Hate Immigration Week

So-called "immigration activists" are descending on Washington, D.C. this week to try to force lawmakers to close our borders to the south. The event is being billed as "Hold Their Feet to the Fire 2005," and is being sponsored by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) which has connections to extremists and white supremacist organizations.

FAIR spokesman Rick Oltman says America's government leaders need to be motivated to address this issue. "It was Senator Everett Dirksen from Illinois who once said 'When they feel the heat, they see the light.' And 'Feet to the Fire' is an excellent example of making elected officials feel the heat," Oltman remarks.

These groups see demonstrations this week, including protests across from the White House in Lafayette Park, as an opportunity to get the word out about what they see as immigration problems in the U.S. But lets be honest about what is really driving these efforts... racism.

One of the so-called anti-immigration activist explains the effort in this way: "The whole idea is that we have people lobbying our elected officials and we have radio talk-show hosts there -- they're all going to have a radio row right up on Capitol Hill -- broadcasting out. And when our activists run into elected officials who don't treat them right, or aren't receptive, or aren't thinking the right way on immigration reform, we're going to bring the activists back. They will be guests on the radio talk shows." And we all know that these activists are never racist when it comes to talking about how bad immigrants are. Bob Grant would be proud.

"Immigration" will be the main issue of the far right in years to come. We just need to be prepared to decode what it really is all about.