germany, Communist Russia and the Taliban's Afghanistan. Yet our own history is not without such instances. From the testimony of misguided young girls in Salem, to the outrages of Joseph McCarthy, we as a nation have on occasion succumb to the primal urge to dance around the fire and watch the witches burn, willingly suspending our belief in legal rights and protections in order to exorcise imagined demons.

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Welcome to the Real OC

The freeing by the District Attorney's Office of two men arrested for hate crimes committed at a Laguna Beach day laborers work center has renewed concerns about the increasing level of violence directed at immigrants and Latinos in what is quickly becoming ground zero in the war over immigration: Orange County California.

But more importantly, it's raised questions about who might really be behind it.

When most people hear the words Laguna Beach, they picture sun-bleached beautiful people, with fabulous lifestyles living in homes tucked into hilltops overlooking an endless ocean. But just underneath the surface of this scenic beachfront community, a raging conflict is taking place. Orange County, of which Laguna Beach is part, has quickly become ground zero in a covert campaign by some of the nation's most extreme groups to push an agenda of racism and hate. On any given weekend, members of the neo-Nazi National Alliance, SOS, CCIR, or the Minutemen will travel from all over the state to converge on Laguna Beach and other OC communities, bringing with them their extreme views on race and immigration.

For some, these people are viewed as interlopers, agent provocateurs who want to use Laguna Beach as a test area to further their cause. Others see them as opportunists, using the town in hopes of launching themselves into the national spotlight. But the intruders may not have been working entirely alone. Many now believe they've been enabled by a small group of residents working behind the scenes to make the affluent beach community into ground zero in the war on immigration.


tags: immigration, Laguna Beach , SOS , National Alliance, white supremacists, minutemen



Welcome to the real OC



Those within the immigrant's rights and Latino activist community have taken to referring to Orange County California as the region "behind the orange curtain" …and with good reason. It has long been a breeding ground and test area for many of the most strident anti-immigration activist in the nation.

Orange County, a staunchly conservative region with a long history of groundbreaking initiatives designed to drive out Hispanic immigrants. "Orange County is the most Mexican-hating county in the country," says Orange County Weekly syndicated columnist and investigative editor Gustavo Arellano.

The county is home to Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist, whose "citizens border patrol" now has chapters nationwide, and to the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR), a major force behind 1994's Proposition 187, which sought to deprive undocumented immigrants of social services, health care, and public education. CCIR's official ballot argument described Proposition 187 as "the first giant stride in ultimately ending the ILLEGAL ALIEN invasion." The bulk of Proposition 187 was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge years after it was passed by 59% of California voters, but it has nevertheless served as the model for similar measures in other states, notably Arizona's Proposition 200.
SouthernPoverty Law Center

Like most of Orange County, Laguna Beach has been dragged into the immigration wars. The situation revolves around a controversial day laborer hiring center set up by the city seven years ago to provide a safe and controlled way for laborers and those who want to provide them with work to do business. But the center has proven to be far from a safe haven. Over the years it's been the subject of numerous protests and counter protests, many attracting outside agitators that have brought with them increasing levels of violence.

In the latest incident, two laborers were injured when they were hit by a car driven by two men yelling racial epithets while intentionally racing through the center on Sept. 17, 2006 trying to hit those waiting to find a days work.

Two men - one from Laguna Beach and one from Laguna Niguel - were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and a hate crime in connection with the incident, Det. Sgt. Darin Lenyi said

Lenyi said the suspects, Dennis Kaptilniy, 18, of Laguna Beach, and Artem Soloviev, 23, of Laguna Niguel, were held on $500,000 bond.

The incident began at 9:12 a.m. when the two suspects drove into the labor center in a Toyota Corolla, and spoke with one man, apparently seeking to hire him, Lenyi said.

When the laborer declined to be hired at the price offered, a confrontation and a physical fight ensued, in which the laborer was punched in the face, Lenyi alleged. The two suspects then left in their car, police said.

The suspects returned shortly thereafter and allegedly sped through the center, hitting two people and causing minor injuries, knocking down a tree, and damaging a fence and a bench, Lenyi said. The suspects also allegedly shouted racial epithets during the attack.

The suspects drove through the center "a few times, trying to hit people and intentionally trying to run people over," Lenyi alleged.

The Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot

48 hours later Kaptilniy and Soloviev were set free with no charges filed. According to Susan Schroeder of the Orange County District Attorney's Office the case was "sent back for further examination" and they've called on anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward to supply further information despite numerous eye-witnesses to the event and detailed police reports.

Immigrant right groups and local residents viewed the release of the two with disbelief and distain and have called on the DA's office to quickly resolve this matter.

The center has a long history of controversy and confrontation. It was targeted by radical anti-immigration groups in 2005 with numerous protests. At one infamous protest in July of that year, sponsored by the local restrictionist group, Save Our State, the inclusion of Nazi flag waving members of the white supremacist group National Alliance sent shockwaves through the community. For the first time the nexus of the anti-immigration and white supremacists movements was revealed in public.

Minutemen groups taking place in the protest were quick to try to disassociate themselves from their more radical brethren. They have long claimed, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, that they not only have no connections to radical white supremacist, they actively dissuade radicals from joining their ranks.

SOS, a group already facing charges of radicalism after founder Joe Turner was quoted by a fellow anti-immigrants activist as having instructing his followers to "Bring your bats, fellas. If we are lucky, we are gonna need them. PING!", tried their best to distance themselves from the Nazis. They went so far as to scrub their internet message boards of comments and images left by the skinheads and National Alliance members. The comments were lost … but the picture evidence remains in various place on the internet.

The event organizer, minuteman member Eileen Garcia, who calls herself one of "Gilchrist's Angels," after minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist, is believed to be behind the effort to squash the news of white supremacists ties to the rally.

Posting on the Save Our State message board, a member known as "OCAngel", believed to be Garcia, quickly requested those administrating the site lock any further comments from being posted the night after the rally until they could remove any damning comments and images.

A year later, Garcia was once again at the center of controversy when she just happened to be rummaging around the California Department of Transportation in Irvine one day and stumbled upon an old map that showed that the land on which the day worker center was build in fact belonged to Caltrans, a state agency. This made it illegal for the center to continue to operate under California law. With the help of lawyers from the ultra right-wing group, Judicial Watch, Garcia and her fellow minutemen were able to shut the center down temporarily until the city and state reached an agreement.

How Garcia, who portrays herself as just a simple housewife concerned about the effects of illegal immigration, managed such incredible detective work was nothing short of miraculous. In fact it made her an instantaneous celebrity in anti-immigrant and white supremacist circles. Her praises were sung not only by the likes of her hero Jim Gilchrist, but from the National Alliance and the Aryan Nation website Stormfront.

Others, not associated with the anti-immigrant movement, questioned this strange coincidence and allegations of possible assistance from local or state officials were raised.

Ties between local officials and the anti-immigrant movement have long been speculated by residents. Some City Council members are believed to have close ties to the minutemen and it's been speculated that they have been active on the state and possibly federal level to have the center closed. According to a source with close ties to city government, there is one member in particular who, along with her husband, "have been deeply involved in the Minutemen activities." The source believes "that decisions about the center are made behind closed doors so nobody outside the select people knows what she's really up to."

This Tuesday, Laguna Beach will once again be at the center of controversy. Eileen Garcia is bringing Judicial Watch to town once again to announce a new lawsuit aimed at closing down the work center. Not surprisingly her announcement has been timed to coincide with rallies planned by immigrant's rights groups to protest the District Attorney's failure to prosecute the case of two men who allegedly drove through the work center last week injuring workers.

Just another day in the OC, I guess.

Photo top right: Neo-Nazis at July 2005 rally at Laguna Beach day workers center

Photo bottom left: SOS leader Joe Turner at rally with Nazi flags in foreground

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Tancredo ain’t just whistling Dixie

This past Saturday, as the nation prepared to commemorate Monday’s anniversary of the tragedy of 9/11, 700 miles from ground zero, Colorado Representative, Tom Tancredo, stood behind a flag draped podium in Columbia S. Carolina and spoke to a group of followers also looking to commemorate the past. But the flag was not the Stars and Stripes, but rather a Confederate battle flag, and their commemoration was not of 9-11… but instead of a time when “the White-European race” ruled the South with an iron fist.

According to a report filed by an under-cover reporter from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the congressman was welcomed with open arms by a white supremacist group who invited all their members to hear “their guest,”Tom Tancredo speak about immigration and closing the borders. The League of the South, which now claims over 9000 members, was founded in 1994 by J. Michael Hill, who has called slavery a "God-ordained" institution and stated that “non-whites” should bow to “the cultural dominance of the Anglo-Celtic people and their institutions.”


tags: immigration, Tom Tancredo , League of the South , CO-6, white supremacists, neo-confederates

On the ground floor, a United States Army brass band commemorated the victims of 9/11. One level up, not far from the museum's permanent Confederate Army exhibit, the state chapter of the League of the South (LOS), a neo-Confederate hate group, hosted a barbeque in honor of Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, head of the House Immigration Reform Caucus and likely contestant in the 2008 GOP presidential primary. Proceeds from the $15 per-plate fundraiser went to Americans Have Had Enough!, a South Carolina-based non-profit coalition for which Tancredo serves as honorary chairman.

While Tancredo's hard-line "deport 'em all" stance on immigration has made him a favorite politician of white supremacists, this marked the first time the congressman has appeared at a hate group event.

Dressed casually in a yellow t-shirt, Tancredo addressed the standing-room audience of 200-250 from behind a podium draped in a Confederate battle flag. To the congressman's right, a portrait of Robert E. Lee peered out at the crowd of Minutemen activists, local politicians, and red-shirted members of LOS and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The Confederate trappings of the event found a mismatch in Tancredo's standard nativist polemic, which stayed clear of references to Southern heritage or direct plaudits for the LOS, a Southern white nationalist organization dedicated to "Southern independence, complete, full, and total."

…

At the close of Tancredo's speech, several men in confederate-themed clothing stood up and bellowed the first notes of "Dixie," the Confederate anthem. They were soon joined by voices from throughout the large hall, which was now entirely on its feet. Tancredo, a second-generation Italian-American from Denver, appeared confused by the sudden burst of strange song. He quickly worked his way toward the exit with his staff.

Tancredo's encounter with the League of the South continued outside. On the steps of the museum, Tancredo held court with LOS officials and supporters in Confederate clothing. He held a batch of the materials being distributed at the barbeque, among them a copy of the The Citizen's Informer, the newspaper of the Conservative Citizens Council, the racist organization that grew out of the segregationist White Citizens Councils of the 1950s. When questioned about the newspaper, Tancredo responded that he did not know its history.

SPLC

Trancredo was quick to try to distance himself from his newfound friends once the story broke, claiming he was not aware of the LOS members in the audience.

According to his spokesman, Carlos Espinosa, Tancredo knew that the audience did included members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and Civil War re-enactors in Southern garb and when they began singing Dixie, the Colorado Congressman joined in. “These aren't racist people who spew out hate. These are just people remembering and cherishing their past,’ Espinosa said. "Tom thought it would be rude not to take part in it."

Claiming that the LOS had nothing to do with the event, Espinosa added that the group "is very racist and a horrible group that is desperately trying to seem relevant by attaching themselves to an event they had nothing to do with."

But this is not the first time Tancredo’s rabid the anti-immigrant rhetoric has attracted support from white supremacists, neo-nazis and southern separatists. Such groups have infiltrated the ranks of his pet Minuteman Project from the start, and he has been supported or formally endorsed by numerous hate groups such as American Renaissance and National Vanguard, and has not of yet refused their support, or declined an endorsement. … It’s all very “wink and nod” in the Tom’s strange world of “catch me if you can”

Tancredo, like his Minuteman friends and Team America PAC, has all along walked a very fine line between acceptable political discourse and sounding at times like a maniacal racist, trying to carefully craft his message as not to sound too extreme.

As he gains more power it’s only a matter of time before his natural allies and friends from the fringe elements of society obtain a greater voice and presence in his “movement.”

As much as Colorado’s little Napoleon wants to lead his crusade, claiming some sort of victory for “the common man,” increasingly like his mentor Pat Buchanan, it’s becoming evident that his vision for America is not one of tolerance, but rather one reserved for those who meet a certain racial criteria.

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Anti Defamation League issues report on racism in immigration debate.

The Anti Defamation League, one of the nations most respected watchdog groups exposing anti-Semitic and racist activity, recently issued a report on the growing influence of hate-groups in the anti-immigration movement. Entitled, "Extremists Declare 'Open Season' on Immigrants: Hispanics Target of Incitement and Violence", the report documents how these groups are using and co-opting the immigration debate to further their white supremacists and racists agendas.

This report now joins the growing body of evidence, such as that compiled by the Southern Poverty law Center, that not only are these fringe groups being empowered by anti-immigration rhetoric coming from many mainstream sources, but are in fact fueling and inflaming the debate to meet their own agenda.

It has long been know amongst immigrants right activists that one need not play all “six degrees of separation” to link many prominent members of the anti-immigration movement to those on the far fringes of society, a “degree” or two would be all that was needed.


tags: immigration, ADL, Racism, Anti Defanation League, white supremacists

Spurred in recent weeks by the debate on Capitol Hill and the groundswell of grassroots activism in support of America's immigrant community, extremists have become increasingly emboldened by, and fixated on, the controversy over immigration policy, encouraging their supporters to capitalize on the issue by encouraging anti-immigrant activism, and even violence against all Hispanics.

While white supremacists have for many years attempted to exploit rising anti-immigration sentiments in the U.S., the level and intensity of their attacks against Hispanics has reached dangerous new highs, with right-wing extremists joining anti-immigration groups, distributing anti-immigrant propaganda and holding frequent anti-immigration rallies and protests.

As a result, Hispanics, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, increasingly are becoming the targets of hatred and violence from hardcore white supremacists.

Racists ranging from neo-Nazis to Klansmen to racist skinheads are among the most active anti-immigration activists in the country. Motivating their actions is the core conviction of modern white supremacist ideology: That the white race itself is threatened with extinction by a "rising tide of color" controlled and manipulated by Jews.

ADL

(WARNING: The report highlights some extremely troubling, violent and racist hate speech. The excerpts reprinted here are intended to demonstrate, educated and warn the reader. Those who might find this kind of rhetoric too troubling or emotionally hurtful should skip ahead, passing over the quoted passages.)

The fringe groups have picked up on general sentiments and themes in the anti-immigration movement and accentuated those that most align with their own twisted vision. At the same time they manage to move the debate further to the extreme by ratcheting up the rhetoric to ever more racist and hateful levels. They urge Americans to “fight back” against and “invasion” of “white America” by Mexicans and other Hispanics. While the extreme language used by these hate groups gives away their true intent, the general sentiments are not far from many of those expressed in the more mainstream circles of the anti-immigrant movement.

Rhetoric like that of anti-immigration leader Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO) when he spoke the Minutemen Project opening day trally in 2005:

Tancredo told the Minutemen that each of them stood for 100,000 likeminded Americans who couldn't afford to make the trip. … we must never surrender our right as citizens to do our patriotic duty and defend our country ... and stop this invasion ourselves."

SPLC

Quickly turns to:

"These Mestizo invaders are so different from us that by mixing with them or being dispossessed by them we will cease to live, we will cease to be ourselves or have a place to exist to support the lives of our future generations. And that is the crucial reason why this invasion must be stopped."

ADL

When filtered through the prism of the neo-nazi and white supremacists.

It is then moved even further to the extreme until it reflects the hate group’s ultimate goals.

"this infestation of cockroaches need deportation or extermination!" If legal means of "stopping this rising tide" were not enough, "then these brown squat monsters should begin to turn up dead all across Amerika…We now have another game animal to add to our list of available targets for our favorite pastime, hunting, and we'll declare permanent OPEN SEASON on these dirty wetbacks! From what I have heard through the grapevine the Skinheads and Klans across the country are more than prepared for this type of action. I say let's play by state and see which state can claim the most kills and let the jewsmedia whores keep score!"

ADL

(For a look at just how pervasive the anti-immigrant rhetoric is, here is a link to a “white rock” radio station blog that turned up on my sitemeter on May 1. It is a discussion about that days immigrant right march.Link )

The report goes on to look at the growing incidences of violence and hate crimes that have been committed against Hispanics. Stating that while only a minority of hate crimes are committed by “ideological extremists” it is “The increased willingness of such white supremacists, especially racist skinheads, to attack Hispanics (that) represents a dangerous and disturbing trend.”

November 2005, Tennessee. A federal judge sentenced former Klansman Daniel James Schertz to 14 years in prison for selling pipe bombs to a person he thought would use them to kill Mexican and Haitian immigrants. The person turned out to be an undercover informant. Schertz, a former corrections officer and member of the North Georgia White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, pleaded guilty to making five pipe bombs to be used to blow up a bus carrying Mexican workers. Later, Schertz expressed gratitude that the government had stopped him, but said, "We should have people here who know how to speak English. They are over here illegally and nothing gets done to them."

ADL

The report concludes with a look at the growing vigilante border patrol groups movement.

It is not surprising that the most radical anti-Hispanic sentiment is coming from white supremacists; however, there are other groups joining the anti-Hispanic crusade. With mounting public awareness and concern over illegal immigration in America, the issue is also being exploited by extreme anti-immigration activists, some of whom are reaching out to white supremacists. The rhetoric of these activists is largely aimed at Mexicans, not other illegal aliens, and frequently does not distinguish between Mexicans and Mexican-Americans.

This extreme end of the anti-immigration movement includes both anti-Hispanic hate groups masquerading as immigration reform groups as well as vigilante border patrol groups, who conduct armed patrols along the borders of the United States. Several border vigilantes have been arrested on weapons charges. Casey Nethercott, for example, associated with border vigilante groups such as Ranch Rescue and the Arizona Guard, is currently serving a five-year prison term on weapons charges stemming from a 2003 incident in which he and others confronted and assaulted two Salvadorans when on "patrol."

ADL

The message could not be more clear. As the immigration debate continues to heat up, so does the rhetoric from the anti-immigration camp. Unfortunately that rhetoric is increasingly taking the tone and timber of those at the furthest extreme. In May 2005 over 400 anti-immigrant groups held a summit in Las Vegas. During the "Unite to Fight Against Illegal Immigration" summit “activists gathered at the event to hear speakers describe illegal immigrants as "the enemy within" and "illegal barbarians," while suggesting that America was "at war" with illegal immigrants and urging people to "take America back." And while most in attendance at the summit would never willingly align themselves skinheads, neo-nazis and white supremacists, they cheered rhetoric that was only slightly removed from that of the worst hate mongers.

Not removed by six degrees of separation … but perhaps one or two … and moving ever closer.

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