By: Daniel Nardini
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, anti-immigrant groups have suffered significant losses in the number of people that used to belong to them as well as the funding and the number of branches they used to have. While the extremist right wing organizations have largely remained the same and the anti-government groups have greatly expanded, the anti-immigrant groups have drastically decline. In 2010, anti-immigrant groups reached an all-time high of 319 throughout the U.S. Now, there are only 38 such groups still in existence. One of the reasons for their decline and one might even say virtual collapse was the reelection of U.S. President Barack Obama. It showed not only the voting power of Latinos, but it showed that many Americans are less interested in draconian laws and measures against immigrants and the undocumented.
The anti-immigrant movement has seen a drastic decline for other reasons. First, many of the people who united around the immigration issue had nothing else in common. Many extremist right wing groups and individuals disagreed with conservative but non-racist groups and people who may have only agreed with the extremist right wing groups on immigration. This one issue was not enough to keep many of these anti-immigrant organizations alive, and so many of them folded. Those with extreme racist views have simply joined neo-nazi and Ku Klux Klan groups. Another problem is that a number of individuals from the anti-immigrant groups had committed terrible crimes against the innocent in their hateful endeavor against immigrants. The infamous case of Shawna Forde is one. This lady gunned down an unarmed Latino father and his daughter in cold blood. The mother survived the slaughter and was able to identify Forde at trial. Shawna Forde is now on death row in Texas.
As well as a number of anti-immigrant members committing violent crimes, many of these groups have simply dissolved over misappropriation of funds and bitter disputes over who controls these organizations. Many extremist right wing individuals are trying to take these anti-immigrant groups into the neo-nazi and Ku Klux Klan movements. Many of the membership in these anti-immigrant groups strongly disagree with this, and many individuals have left. The Minuteman organization has especially seen its membership plummet as individual members are either disgusted with the organization’s extreme tactics or are looking for more extreme ways of attacking immigrants. But there is no question that the anti-immigrant movement is in decline. Let us hope it will disappear completely.
Decline of the Anti-immigrant Movement
By: Daniel Nardini
The anti-immigrant movement has seen a drastic decline for other reasons. First, many of the people who united around the immigration issue had nothing else in common. Many extremist right wing groups and individuals disagreed with conservative but non-racist groups and people who may have only agreed with the extremist right wing groups on immigration. This one issue was not enough to keep many of these anti-immigrant organizations alive, and so many of them folded. Those with extreme racist views have simply joined neo-nazi and Ku Klux Klan groups. Another problem is that a number of individuals from the anti-immigrant groups had committed terrible crimes against the innocent in their hateful endeavor against immigrants. The infamous case of Shawna Forde is one. This lady gunned down an unarmed Latino father and his daughter in cold blood. The mother survived the slaughter and was able to identify Forde at trial. Shawna Forde is now on death row in Texas.
As well as a number of anti-immigrant members committing violent crimes, many of these groups have simply dissolved over misappropriation of funds and bitter disputes over who controls these organizations. Many extremist right wing individuals are trying to take these anti-immigrant groups into the neo-nazi and Ku Klux Klan movements. Many of the membership in these anti-immigrant groups strongly disagree with this, and many individuals have left. The Minuteman organization has especially seen its membership plummet as individual members are either disgusted with the organization’s extreme tactics or are looking for more extreme ways of attacking immigrants. But there is no question that the anti-immigrant movement is in decline. Let us hope it will disappear completely.