To fringe, border debate is a boon
To fringe, border debate a boon in Oklahoma
By Devona Walker
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29
Published: June 6, 2008
One of the largest and arguably most dangerous hate groups in the nation has been strengthening its once flailing ranks, using immigration as a main recruitment tool.
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Oklahoma's immigration law
Several business groups are challenging the employer-related provisions of House Bill 1804, spurring a federal judge Wednesday to block enforcement of those requirements.
U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron granted a preliminary injunction after ruling it is likely the business groups would succeed in their challenge.
The case is pending in federal court in Oklahoma City.
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“It is one of our major, if not the major issue for recruitment. We find that it's an issue you can raise with your co-workers, your fellow students and your fellow churchgoers. It applies to almost anyone,” said
Sean McBride, national recruitment coordinator for the
Michigan-based National Socialist Movement, reportedly the nation's largest neo-Nazi group.
Most members of the movement against illegal immigration are concerned with the continued flow of undocumented immigrants, and the effect on the economy, culture and national security.
It's an issue that sparked
Oklahoma to pass House Bill 1804, largely considered the toughest and most comprehensive immigration enforcement statute in the nation.
Reform proponents argue that associating the mainstream movement with the small fringe is a transparent tactic to discredit their concerns and end the debate.
“The fringe elements on either side really are counterproductive to meaningful immigration reform,” said
Bob Dane, communications director for the
Federation of American Immigration Reform. “They are not going to co-opt this immigration reform movement because they don't represent American interest. They are not part of our culture and our heritage.”
FAIR has tried to distance itself from the fringe, decrying bias and re-affirming talking points that target policy as opposed to people. FAIR is one of the most sourced think tanks on immigration issues, and helped pen HB 1804.
“We are no more against immigrants than a person on a diet is antifood,” Dane said “We are a mainstream group promoting mainstream values. We have no regard for groups that are based on bias, hate or discrimination.
“Any type of hate crime is unacceptable. Hate groups must be condemned.”
Growth of hate
In 2007, the
Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights advocacy group, counted 888 hate groups in its latest tally, up from 844 in 2006 and 602 in 2000.
That growth, according to McBride, has been well pronounced in the heartland.
The National Socialist Movement's
Oklahoma City chapter opened about four years ago, at the same time the state's Hispanic population began to grow. The vast majority of new recruits point to immigration, said Ken Sponburg, the chapter's founder.
“There's a lot of people that are tired of it, but they don't know where to find like-minded people,” Sponburg said. “This issue is going to come down to one thing: And that's going to be race.”
Marilyn Mayo, co-director of the
Anti-Defamation League's
Center on Extremism, expressed deep concern over extremist groups using FAIR's statistics and analysis. But she stopped short of calling FAIR extremists.
“We've seen an increase in rhetoric against immigrants. We're seeing a certain kind of environment that's negative against immigrants, and we are seeing a rise of crimes against immigrants,” Mayo said. “The most extreme hate groups are changing their focus from Jews and African-Americans, and they are focusing more on Latinos, in a way that they really haven't before.”
The
FBI cited a 25 percent increase in hate crimes targeting Hispanics in 2007. It reported that 819 people were victimized by anti-Hispanic hate crimes in 2006, compared with 595 in 2003. About 62 percent of ethnicity-targeted crimes were anti-Hispanic in nature, according to the FBI. Experts say hate crimes are historically underreported.
The National Socialist Movement saw a noticeable bump in membership shortly after immigrant groups staged protest across the nation. Before that, the movement got very few phone calls from Oklahoma. Since then, there's been a marked increase.
But even more troubling than membership increases in the National Socialist Movement and the
Ku Klux Klan has been the resurgence in “racist skinhead groups,” which are less organized and much more underground and that have a greater tendency for violence, Mayo said.
“That rhetoric about how immigrants are threatening American culture and identity, we're seeing that filter down to the nightly news,” Mayo said. “It's an environment of fear, and people are reacting.”
Related Topics:
Crime,
Domestic Policy,
Social Policy,
Political Policy,
Special Interest Groups,
Politics,
Social Issues,
Immigration Policy,
Hispanic and Latino Issues,
Racism and Bigotry,
Hate and Extremist Groups,
Hate Crimes,
Racial Issues,
Immigration
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let's do one thing, put this issue on the ballot and let us decide the way we want to go with the deportation and punishment of the criminals period. the this would be without any law suits or appeal. so carl take your stupid quasi law breaking butt and go to mexico as you show no desire to live in a law abiding country.
Why can't people speak and write freely on race? You and your pc ilk at the SPLC would like to insure that we only parrot the pc orthodoxy.