John Tanton’s Network of Hate: How A Small Group of the Wealthy founded the Contemporary Nativist Wave.

Contrary to Lou Dobbs, and other cable-TV hate-mongers, the current nativist wave is not an organic movement of Americans “fed up illegal immigration.” The better part of the current nativist movement was orchestrated by a retired Michigan opthamolagist by the name of John Tanton and a small group of wealthy donors. Starting in 1979, Tanton orchestrated a series of moves to establish a network of non-profit groups, advocacy organizations and media propaganda fronts. The foremost of these groups is the Federation for Immigration Control (“FAIR”) which continues to enjoy legitimacy amongst the mainstream media despite clear ties to racist and extremist organizations. The network that Tanton founded continues to function and the fronts that he established continue to be treated as indepenent entities, despite their shared kinship.

It was Tanton who founded the anti-immigration movement's most powerful institution, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (“FAIR”). Tanton’s interest in immigration was marked in the beginning by an explicitly racial argument. “To govern is to populate,” Tanton wrote in 1986. “Will the present majority peaceably hand over its political power to a group that is simply more fertile? … As Whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night? Or will there be an explosion?”

Tanton founded FAIR in 1979. Between 1982 and 1994, it received more than $1.2 million from the Pioneer Fund. A little-known foundation created in 1937, the Pioneer Fund likes to benignly describe its origins in “the Darwinian-Galtonian evolutionary tradition, and the eugenics movement.” In the late 1930s, though, it frankly admired Hitler. Today, it still bankrolls groups such as the racist American Renaissance and the American Immigration Control Foundation (AICF) in Virginia.

[A] single -- but not seamless -- web connects ideological white supremacists, armed border vigilantes, nativist think tanks, political action committees, and Republican Party officeholders in an anti-immigrant movement of growing significance. Formal policy deliberations may include debates on the fiscal costs of providing social services to undocumented workers, the supposed downward pressure immigrant labor exerts on the marketplace, the net costs and benefits of immigration, and the national-security problems evinced by holes in our borders. But at gatherings like these, the raw issues are race and national identity.

Differences between legal and illegal immigrants fade into a generalized belief that a brown-skinned, Spanish-speaking tidal wave is about to swamp the white-skinned population of the United States. The attempt to stop undocumented workers at the borders morphs into a campaign to end immigration altogether, to save our supposedly white nation from demographic ruin. As Tancredo told interviewer John Hawkins, “[If] we don't control immigration, legal and illegal, we will eventually reach the point where it won't be what kind of a nation we are, balkanized or united; we will have to face the fact that we are no longer a nation at all … .

The New Nativism: The alarming overlap between white nationalists and mainstream anti-immigrant forces. Leonard Zeskind The American Prospect,| October 23, 2005.

In addition, FAIR's political action committee, the U.S. Immigration Reform PAC, routinely receives significant contributions from Tanton and his wife. FAIR's PAC has contributed more than a quarter-million dollars for and against candidates since 1999. In 2000, it spent more than $30,000 against Republican Senator Spencer Abraham of Michigan, an Arab American, who lost that general election. Not surprisingly, it has also given the virulently anti-immigrant, Tom Tancredo $15,000 over the years, according to Federal Election Commission documents. The PAC had Peter Gemma on its payroll. Gemma is a denizen of Holocaust-denial meetings and other hardcore anti-Semitic venues, according to Devin Burghart, the author of numerous reports on anti-immigrant groups for the Center for New Community in Chicago.

"The New Nativists" In a notorious set of memos from 1986, Tanton set forth the vision and strategy of what was to become the anti-immigrant enterprise. In the most extensive memo, Tanton laid out a series of queries to guide the movement:

Is apartheid in Southern California’s future? The democraphic picture in South Africa now is startlingly similar to what we’ll see in California in 2030. In Southern Africa, a White minority owns the property, has the best jobs and education, has the political power, and speaks one language. A non-White majority has poor education, jobs and income, owns little property, is on its way to political power and speaks a different language. (The official language policy in South Africa is bilingualism -- the Blacks are taught in Zulu and related tongues.)

In California of 2030, the non-Hispanic Whites and Asians will own the property, have the good jobs and education, speak one language and be mostly Protestant and "other." The Blacks and Hispanics will have the poor jobs, will lack education, own little property, speak another language and will be mainly catholic.

Do ethnic enclaves (Bouvier, p. 18) constitute resegregation? As Whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night? Or will there be an explosion? Why don’t non-Hispanic Whites have a group identity, as do Blacks, Jews, Hispanics?

[T]he Whites and Asiatics will own and manage, but will not be able to speak to the Hispanic field workers. They will need bilingual foremen. Does this sound like social peace? Or like South Africa?

Initially, Tanton’s organizations did not meet with much legislative success but the media treated them as if they were legitimate grass-roots organizations. FAIR was widely quoted on all questions bearing upon immigration and they often testified before Congress. Another element of Tanton’s plan was infiltration of Congress and the Judiciary. As set out in another 1986 strategy memo by Tanton:

Since launching FAIR [Federation for American Immigration Reform] in January of 1979, the board has adhered steadfastly to one of the possible models for changing U.S. immigration law and practice. Our plan emphasized the national (rather than the state and local) nature of the immigration question, and, therefore, concentrated on building a national office and staff rather than working at the grassroots.

In my judgment, grassroots work has not been a major emphasis. On the media side of this question, I believe we get high marks for good and consistent effort throughout our existence.

Financially, FAIR grew rapidly its early years. The table shows our total revenues since its founding:

1979 $216,349
1980 442,916
1981 815,212
1982 1,269,126
1983 1,255,223
1984 1,447,161
1985 1,543,610
1986 1,600,000 (estimated)

GRAND TOTALS: 8 years & $8,500,000

Our financial growth was heavily based on a small number of major donors…

[We must] Secure appointments of our friends to positions on the Board of Immigration Appeals, to the Commissioner’s Post if Mr. Nelson leaves, as he will eventually, to other advisory boards in the INS and Justice Department.

FAIR and its sister organizations were heavily dependent on a small number of donors, most of whom had racist motivations for their contributions. The network of Tanton organization that this small group of wealthy individuals funded includes the front ograntizations.

American Immigration Control Foundation
AICF, 1983, funded

American Patrol/Voice of Citizens Together
1992, funded by Tanton

California Coalition for Immigration Reform
CCIR, 1994, funded by Tanton

Californians for Population Stabilization
1996, funded (founded separately in 1986) by Tanton

Center for Immigration Studies
CIS, 1985, founded and funded by Tanton

Federation for American Immigration Reform
FAIR, 1979, founded and funded by Tanton

NumbersUSA
1996, founded and funded by Tanton

Population-Environment Balance
1973, joined board in 1980 by Tanton

Pro English
1994, founded and funded by Tanton

ProjectUSA
1999, funded by Tanton

The Social Contract Press
1990, founded and funded by Tanton

U.S. English
1983, founded and funded by Tanton

U.S. Inc.
1982, founded and funded by Tanton

Each of these organizations keeps up a front of nominal independence despite being part of Tanton’s web. And each in turn has mingled extremist politics with its anti-immigrant rhetoric. In subsequent posts we will explore further the dark elements that make up Tanton’s Nativist movement.

Conservative Republicans Outraged by Radical Nativist Element Taking over Party

Eristic Ragemail has written extensively on the racist roots of nativist and anti-immigrant groups such as VDARE and FAIR. We make no bones about the fact that our agenda is pro-immigrant and in favor of comprehensive immigration reform. There is, however, an interesting web site that is hosted by concerned conservative Republicans. (http://subwaycanaries.blogharbor.com/blog) Their concern stems from the fact that the party is being hijacked by radical right interests. Their mission statement pretty straightforwardly set out their concerns.

MISSION STATEMENT OF THE SUBWAY CANARIES

by SJ Reidhead on Wed 21 Jun 2006 10:24 PM MDT

The purpose of The Subway Canaries is to expose intellectually dishonest conservative ideological hypocrisy.

The Subway Canaries are stalwart Republicans who are dismayed at the direction subversively extreme conservative ideologues are taking the GOP.

The Subway Canaries feel if the true agenda of these individuals and organizations are not exposed to the light of day, the Republican Party will either become the party of Extreme Right Wing Hate and Racism or be forever relegated to a minority party.

This is our only agenda. It is an agenda of truth and intellectual honesty - Truth, Justice and the American Way!

The Subway Canaries are Republican First and conservative second. Any other way is a betrayal of the Republican Party.

Their posts very forthrightly set out some out the roots of many supposedly “mainstream” nativist groups and their loathsome tactics. Herein are some excerpts.

THESE ARE THE MINUTEMEN

NOTE: I was planning to a piece on the FLDS (I have some new information) but was side-tracked by this story. I think this is something that needs to be told. I know I am telling it one-sided, against the Minutemen in California. But what I have found is so repulsive and so vile it needs to be exposed to the light of day. It is obvious someone is going to cross the line one of these days and shots are going to be fired. I have a feeling it will be a Minuteman or one of their supporter who will do the shooting. When this happens and a defense is made, naturally the Hispanic is going to be the evil one.

I think these videos are terribly important. They show how abjectly evil these people are.

Do you have the courage to watch these videos? There are a number of them at Minutemen Unvarnished – and take nearly an hour to watch. Watch the video “Do You Believe in Jesus” as the San Diego Minutemen harass parishioners at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Fallbrook. This is in Fallbrook, CA. . . .

If this is what Sheriff Joe is allowing in Maricopa County, then he is as vile as are these individuals. I don’t care what side of the immigration argument you are on. If you think this is good, decent, and patriotic, then you are seriously disturbed and as evil as are these individuals. When you start harassing people attending church, and mace people as they are going into church as this video shows you are as bad as they are.

ANTI CATHOLIC A TREND?
After watching these videos, it appears to me that there is an anti-Catholic. I’ve been covering the anti-immigration crowd’s anti-Catholic bigotry for several days. Yesterday mentioned that Harold Hutchinson at Called As Seen had picked up on the anti-Catholic bigotry of Tom Tancredo and Lou Dobbs. Harold references a WSJ piece about how they “insulted the Pope”. l The Opinionated Catholic has more. JJ mentions an editorial at Modern Commentaries about Michelle Malkin and her anti-Catholic rants. It is obvious there is a strong anti-Catholic bias in the whole anti-immigration movement, promoted by John Tanton and his dislike of anyone who is not lily white. Why?
LA Times

“…t's not too surprising that one of the pontiff's most vocal critics was the poor man's Howard Beale, CNN personality Lou Dobbs. He's made something of a specialty of bashing the Catholic hierarchy in recent years, as part of his pseudo-populist campaign for ratings. Dobbs charged Benedict with "mixing religion and politics ... in many ways insulting our country, talking about the need to be welcoming. ... I really don't appreciate the bad manners of a guest telling me in this country and my fellow citizens what to do." Well, there you go, though the pope got off easy compared with L.A. civic leaders, whom Dobbs blasted after an earlier -- and totally misleading -- report on Special Order 40 and the case of Jamiel Shaw II, a young man allegedly shot to death by an illegal immigrant who is a gang member. Dobbs called city officials "liars" and singled out Police Chief Bill Bratton, whose defense of Special Order 40 -- which puts certain restrictions on when police can inquire about a suspect's immigration status -- the broadcaster called "irresponsible" and "disgusting politics." "And I think every one of you in the city of Los Angeles, running that city, supporting a sanctuary city and trying to excuse what happened to that family, I think it is contemptible," said Dobbs….”

THE VIDEOS
(WARNING: These videos feature profanity and obscene gestures)

(MigraMatters) If this is an example of those who are anti-illegal and are “Minutemen” in San Diego, then I’d rather be castigated for being against them. These people are filthy, vile, nasty trash. This is a link to a video. I am not doing an inbed, because of the filthy language. From Minutemen Unvarnished comes a ‘best of’ collection of videos about the Minutemen. Maybe you might want to ask for your money back (if they can account for it). You might want to watch “I’m Allowed to Threaten People”. The jerk is wearing a minuteman cap. Look at the people who are with the Minutemen. I wouldn’t let them in my driveway, let alone associate with them. The one “Keep Your Hands to Yourselves” features San Diego Minuteman Founder Jeff Schwilk. Try watching the one “Are You Legal?”

How about this Minuteman waving his flag? He’s nothing but a thug. Watch “Remember after the Alamo” to see what these people look like. They are scary. Watch “No Talking Chickens”. “Hello Witches” features the leader of the San Diego Minutemen harassing two activists. Watch as the Minutemen follow the women, attempting to terrorize them. Do you really think these are nice people? If I were those women, I would have been terrified. The San Diego Minutemen were founded by Jim Gilchrist.

In “If You Love Mexicans” Jeff Schwilk accosts a Home Depot customer. A minuteman then spits at the camera person. “Get out of here” Jeff Schwilk goes after a Home Depot customer. “Morning Wetbacks” shows how gentile the Minutemen are.

In “Vermin of Vista” Jeff Schwilk harasses and intimidates another activist. This man is seriously disturbed. I can’t believe people actually believe the you know what these people spout. In “Bring It On” he tries to mace someone who disagrees with him. In “He’s Trying to Scare Her” our boy Jeff finally gets picked up by a cop for harassing women.

Can you watch these videos and not call them evil? Do you really want to have sympathy for them and for their cause? These people think nothing of interrupting a church service because the people inside are Hispanic. “Can I Get Your Name” is the video. Then in “The Church is Nothing but Pimps” just shows how vile they are, using a loud speaker to blast a church service. Obviously Sheriff Joe isn’t the only one who doesn’t give a rip about disrupting church services. They call the Catholic Church nothing but pimps. Too bad these people can’t be arrested for disturbing a worship service.

Why don’t decent people realize how nasty these individuals are? “I gotta be Freakin’ Rank” shows this same bunch disrupting a funeral so they can harass people near-by. Obviously they have no morality or decency. In this one, a Minuteman did not wear deodorant, and then fans his nasty body in front of Hispanics. A woman is speaking Spanish. They keep yelling at her to shut up. (http://subwaycanaries.blogharbor.com/blog)

The site is comprehensive and includes research on the whole community of nativists with links to their own material exposing the hatred and racism espoused by the groups that find their way on Fox News and to Lou Dobbs mouth. Read it and weep.

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