Absent any proof that allowing a few more Mexican trucks access to the United State under the upcoming Cross Border Pilot Program, will encourage more smuggling of contraband or worse, opponents of the pilot program, their allies and spokesmen on trucking talk radio are making an all out effort to fabricate a problem that does not exist, and enlisting acknowledged hate groups with ties to white supremacists, and convicted child murderers to to further spread fear and misinformation about Mexican trucks.
There have been posts by OOIDA members on hate sites such as STORMFRONT.ORG which have titillated and agitated the wannabe “turd reichers”, but not much has come of it. But on July 8, two days after resolution of the impasse on cross border trucking with Mexico was reached, that all changed.
On that day the Federation for American Immigration Reform, known by it’s acronym FAIR, released a statement that closely mirrors Teamster President James Hoffa’s ludicrous and debunked charges about unsafe and dangerous Mexican trucks.
For those not familiar with them, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a group with one mission: to severely limit immigration into the United States. Although FAIR maintains a veneer of legitimacy that has allowed its principals to testify in Congress and lobby the federal government, this veneer hides much ugliness. FAIR leaders have ties to white supremacist groups and eugenicists and have made many racist statements. Its advertisements have been rejected because of racist content. FAIR’s founder, John Tanton, has expressed his wish that America remain a majority-white population: a goal to be achieved, presumably, by limiting the number of nonwhites who enter the country.
BACKGROUND ON FAIR
John Tanton founded the Federation for American Immigration Reform on Jan. 2, 1979, in Washington D.C. Roger Conner, an environmental lawyer, was appointed executive director, while Tanton served as the chairman of the board of directors. Before establishing FAIR, Tanton had experience working with groups concerned about how population growth affected the environment. Tanton served in several Sierra Club leadership posts, and he had been the president of Zero Population Growth, a group founded by biologist and longtime FAIR adviser Paul Ehrlich, from 1975 to 1977.
The founding of FAIR was a major change for Tanton. But he was driven to shift his efforts to the battle against immigration by his increasing concern that it was the primary cause of population growth. As a result, FAIR focuses exclusively on immigration issues. Its goal, according to its website, is to set immigration quotas “at the lowest feasible levels” and to prevent all illegal immigration. The group attempts to appear moderate, even though its record is extreme, particularly on racial issues. This strategy has paid off: In August 2009, FAIR President Dan Stein boasted that FAIR leaders had testified before Congress about 100 times.
On Oct. 9, 1988, the Arizona Republic published excerpts from embarrassing memos that had been sent by Tanton and Conner to members of FAIR’s leadership. The documents were known as theWITAN memos; they came from an October 1986 conference in which Tanton met with a number of anti-immigration activists for a strategy session. The memos revealed Tanton’s innermost, and controversial, thoughts. Tanton warned of a “Latin onslaught,” complained of Latinos’ allegedly low “educability.” He asked, “Will Latin American migrants bring with them the tradition of the mordida (bribe), the lack of involvement in public affairs, etc.?” He also wondered: “Can homo contraceptivus[meaning whites] compete with homo progenitiva [meaning Latinos] if borders aren’t controlled? Or is advice to limit ones [sic] family simply advice to move over and let someone else with greater reproductive powers occupy the space?”
You can read the entire history of FAIR here.
Some of FAIR affiliates are THE SOCIAL CONTRACT PRESS routinely publishes race-baiting articles penned by white nationalists. The press is a program of U.S. Inc, the foundation created by John Tanton, the racist founder and principal ideologue of the modern nativist movement. TSCP puts an academic veneer of legitimacy over what are essentially racist arguments about the inferiority of today’s immigrants
CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES (CIS) bills itself as an “independent” think tank that seeks “to expand the base of public knowledge”about immigration, the Washington, D.C.-based group is only interested in one thing. CIS’s reams of reports, as well as its blog postings, editorials, and frequent panels and press conferences, incessantly push the idea that America’s immigration system is an unadulterated evil and that the only way to save America from impending doom is to cut drastically the number of immigrants. CIS has blamed immigrants, both legal and undocumented, for everything from terrorism to global warming. To make its case seem as strong as possible, CIS often manipulates data, relying on shaky statistics or faulty logic to come to the preordained conclusion that immigration is bad for this country. But CIS studies have been regularly debunked by mainstream academics and think tanks including the Immigration Policy Center, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities and America’s Voice.
Minuteman child killer and FAIR spokesman Shawna Forde now sits on death row for the murders of Brisenia Flores and her father Raul
Shawna Forde, 41, the nativist extremist who was recently convicted of the home invasion robbery in Arizona where 9 year old Brisenia Flores and her father were murdered, is known as the leader of Minuteman American Defense (MAD), a hard-line group opposed to undocumented immigration. But six years ago, appearing on a televised immigration roundtable organized by a local Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) affiliate in Washington state, Forde was repeatedly identified as a representative of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) Shawna Forde is currently on Arizona’s Death Row.
It is shameful that opponents of cross border trucking, groups such as The Teamsters and OOIDA have resorted to such underhanded methods to push their agenda, especially in the absence of any credible data to support their positions.
OOIDA enlists talk radio to spread misinformation and lies
OOIDA, a strong advertiser on satellite radio service SIRIUS/XM has long reached out to popular radio hosts such as Dave Nemo and more controversial hosts such as Steve Sommers of America Truckers Network and his father, Dale “Trucking Bozo” Sommers. While Nemo and Steve Sommers have always been fairly moderate, Dale Sommers is less so, allowing fruitcakes from the trucking industry such as his friend Rusty “Yoda” Wade and others who agree with his North American Union theories and Mexico is the cause of all our ills viewpoint to blather on.
Dave Nemo, in the past a moderate voice presents us with an “expert” to further press the idea that 100 or so, closely monitored, rigidly inspected trucks will give the cartels a leg up in their efforts to move more contraband across our borders.
Dr. George W. Grayson, member of the Center for Immigration Studies Board of Directors, has transformed himself into an expert on Mexican trucking issues courtesy of Dave Nemo and other opponents of cross border trucking
George W. Grayson, who is the Class of 1938 Professor of Government at the College of William & Mary, is a member of the Center for Immigration Studies Board of Directors. He is also a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He has made more than 200 research trips to Mexico and authored approximately twenty books and monographs on Mexico, Latin America, and international affairs. (Hell, I’ve got him beat. I live in Mexico and have made thousands of safe trips)
Bringing Grayson on today to spread his theories which seem tailored to the oppositions desperate last ditch effort to sabotage the cross border program, shows that Nemo has finally crossed the line and lost any relevance as a truckers advocate.
It’s a shame with all the hatred in the world, organizations such as TEAMSTERS, OOIDA and their allies and spokespeople see the need to use this hatred to spread their misinformation.
Since its founding nearly 90 years ago, the American Legion has been a fixture of community life. It has hosted Memorial Day parades to remember those who died in America’s wars. It has held bingo nights and dances at its 14,000-plus posts worldwide. It has supported thousands of Boy Scout groups, sponsored a baseball program that’s produced numerous professional players, and helped children living in poverty or with special needs. From World War II to the war in Iraq, the legion has fought to improve benefits for veterans and their families.
Now, America’s largest veterans organization has launched another campaign — a hard-line attack on undocumented immigrants that’s at odds with the legion’s mainstream image. As part of this effort, the legion, which purports to speak for 2.7 million members, recently issued a booklet that regurgitates discredited and often completely false information about how “illegals” are bringing crime, disease, and terrorism to this country, even as they wreck the economy for natives.
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Black Jack Lou Dobbs on his trusty steed Buttercup off to wage war with Mexico
For the past few years, Lou Dobbs has led anti-immigrant forces against amnesty, against illegal Mexicans, against Mexico, against his own government, and against the truth.
His rants have been less than truthful; once almost causing a panic in the United States when he brought forth on his show the issue of illegal Mexicans coming over the border infected with Leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, a chronic infectious disease which causes horrific disfiguration upon those who are infected.
Lou Dobbs lied to stir the American people to rise up against the Mexican people and he is doing it once again with the tomato issue.
The salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 200 people recently is being centered on Florida or Mexico as the likely sources of the contaminated vegetable. But if left up to Lou Dobbs to decide where those tainted tomatoes came from, the Crusader appears to be comfortable with blaming Mexico.
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The Nativists
Around the country, an anti-immigration movement is spreading like wildfire. An array of activists is fanning the flames.
One of them says he’d like to bring nuclear weapons to the border. Another vows to stop the alleged Mexican invasion of Idaho. Several have links to white supremacist hate groups; others are given to dire warnings of horrible diseases, “barbaric” practices, and secret Latino conspiracies to “reconquer” the American Southwest.
These are the nativists — the new crop of activists who are driving the movement that exploded last spring with the Minuteman Project in Arizona, a month-long effort by armed civilians to seal the border with Mexico. Along with a whole array of media enablers (see Broken Record and Nativism On Air), they have barged into the nation’s consciousness with remarkable success. Some of them, like Minuteman co-founder Jim Gilchrist, have made attempts to win high political office. Others have contented themselves with trying to build a mass movement. Not all those who have joined the movement are extremists — many are legitimately concerned about the ability of the nation to absorb large numbers of immigrants, particularly the undocumented. But one thing seems clear: A dangerous mix of nativist intolerance, armed and untrained civilians, and wild-eyed conspiracy theories could easily explode into violence.
These are the nativists — the new crop of activists who are driving the movement that exploded last spring with the Minuteman Project in Arizona, a month-long effort by armed civilians to seal the border with Mexico. Along with a whole array of media enablers such as Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and others, they have barged into the nation’s consciousness with remarkable success. Some of them, like Minuteman co-founder Jim Gilchrist, have made attempts to win high political office. Others have contented themselves with trying to build a mass movement. Not all those who have joined the movement are extremists — many are legitimately concerned about the ability of the nation to absorb large numbers of immigrants, particularly the undocumented. But one thing seems clear: A dangerous mix of nativist intolerance, armed and untrained civilians, and wild-eyed conspiracy theories could easily explode into violence.
These people should have you worried!
- Clifford Alford Las Cruces, N.M.
- Erin Anderson Arlington, Va.
- Garrett Chamberlain New Ipswich, N.H.
- Jim Chase Oceanside, Calif.
- Barbara Coe Huntington Beach, Calif.
- Madeleine Cosman San Diego, Calif.
- Russ Dove Tucson, Ariz.
- Jim Gilchrist Aliso Viejo, Calif.
- Patrick Haab Mesa, Ariz.
- Connie Hair Virginia Beach, Va.
- D.A. King Marietta, Ga.
- Joe McCutchen Fort Smith, Ark.
- Lupe Moreno Santa Ana, Calif.
- Glenn Spencer Cochise County, Ariz.
- Tom Tancredo Littleton, Colo.
- Joe Turner Ventura, Calif.
- Mike Vanderboegh Pinson, Ala.
- Robert Vasquez Caldwell, Idaho
- Frosty Wooldridge Louisville, Colo.
- Bob Wright Eunice, N.M.
- Luca Zanna Apple Valley, Calif. Read more
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