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Immigrants Targeted: Extremist Rhetoric Moves into the Mainstream
Groups:
Grass Fire -- Iowa |
Grass Fire is a non-profit group that claims to hold “a strong and unwavering commitment to conservative, pro-family and pro-faith values.” Claiming over one and a half million contacts with elected officials, the group mobilized opposition to proposed immigration-reform legislation in the 110th Congress, with a nationwide ad campaign, mass online petitions, intensive lobbying, and giant billboards across the country declaring “Stop the Invasion: No Amnesty.”
 Grass Fire’s 57-page pamphlet, “The Truth About the Illegal Invasion,” tries to instill fear in readers with its claims that “illegal immigration is creating a crisis of lawlessness and has led to a massive underground criminal element that feeds off human trafficking and drug running. Illegal immigration is inundating our borders with mountains of garbage. And illegal immigration is undermining American culture and threatening our future.”
In an August 2007 Internet post, President Steve Elliott asked, “Does the Mexican government care about the harm their people are inflicting on our environment with all the trash, clothing and human waste they are leaving when they cross illegally?”
Grass Fire’s “Stop the Invasion” online petition, addressed to the President and Members of Congress, portrayed undocumented immigration as a “long-term threat to the American way of life.” Grass Fire has claimed that over 720,000 individuals signed and submitted Internet petitions.
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