There Goes the Neighborhood is a weekly series from Imagine 2050 staff highlighting upcoming nativist events.
This week, nativist activists will gather in Florida, Texas, and California for events either organized by or featuring groups and individuals with ties to the organized anti-immigrant movement.
On Saturday, February 13, the Fort Lauderdale Tea Party weekly meeting will feature noted anti-immigrant talk radio host Joyce Kaufman. For years, Kaufman has used her position on airwaves to promote anti-immigrant groups like Floridians for Immigration Enforcement (FLIMEN) and their initiatives. Kaufman also regularly attends Hold Their Feet to the Fire, an annual media and citizen lobbying event in Washington, D.C. organized by the flagship anti-immigrant group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
Florida-based attorney Sara Blackwell will also speak at tomorrow’s event. Blackwell is currently working with anti-immigrant groups like FAIR and NumbersUSA on guest worker visa issues. She and one of her clients, Leo Perrero, were recently featured in a series of videos FAIR produced for its revamped “FAIR Chance at Jobs” website.
On Tuesday, February 16, anti-immigrant group Texans for Immigration Reduction and Enforcement (TFIRE) will hold its monthly meeting in Houston. Featured speaker, Jeffrey Addicott of St. Mary’s University, Texas, will give a presentation on “terrorism, the border, and related immigration issues,” according to a flyer for the event. Last week, TFIRE co-hosted an event in Houston featuring the virulently anti-immigrant Sheriff Joe Arpaio and anti-government activist Richard Mack. TFIRE is listed as a state contact group by the national anti-immigrant group FAIR.
On Thursday, February 18, anti-immigrant group We the People Rising will hold an “End Sanctuary Cities Rally” in Claremont, California. The rally will be a counter-protest to a scheduled event featuring House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. We the People Rising is perhaps the most active anti-immigrant group in California. Robin Hvidston, the group’s leader, was photographed attending an “activist strategy meeting” in Brea, California last month that featured FAIR’s Susan Tully.
Additional information on these events and others can be found in the map below. The events scheduled for next week are marked with red stars.
Know of any nativist events not located on this map? Please contact us or fill out this form:
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