Nativists Work to Counter Sunday鈥檚 Pro-Immigrant March
As thousands of people prepare to rally in Washington, D.C., this Sunday for immigration reform, nativist extremist groups are unleashing their own campaigns to counter the event.
NumbersUSA today launched 鈥淪.T.O.P. Amnesty in Four Days,鈥� a drive to derail any immigration reform package that includes a citizenship provision for undocumented immigrants. During the four-day campaign, NumbersUSA supporters will lobby members of Congress by faxing, calling and visiting their offices. The group, including its president and founder , will also have a presence at the march and will feature a live webcast of the event on its homepage.
Though NumbersUSA states on its website that it鈥檚 against immigrant-bashing, that鈥檚 apparently not true of all the group鈥檚 supporters. During last week鈥檚 NumbersUSA conference call to mobilize for S.T.O.P. Amnesty, one participant asserted that activists need to let Mexican immigrant women know that they are the new 鈥渨elfare queens鈥� because they rely on U.S. tax dollars to take care of their babies, . NumbersUSA鈥檚 director for social media marketing, Chad MacDonald, who was moderating the call, said he appreciated the point. 鈥淲e will make a note of that,鈥� he responded. 鈥淭hank you very much.鈥� Another caller said the children of Mexican immigrants should be called dependents rather than babies. 鈥淭hey have dependents,鈥� the caller said. 鈥淲e have babies.鈥�
Among those taking part in the S.T.O.P. Amnesty campaign is 鈥檚 Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC), which 鈥渨ill be working around the clock this coming weekend,鈥� according to a news release from ALIPAC. The group is also planning its own opposition to the pro-reform march, urging people to sign up for 鈥淭ea Party Against Amnesty鈥� protests nationwide on April 15. (ALIPAC organized a first round of anti-amnesty tea parties last November.)
In an E-mail today, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) urged supporters to participate in a 鈥渢hree-step counter-strategy鈥� by signing up for FAIR鈥檚 鈥淰irtual March on Washington鈥� and reaching out to their senators and representatives.聽 (The Southern Poverty Law Center lists FAIR as a hate group in part .) FAIR also complained about the event in a news release Thursday titled 鈥淟aw Breakers on Parade Again.鈥�
FAIR officials aren鈥檛 the only ones painting marchers with a broad brush. On the National Review Online鈥檚 blog, Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) Executive Director Mark Krikorian on Thursday called the rally an 鈥渋llegal-alien-palooza.鈥� And in a Wednesday column on , a white nationalist hate site, FAIR board member Donald Collins referred to the event鈥檚 organizers as 鈥渢he Treason Lobby.鈥� In fact, the march is being sponsored by , including the AFL-CIO, the Kansas House of Representatives, and Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc.
