For years, nativist activists have utilized the free fax service provided by NumbersUSA to express their opinions to elected officials on specific policy issues. Now, thanks to ACT! for America, they have a new resource.
ACT! Director of Government Relations Lisa Piraneo sent an email to her organization’s supporters today announcing the launch of a new “grassroots advocacy tool” to contact elected officials at the state and federal levels. Using software developed by Votility Inc., ACT! aims to mobilize its supporters in hopes of influencing lawmakers to pass what it identifies as “high priority legislation.” The new tool allows ACT! supporters to send boilerplate letters and emails to their members of Congress; it also provides talking points to use during phone calls when expressing support for the aforementioned bills.
Unsurprisingly for a nativist organization like ACT!, one such priority bill is the Birthright Citizenship Act, a long-gestating piece of legislation sponsored by anti-immigrant stalwart Rep. Steve King (R-IA) that seeks to repeal the birthright citizenship clause from the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment. Birthright Citizenship has long been a target of the anti-immigrant movement, creating a debate that has fostered the much-maligned rhetoric of “anchor babies” and its anti-Muslim variant – “terror babies.” Additionally, ACT! will certainly look to use this new resource as it continues its campaign to pass unnecessary American Laws for American Courts legislation in states throughout the country – further demonizing and alienating Muslims and their faith in the public sphere.
ACT! for America’s Congressional allies are well-known, and as the organization unveils its new activism tools, those outside of that small cadre of legislators must not treat its fringe agenda with any additional sense of legitimacy.