The Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, issued a press release announcing that their cost study on immigration will be released tomorrow the subtitle of which is:
“Previous state and private studies over-estimated tax receipts and under-estimated costs.”
The details of this study are sure to be controversial, and the Des Moines Register reported last week that “immigrant-rights groups” are already critical and calling for the upcoming radio event to be scuttled.
[scuttled. is that anything like censored?]
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071226/aqw018.html?.v=39
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Study on Illegal Immigration to Be Released Tomorrow
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Once again, a Beltway anti-immigrant group has chosen to make a brief appearance in Iowa to inject their brand of nativism into the American body politic.
Four years ago, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) was responsible for ads which WHO-TV called “unnecessarily inflaming and borderline racist." FAIR was met by widespread community condemnation. And yet, they’re back. This time, FAIR is importing radio talk hosts to poison the airwaves.
It’s time to tell the truth about FAIR.
Earlier this month, after compiling overwhelming evidence about FAIR’s disturbing connections, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) officially labeled them a hate group . SPLC joined the ranks of civil rights organizations raising concerns about FAIRs ties.
Organizations deserving mainstream respectability usually fire disreputable staff and return cash from nefarious donors. FAIR has done the opposite. Instead, they’ve attacked the venerable civil rights institution and sided with a white supremacist foundation.
On December 14, FAIR issued a response to SPLC (read here). The release failed to address the key elements that lead to FAIR’s hate group designation: that FAIR has employed members of white supremacist groups, that they have promoted racist conspiracy theories, and that they are creation of a man who operates a racist publishing company and has compared immigrants to "bacteria."
The one issue FAIR vigorously defended was their receipt of over $1.2 million from the Pioneer Fund. They wrote , “SPLC’s characterization of the Pioneer Fund is fraudulent. The Fund’s mission statement clearly states that it supports equal opportunity for all Americans, regardless of race, religion, national origin or ethnicity.”
The record shows that the real fraud is being perpetrated by FAIR.
Since its founding in the 1930s, the Pioneer Fund has been the premier funding source for research in the dubious field of eugenics and “race science.” Pioneer has never wavered from its support for white supremacist causes. They waged war on civil rights, defending segregation and promoting the idea of black inferiority. Today, the Fund serves as the largest financier of scientific racism and provides significant funds to hate groups.
FAIR also argued that “Nearly all of the grants made by the Pioneer Fund have gone to major, respected research institutions and universities around the world.” That veneer of “respectability” quickly vanishes when the destination of the cash is revealed.
Among the institutions FAIR lists: UC Berkley grants went to a professor known as the “grandfather of modern scientific racism.” University of London grants supported a professor who described the “evil consequences” of school busing programs and racial integration. NYU donations paid for research used to defend segregation. Randolph-Macon College grants went to publish, The Testing of Negro Intelligence, which concluded that blacks were intellectually inferior to whites.
That only scratches the surface of the racist funding on FAIR’s list. There’s also dozens FAIR chose not to list, like the Ulster professor who’s written that "incompetent cultures should be phased out."
FAIR also cons the public by only listing university grantees. Alongside FAIR in the non-academic grantee category: the New Century Foundation, a hate group whose leader promotes the "clear conception of the United States as a nation ruled by and for whites;" the National Policy Institute, a group whose mission is "to elevate the consciousness of whites, ensure our biological and cultural continuity, and protect our civil rights;” and the Institute for the Study of Man, the publisher of Mankind Quarterly, a notorious journal of 'racial history' which promotes the genetic superiority of whites.
It seems inconceivable that an organization that has the ear of the 109-member House Immigration Reform Caucus (including Rep. King) would continue to give such a full-throated defense of a white supremacist foundation, yet that’s the truth about FAIR. Since the early 1990s, FAIR has been repeatedly asked to return the Pioneer money. They have steadfastly refused.
What they don’t tell you is often as important as what they do. FAIR won’t tell Iowans about the Pioneer Fund and their connections. FAIR won’t tell Iowans about their staff members and white supremacist groups. FAIR won’t tell Iowans that they advocate repealing the 14th Amendment . If groups like FAIR want to have a real debate about immigration policy, it’s time to start telling the truth.
www.buildingdemocracy.org
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