New York Times by Jason DeParle
An excellent article about Dr. John Tanton, anti-immigration crusader and founder of Numbers USA, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), and the Center for Immigration Reform. His organizations have helped defeat Comprehensive Immigration Reform proposed by President George W. Bush and the DREAM Act last year, and to write Arizona SB 1070 and other anti-immigrant legislation.
While the whole movement grew more vehement as illegal immigration increased, Dr. Tanton seemed especially open to provocative allies and ideas. He set off a storm of protests two decades ago with a memorandum filled with dark warnings about the “Latin onslaught.” Word soon followed that FAIR was taking money from the Pioneer Fund, a foundation that promoted theories of the genetic superiority of whites.
Dr. Tanton, who remains on the FAIR board, denied charges of racial bias and donated his papers to the University of Michigan to show that he and colleagues “are not the unsavory types sometimes alleged.” They include hundreds of private letters, some outlining his interest in genetic differences between the races and concerns about the country’s changing ethnic mix.
Err, the brand new Census data does show that Tanton's fears are coming true. Why have groups like the Sierra Club dropped their traditional insistence on immigration restriction, despite the huge impact immigration-driven population growth has had on the environment?
Posted by: M Schwartz | 04/18/2011 at 06:06 PM