Insiders Passing Bad Information Part II

more from Marisa Trevino

REPORT: Nativism in the House
from buildingdemocracy.org

http://www.buildingdemocracy.org/Nativism_In_the_House/A_Report_on_the_HIRC/Nativism_In_the_House:_A_Report_on_the_House_Immigration_Reform_Caucus_200710091083/

In looking at this documentation, the report's researchers uncovered some very disturbing points:


* Despite Caucus members' focus on strict border control and harsh anti-immigrant legislation, the median Hispanic population is only 4% in caucus members' districts. Although it is assumed that nativist and anti-immigrant politics are driven by economic resentment, most HIRC members are not elected from districts that share a common demographic or economic character.

* While vocally supportive of American workers, 86 out of the Caucus's 110 members scored zero in support of workers' rights, as measured by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

* The overwhelming majority of HIRC members are from the furthest, hardest edge of the Republican Party's rightwing, only eight are Democrats, and the Caucus claims no African-American or Hispanic members. Many also regularly vote against civil rights and civil liberties concerns.

* Notwithstanding the Caucus' political character, its members have received campaign contributions from a surprisingly wide range of sources, including ones not typically associated with anti-immigrant policies such as AT&T, the American Medical Association, and Home Depot. In addition, Caucus members receive funding from nativist sources such as the Minuteman PAC as well as from ultra-conservative sources such as the Eagle Forum and the Club for Growth.

* The election of Rep. Brian Bilbray as the HIRC chairman is likely to cement the already symbiotic relationship between fringe anti-immigrant advocacy groups and caucus members. Rep. Bilbray is himself a former lobbyist for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a controversial anti-immigrant organization that holds questionable ties to white nationalist and nativist groups. Likewise, the former HIRC director is now working at FAIR as a Government Relations Associate.

* Most recently, HIRC members have begun to actively promote legislation aimed at gutting the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which is the amendment that granted African-Americans full suffrage following the civil war. As of the time of the report's printing, 90 members of the House of Representatives signed on as co-sponsors to legislation aimed at nullifying the Fourteenth Amendment's "birthright" provision.

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