New York Times profile of anti-immigration activist John Tanton

[alp227]

Interesting stuff right here. Sunday's New York Times has a profile of John Tanton ("The Anti-Immigration Crusader"), founder of the groups Federation for American Immigration Reform, NumbersUSA, and Center for Immigration Studies. The article reveals how Tanton tried to get liberals on his side:

Dr. Tanton founded local chapters of Planned Parenthood and the Sierra Club and became the national president of Zero Population Growth. Unable to interest colleagues in fighting immigration, he formed FAIR in 1979, pledging in his proposal to make it “centrist/liberal in political orientation.” The first director, Roger Conner, had made his mark as a liberal environmental advocate.

Hmm. Because population control is the third rail of mainstream environmentalism/green movement, I don't hear too many people on the left who takes Tanton's position that immigration control is good for the American environment. Just look at how much heat Obama administration science advisor John Holdren got because he wrote about it in a science textbook published in the late '70s.

Also, despite his denials of bigotry/racist intentions, the story is otherwise:

“One of my prime concerns,” he wrote to a large donor, “is about the decline of folks who look like you and me.” He warned a friend that “for European-American society and culture to persist requires a European-American majority, and a clear one at that.”

Dr. Tanton acknowledged the shift from his earlier, colorblind arguments, but the “uncomfortable truth,” he wrote, was that those arguments had failed. With a million or more immigrants coming each year — perhaps a third illegally — he warned, “The end may be nearer than we think.”

He corresponded with Sam G. Dickson, a Georgia lawyer for the Ku Klux Klan, who sits on the board of The Barnes Review, a magazine that, among other things, questions “the so-called Holocaust.” Dr. Tanton promoted the work of Jared Taylor, whose magazine, American Renaissance, warned: “America is an increasingly dangerous and disagreeable place because of growing numbers of blacks and Hispanics.” (To Mr. Taylor, Dr. Tanton wrote, “You are saying a lot of things that need to be said.”)

[pampango]

1. He makes no pretense of just opposing illegal immigration. He opposes all immigration.

He is smart enough to know that keeping the focus on illegal immigration (good way to attract some liberals and independents and generate some momentum for his cause) for now is the best way for him to build support to limit or eliminate all immigration.