This week the Flathead County, Montana chapter of ACT! for America is hosting a meeting on refugee resettlement featuring two anti-immigrant hardliners. The meeting purports to provide attendees with “the facts about Refugee Resettlement” and discuss “What it is and what is isn’t!”
ACT! for America is the largest anti-Muslim grassroots group operating in the United States. Lately, the group has turned its attention to vilifying Muslim refugees and working to obstruct humane resettlement programs.
The local ACT! chapter recruited Dr. Paul Nachman, a Montana-based anti-immigrant activist, to speak at the event. Nachman is a regular contributor to the racist website VDARE. He has also been featured in The Social Contract, a white nationalist quarterly founded by the architect of the modern-day anti-immigrant movement, John Tanton.
Nachman also has ties to other notorious anti-immigrant organizations. He is a founding member of Montanans for Immigration Law Enforcement, a state contact group of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, also started by Tanton. He also served as a statistical oversight advisor for NumbersUSA and has previously attended events sponsored by the deceptively named Progressives for Immigration Reform (PFIR).
Nachman previously called efforts by anti-Muslim activist Terry Jones to burn the Qur’an an “educational demonstration.”
Also scheduled to speak at the meeting is Don Barnett of the Center for Immigration Studies, also known as the anti-immigrant “false-fact think tank”. Barnett has been working closely with ACT! as of late. He was recently featured on a conference call organized by the anti-Muslim group promoting anti-refugee measures. He appeared alongside anti-refugee activist Ann Corcoran at a briefing on Capitol Hill organized by ACT!.
The Montana event will not the first example of anti-Muslim groups openly working with established anti-immigrant groups. CIS’ executive director Mark Krikorian continues to associate with notorious anti-Muslim figurehead Frank Gaffney. CIS previously hosted Gaffney at an event titled “Is Immigration a Catalyst for Sharia in the West?” Krikorian is also a frequent guest on Gaffney’s radio show and his go-to commentator on matters involving immigration.
This is also not the first time ACT! for America has organized and participated in anti-refugee rallies in Montana either. Earlier this month, members of ACT! for America chapters turned up at a protest against refugees outside the Missoula County Courthouse. And on Feb. 18, ACT! for America members appeared at a public hearing in Ravalli County, Montana, to call for a letter to be sent to President Obama saying Syrian refugees are not welcome in their state.