Photo attached to Thorn’s article
On May 1, the American Free Press (AFP) published an article discussing the ongoing immigration debate and the proposed legislation for reform. In the article, author Victor Thorn relies heavily on “facts” from within the anti-immigrant movement to support his piece. The AFP article cites reports authored by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and information gleaned during an extensive interview with KC McAlpin of ProEnglish and U.S. Inc.
ProEnglish, FAIR, and U.S. Inc. are all members of the Tanton Network – a group of organizations founded by or connected to white nationalist John Tanton. These groups make up the modern day anti-immigrant movement. KC McAlpin maintains close ties to Tanton. He left his role as Executive Director of ProEnglish to become President of U.S. Inc. McAlpin, however, still remains on ProEnglish’s Board of Advisors. McAlpin representing these groups in a publication such like AFP is another instance of the organized anti-immigrant movement actively associating itself with white nationalists.
Willis Carto, founder of AFP, is a long-time figure within the white nationalist movement. Carto founded AFP in 2001 after his previous publication, The Spotlight, ceased production. The following quote Carto gave in a 2007 interview is indicative of the conspiratorial fears and motivations behind his publications:
“The Israelis literally control our press all except a few of us, the American Free Press and The Barnes Review and a few other patriotic, independent publications around the country. They control our Congress… . [A]ny one of them [members of Congress] is liable to rise up on the floor at anytime and deliver a speech praising Jews and Zionists and Blacks and Indians and heaven only knows, but can you imagine any one of them standing up and praising White Christians?”
McAlpin disturbingly appears to share Carto’s bigoted views. In the AFP piece, he equates immigration and nuclear holocaust; describing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people already in the country as a “demographic mushroom cloud.” Later on, McAlpin amplifies on long-refuted fears of supposed negative impact immigration has on the economy saying, “How will it spur growth to bring in millions of uneducated and illiterate illegals? The only thing it will spur is the welfare state and those dependent on government. Their children will go to government schools and be a burden on local taxpayers. The only taxes these people will pay are sales taxes. It’s absolutely a disaster…”
This is not the first time AFP has enlisted the opinion of anti-immigrant activists in its publications. Last July, Victor Thorn talked to Glenn Spencer, who has several ties to white nationalists and is founder of American Border Patrol. In the article, Spencer denounced the Obama Administration and warned of a globalist conspiracy – a favorite among many on the far-right:
“It’s the same agenda as the European Union—globalism. Very powerful people decided after WWII that there would be no borders. They’d put the whole globe under one rule. Mexico will retake the Southwest and put it under its flag.”
Nativist rhetoric such as this should not come as a surprise considering both AFP and ProEnglish in their respective histories have links to white nationalism. Carto has a long historyof quarreling with white nationalists over leadership positions and ownership rights:
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In 1960, Carto formed the National Youth Alliance which after internal organizational fighting, would eventually become the National Alliance. The National Alliance would grow to become one of the most prominent neo-Nazi organizations in the country under the leadership of longtime Carto rival William Pierce.
Willis Carto, left (Photo credit: SPLC)
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In 1978, Carto founded the Institute for Historical Review (IHR) – an organization dedicated to Holocaust denial and historical revisionism.
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Carto was forced to file for bankruptcy after IHR leadership elected to end its association with Carto, citing allegations of fraud. Carto would then go on to found another Holocaust-denial publication, The Barnes Review.
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After the passing of William Pierce, Carto has been invited to several National Alliance events, including a 2010 leadership conference where Carto gave a speech humiliating Pierce’s successor, Erich Gliebe.
ProEnglish’s ties to white nationalism include:
- Current executive director Robert Vandervoort previously ran Chicagoland Friends of American Renaissance
- Phil Tignino, former Director of Communications, was leader of Washington State University’s local Youth for Western Civilization chapter.
- Vandervoort and ProEnglish Chair Rosalie Porter appeared on a panel alongside John Derbyshire and Peter Brimelow of the white nationalist VDARE.com at CPAC 2012.
- These instances and others have forced attempts to distance itself from white nationalists more recently.
AFP goes to the anti-immigrant movement for opinion and insights to amplify its own white nationalist platform. Because of its own nativist origins, figures in the anti-immigrant movement such as McAlpin and others can easily contribute to this – with or without their understanding of AFP and its nefarious background.
The connections between the anti-immigrant movement and white nationalism are extensive. While both movements become even more increasingly fringe, a watchful eye must be kept on their efforts to rely on each other to amplify their respective false senses of credibility.