ADL Concerned About Hate Group Participation in Phoenix Rally

Date: June 3, 2010

Phoenix, AZ...A rally this weekend in support of Arizona SB 1070, the country’s most restrictive anti-immigrant legislation, will feature speakers and sponsors with direct ties to anti-immigrant hate groups and border vigilante groups, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Bill Straus, the ADL Arizona Regional Director said, “Hate should not have a place in the immigration debate. While there may be differing views on immigration issues and Arizona’s new law, allowing bigots to participate in this event is unacceptable.”

The American Border Patrol, an Arizona-based anti-immigrant hate group is a co-sponsor of the event and the head of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform, another anti-immigrant hate group, is a scheduled speaker. A number of individuals connected to Minuteman groups that have sent armed volunteers to patrol the border between Mexico and the United States are also scheduled to speak.

ADL is concerned that the June 5 rally includes some of the more extreme elements of the anti-immigrant movement who will promote a controversial bill that many fear can lead to racial profiling. The event also demonstrates the ongoing mainstreaming of hate in the immigration debate.

For more information on the speakers at the rally in Phoenix, see ADL’s online backgrounder, Rally in Support Arizona’s New Immigration Law Will Feature Extreme Elements of the Anti-Immigrant Movement.”