What do you think of this? Hey, ILLEGALS, they are out to get you!?
Jessica Coomes
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 14, 2007 12:00 AM
Hate groups are resurging nationwide by feeding on anti-immigration sentiment, an undercover detective and Anti-Defamation League leaders told state lawmakers Tuesday.
Especially in the border state of Arizona, racist hate groups and border vigilante groups have too much influence in setting the tone of the immigration debate, said Bill Straus, Arizona regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.
But those who advocate for border security called such characterizations hateful and said they are meant only to "create an atmosphere of fear and hatred based on misinformation," according to Chris Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. He and other activists challenged the assertions in the seminar, which was led by House Democrats. advertisement
Detective Matt Browning of the Mesa Police Department said he spent 12 years working undercover with three border militia groups and six White-supremacist organizations in Arizona, who he said are some of the "most violent, racist skinheads in the nation."
"Every meeting revolved around immigration," Browning said.
Eventually, rhetoric leads to violence, he said, such as the murder and assault cases he investigated in which Hispanics were kicked with steel-toe boots.
"It is domestic terrorism. It always has been domestic terrorism, and it always will be domestic terrorism until it stops," Browning said.
In another case, Steve Boggs was sentenced to death in 2005 for murdering two Hispanic people and one Native American man at a Jack in the Box restaurant in Mesa. Boggs, who reportedly was a member of a White-supremacist militia, wrote a letter to police, saying he wanted "to rid the world of a few needless illegals."
Extremists in the anti-immigration movement, like those in the environmentalist and pro-life movements, are only the tips of broader ideological pyramids, said Mark Pitcavage, the Anti-Defamation League's national director of investigative research.
Those extremists target both legal and illegal immigrants, Pitcavage said. Straus stressed that the league does not think everyone who opposes illegal immigration is a racist.
Still, Richard Hanson of Phoenix, who came to the hearing, called the seminar "one-sided garbage."
"I am pro-immigration. My grandparents are immigrants. They came here from Europe. There's a big difference between legal and illegal. I favor legal immigration," said Hanson, who has relatives and friends who are Minutemen.
Pitcavage drew a distinction between White-supremacist groups, such as the Council of Conservative Citizens, and border-watch groups, such as the Minutemen.
However, he said neo-Nazis and White supremacists take part in border patrols.
Simcox said it is "absolutely unfounded" to associate the Minutemen with White supremacists and said his group screens for such people.
"We've been found guilty until proven innocent," he said.
The current backlash resembles sentiment surrounding other immigration waves in U.S. history, Pitcavage said.
The anti-immigration rhetoric used then is the same that is espoused today, he said. For example, people worried that immigrants would threaten American culture, take jobs and not assimilate.
The current movement, which Pitcavage said started in the 1980s, has been affected by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and now anti-immigration rhetoric includes security concerns.
The speakers drew differences between White-supremacist groups and Latino groups such as National Council of La Raza and MEChA. But Buffalo Rick Galeener of Cave Creek, who did not agree with the Anti-Defamation League's assertions, said those Latino groups need to be looked into.
"We had a one-sided propaganda show in there today," Galeener said.
Public policy influenced by extremist ideology is not going to solve problems, Pitcavage said.
"We recognize a lot of people don't believe these groups still exist, have influence in our communities," Straus said
Answer:
If the ILLEGAL alien criminals are drawing hate crowds (haven't heard about this, is that MY problem? Did I do something wrong that would bring about the ire of Americans?
Sorry but I have ZERO sympathy for those that are breaking our laws and then get the wrath of people that are livid about it. (As long as they don't beat anybody up.)
To the moron above, two wrongs make a right?
Idiot,
America is creating a lot more jobs than our capacity to make more babies, a lot more Americans will retire this year than young Americans starting to work.
Yes they have to be deported because they are breaking the law.
If we need more workers they have to be really educated in the field that they are going to be working and they have to come here legally to stop wages from going down.
The immigration information post by website user , MyTend.com not guarantee correctness