During a May 31 debate, Texans for Immigration Reduction and Enforcement (TFIRE) President Larry Korkmas disingenuously used April’s tragic bombings in Boston as a vehicle to advance his nativist anti-immigrant position. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) lists TFIRE – under the name “Texan for Immigration Reform, INC” – as a state contact group on its website.
Towards the end of the debate, Korkmas discusses illegal immigration and border security, alluding that failures in the two areas led to the bombings during the Boston Marathon. Video of the debate shows Korkmas detailing graphic photographs of the victims from the bombings and then claiming that every politician in Washington that has been in office after 1986 “is guilty […] as an accessory to homicide.”
Korkmas’ words are certainly not the first time nativists have used the Boston tragedy to hinder immigration reform efforts. As policy debates continue, so too will misinformation and fear mongering from the anti-immigrant movement.