Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere – Los Angeles
John Tanton Network
Kobach Faces More Skeptics Over Controversial History
01 year ago
An interesting article popped up from the Sand Mountain Reporter. It seems a journalist in Albertville, Alabama has been suspicious of our old friend Kris Kobach ever since he conveniently appeared “to help” the town with immigration issues. Ben Shurett’s suspicions are proving to be true as he outlines in his column below:
Tuesday afternoon brought an interesting e-mail from Carol Dingman, a former city council member in Farmers Branch, Texas.
Farmers Branch, you may recall, is one of the cities receiving legal representation from Kris Kobach, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a legal authority on illegal immigration.
The City of Albertville is considering hiring Kobach as legal council. He was invited by Mayor Lindsey Lyons and councilman Chuck Ellis to provide insight into remedies dealing with illegal immigration.
Last week in this space, I gave my opinion that “Kobach had not passed my smell test, not yet,” and I still have the same concern. I am pleased that the Albertville Council decided to take more time on this issue before retaining Kobach, if they do at all.
Emotions on that column are strong, both for and against. Both Ellis and Kobach were given space to respond to my opinion on Tuesday.
You may be interested in Ms. Dingman’s opinion, as well. She served three terms on the Farmers Branch City Council, leaving office in 1987. She is the first woman ever elected to that council, has lived in Farmers Branch since 1970 and has been a leader on a number of local committees.
Ms. Dingman wrote, “I live in Farmers Branch, Texas. As a former city council person, I have closely followed our city’s anti-immigration fight since the beginning.
“I have researched Kris Kobach, who was mentioned the first time this issue came up. Our mayor said he was an expert in immigration law who would help the city on a pro bono basis. I have requested copies of all the legal bills the city has accrued since the start of litigation in 2007. We will have paid almost $4 million in legal fees at the end of this fiscal year (Sept 30, 2010).
“Mr. Kobach was paid $100,000 of that. So much for pro bono. Kobach is closely connected with the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), whose agenda is to use cities and states to test out their immigration legislation to see if it is constitutional.
“Both of our city’s ordinances were written by Kobach and both were ruled unconstitutional. I believe our city’s taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill for the benefit of a national organization that is never mentioned in any discussion of the issue.”
Read the entire article here.
Neo-Nazi Activities Target Immigrants
01 year ago
by Sarah Viets
in American Identity, American Nazi Party, Center for Immigration Studies, Federation For American Immigration Reform, Glenn Beck, Immigrant Communities, Immigration, Immigration Issues, John Tanton, John Tanton Network, Ku Klux Klan, Ku Klux Klan Members, Nationalist Socialist Movement, Neo Nazi Group, Racial Conflicts
When I first heard about the National Policy Institute’s “Boycott the Glenn Beck Boycott,” I was a little surprised, but just a little. Due to Beck’s racially charged reporting, Color of Change launched a boycott targeting companies financially supporting Beck’s television show.
The National Policy Institute (NPI), a white nationalist organization, believes that in order for “The European identity of the United States and its people [to] be maintained, Federal decentralization and territorial separation should be recognized as legitimate and humane means of preventing and resolving divisive social, ethnic, and racial conflicts.”
Glenn Beck has yet to respond to NPI’s boycott; however, this is an ideal opportunity for mainstream media to finally speak out against Beck’s racially divisive brand of journalism.
The National Policy Institute’s “boycott” comes amid a rash of neo-Nazi activities targeting immigrant communities.
On February 20, forty-eight Ku Klux Klan members covered in white hoods protested against undocumented students marching to Washington D.C to raise awareness of immigrant’s civil rights. The KKK’s Imperial Wizard Jeff Jones stated that “We are here to tell you wake up Georgia and stop the Latino invasion now.” “I know plenty of people who are willing to work and would do anything right now,” according to the Jacksonville newspaper.
The Nationalist Socialist Movement (NSM), a neo-Nazi group, is currently mobilizing its membership to attend its national meeting, “Reclaim the Southwest,” on April 17. In the announcement, the NSM relies on immigration issues to rally its base. The flier for the event says, “Let your voice be heard as we speak out against illegal immigration, Sanctuary Cities”. According toNSM’s webpage, the “rally will be hosted in Southern California this year with the rally on the South Lawn of L.A. City Hall”.
On May 1, the American Nazi Party (ANP) is hosting its National Conference in Detroit, Michigan. Like the Nationalist Socialist Movement, ANP also uses immigration issues to rally its troops. On the front page of ANP’s webpage, the Nazi Party sends its visitors an alarming message by claiming that “America has an estimated 20 MILLION brown, mestizo ILLEGAL ALIENS who have INVADED OUR NATION – this evil”.
The biggest concern for the American Nazi Party (ANP) is the upcoming demographic changes, particularly for white Americans. On the top part of the page, the ANP warns that”only 23% of the American population under the age of 18 is WHITE. Already, four U.S. states are MAJORITY NON-WHITE, and 10% of all counties in America are MAJORITY NON-WHITE. World-wide, White women of child-bearing age comprise only 3% of the earth’s population. Do these FACTS disturb you? They should.”
When the anti-immigrant leader, Shawna Forde, murdered 9-year-old Brisenia Flores, the anti-immigrant group NumbersUSA said nothing. When a gang of teenagers killed Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant in Suffolk County, Rhode Island, the Center for Immigration Studies said nothing. When congressional leaders support hate-crimes legislation, the Federation for American Immigration Reform supports elected officials who oppose hate-crime legislation.
While the Tanton Network portrays itself as credible single-issue anti-immigrant organizations the organization’s founder, John Tanton, sings a different tune. As neo-Nazi groups express concern of whites no longer being the majority, I’m reminded of John Tanton labeling immigration as a demographic issue.
As immigration legislation reform looms, reporters hold America’s moral compass in their pens. Mainstream media continues to say very little about Glenn Beck’s journalistic habits, it also says very little about the John Tanton Network’s ties to neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups campaigning on behalf of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Center for Immigration Studies and NumbersUSA’s anti-immigrant agenda.
Anti-immigrant Leader Admits Using Climate Change for Political Gain
01 year ago
by Guest Blogger
in Center for Immigration Studies, Climate Change, Conservative Political Action Conference, Ecopolitics, global warming, Heritage Foundation, Immigration, Immigration Policy, Immigration Reform, James Russell, John Tanton Network, Mark Krikorian, Numbersusa, Progressives for Immigration Reform, Steve King, Wayne Lutton
by Rebecca Poswolsky and Dave M.
The anti-immigrant movement has long capitalized on environmental concerns to attack America’s immigrant communities. This tactic was on full display at the Conservative Political Action Conference this past weekend in Washington D.C.
While most people were listening to Newt Gingrich speak on Saturday, about 75 people assembled in one of the smaller rooms to hear a discussion entitled “Immigration: The Defining Issue for the Republican Party,” sponsored by American Council for Immigration Reform. The panel’s four speakers included: Robert E. Rector, Senior Research Fellow, The Heritage Foundation; Mark Krikorian, Executive Director, Center for Immigration Studies (CIS); James G. Gimpel, Professor of Government, University of Maryland; and Rep. Steve King from Iowa. Each speaker had 20 minutes to speak, followed by a question and answer session. The audience boasted a whole host of anti-immigrant individuals including Chad McDonald from NumbersUSA; Wayne Lutton, editor of The Social Contract; Howard Wooldridge, younger brother of anti-immigrant activist Frosty Wooldridge; and James Russell of Catholics for a Moral Immigration Policy.
A number of alarming comments were made by the panelists throughout the session. Rep. Steve King stated that he “sympathized” with the man who crashed his plane into the IRS building in Texas this past weekend. When asked later in the Q&A session about his comments, King did not take them back and instead launched into a rant against the IRS for targeting him in his pre-political days.
Mark Krikorian, a man known for his outlandish comments, stated that immigrants are “19th century rural peasant workers” who are coming to 21st century America.
The discussion’s most alarming comment came during the Q&A session when a young man asked Mark Krikorian why CIS published articles that supported the theory of global warming on its website. The man also asked Krikorian to explain his and CIS’s connections to John Tanton whom he referred to as a man that “favors population control.”
Krikorian nonchalantly answered the first question by stating that CIS publishes articles that are in favor of global warming to force a wedge between different people on the Left. Krikorian argued that people on the Left cannot be in favor of both open borders and taking care of the environment.
Assertions such as Krikorian’s – that non-draconian border policy is a prominent cause of eco-ruin – have little stock with serious environmental thinkers, which of course does not prevent Center for Immigration Studies from producing slanted reports on the topic. What is surprising is Krikorian’s candor about his organization’s true goal – to strategically deploy pseudo-environmental rhetoric to split its opposition.
His comments at the Conservative Political Action Conference also suggest that Krikorian’s veneer of environmental concern is so thin, that common work with global warming deniers and anti-environmentalists is not beneath him. Maybe this is unsurprising for someone whose career involves promoting white nationalist ideas while adamantly claiming that he is not a racist – a phenomenon we’ve also seen with Roy Beck of NumbersUSA, who co-authored a 2003 report for CIS. Both NumbersUSA and Center for Immigration Studies were established by John Tanton as front groups for his anti-immigrant network.
Aiding in Krikorian’s enviro-wedging strategy are characters such as Phillip Cafaro, of the misnamed “Progressives for Immigration Reform” (PFIR, which is also part the Tanton Network.) Cafaro and PFIR exist as an element of the “wedging” strategy explained by Krikorian at last week’s conservative gathering. Phil Cafaro also participates in the Weeden Foundation-funded “Apply the Brakes” project, which gives an anti-immigrant spin to concerns about human population levels. Cafaro’s level of commitment to “progressive” causes was recently demonstrated by his linking, on January 12 of this year, from the PFIR blog that he maintains to the white nationalist Social Contract Press website.
Coincidentally, Social Contract’s editor, Wayne Lutton, was at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington D.C. this past Friday to cheer on his anti-immigrant associates. In addition to releasing racist publications, Lutton is also active with the overtly racist magazine American Renaissance and the flagship publication of the Council of Conservative Citizens. The Council of Conservative Citizens is the reconstituted, segregationist White Citizens’ Councils.
It is clear that Krikorian and the rest of the Tanton Network don’t care one bit about the environment. They only use climate change concerns to widen an anti-immigrant platform.
Anti-immigrant Forces Target Struggling American Communities
01 year ago
by Jill Garvey
in Anti Immigration, Center for Immigration Studies, FAIR, Federal Immigration Law, Federation For American Immigration Reform, Fremont Nebraska, Immigration, Immigration Laws, John Tanton, John Tanton Network, Kris Kobach, Nebraska Community Colleges, Politics, Racial Profiling, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Undocumented Immigrants
Kobach
Tanton
The man at the heart of the most influential anti-immigrant network in the country, John Tanton, has created an empire of organizations consisting of lobbyists, lawyers, legislators, and “experts” who have infiltrated the very depths of social and political debate.
Lately, that has been no more apparent than in Arizona’s Maricopa County, where the Tanton Network’s favorite attorney, Kris Kobach, is busy working with notoriously brutal Sheriff Joe Arpaio. A Kansas attorney, professor, and politician with controversial associations, Kobach has a history of preying on vulnerable communities. Communities weakened, for example, by corruption or political division.
Maricopa County residents learned that the hard way when Kobach abruptly appeared with a plan to train over 800 deputies in the art of terrorizing the immigrant community. Supporters of Kobach’s program say it will help local deputies enforce federal immigration law, but fail to take a cue from the federal government’s recent decision to strip deputies of their power to make immigration arrests. Additionally, it does little to help the sheriff’s office fend off persistent accusations of racial profiling and related legal troubles.
Maricopa residents aren’t alone.
Last year Kobach partnered with a small group of Fremont, Nebraska residents to propose a city ordinance that would make it a crime to aid or abet undocumented immigrants. And just last month Kobach sued the Board of Regents for the University of Nebraska System, the Board of Governors for the State College System, and the Board of Governors for each of the Nebraska Community Colleges to end the practice of public universities offering in-state tuition to students who cannot prove citizenship. Interestingly, fewer than 50 undocumented students are receiving in-state tuition at Nebraska’s colleges and universities.
Kobach has attempted to pass severe anti-immigration laws in towns across Pennsylvania, California, Missouri, and Texas. What do these communities have in common besides Kris Kobach? They reap no benefits from the anti-immigrant laws and ordinances he is trying to implement and are often left with a costly legal mess.
In Hazelton, PA, after an ordinance crafted by Kobach and fellow IRLI attorney Michael Hethmon was struck down by a federal judge, the city was forced to pay for all legal fees.
Mr. Kobach has penetrated all these communities while drawing a hefty paycheck from the Immigration Reform Law Institute, the legal arm of the anti-immigrant group, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The Southern Poverty Law Center, a respected civil rights organization, lists FAIR as a hate group on its website, based on FAIR’s association with white nationalist organizations.
What appears to the public as a myriad of voices advocating for immigration enforcement is nothing more than a series of front groups and spin-offs seeking to overwhelm reasonable debate on immigration. Tanton founded the Federation for American Immigration Reform 30 years ago and shortly thereafter U.S. Inc. These two entities jointly fund and support most of today’s national anti-immigrant groups. They operate under names like Center for Immigration Studies which serves as the Network’s quasi-think tank, or the Coalition for the Future American Worker which pretends to be the voice of American workers. Names meant to belie the most sinister aspect of John Tanton’s Network. Civil rights groups continue to uncover the Tanton Network’s troubling associations with racists, white supremacists, and political extremists. One is the Pioneer Fund, a foundation committed to eugenics and “scientific racism”. The Pioneer Fund provided John Tanton with the funding he needed to build a multi-million dollar operation.
Anti-immigrant groups are using vulnerable communities like Maricopa County and Fremont to give their leadership mainstream legitimacy in the immigration debate, regardless of the cost to residents. While the Phoenix community embroils itself in a costly debate, Kris Kobach is busy building his campaign for Secretary of State in Kansas and his national political profile.
The Tanton Network’s agenda is obvious – create racial divisions among Americans using immigrants as the wedge. In communities across the nation, from Arizona to Nebraska to Pennsylvania, our towns and cities have become casualties of the anti-immigrant movement’s intolerant agenda. Before anti-immigrant rhetoric takes hold, they must loudly and collectively reject extremist groups. It is in our nation’s best interest.