The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) -- a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group that works closely with controversial anti-immigrant activist and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach -- has announced its list of radio personalities that are expected to attend its Hold Their Feet to the Fire 2012 media event. Here are some of the controversial comments that many of them have made.

Attendees Of FAIR's 2012 Hold Their Feet To The Fire Event

ROGER HEDGECOCK

Said Obama Wants Amnesty To Get “Undocumented Democrats To The Polls In 2012.” In July 2011, Hedgecock wrote at Human Events: “Large majorities of Americans in repeated polls want border security first, jobs for Americans first and ”path to citizenship" last. Obama wants amnesty first to get the undocumented Democrats to the polls in 2012, has bullied Republican employers with workplace raids to get their support for amnesty, and will never secure the border any more than his immediate predecessor did." [Human Events, 7/1/11]

Said Voter Rolls Are “Stuffed With Illegal Aliens, Felons And Dead People.” In June 2011, Hedgecock wrote at Human Events:

The voter rolls of this country are stuffed with illegal aliens, felons and dead people, who not only vote, they vote overwhelmingly Democrat.

[...]

Does the illegal alien actually vote? Apparently not. Another box on the registration form requests a permanent mail-in ballot be sent to the “voter.” The mailing address is different from the “voter's” residence address, meaning that the the illegal alien “voter” never receives a ballot and never votes. The mail-in ballots are sent to another location and someone else votes and mails back the ballot for the new “voter.” Random checks of these mailing addresses show the same addresses over and over. This is election fraud on an organized level. It's going on now in every state. Any attempt to stop this corruption would cause Obama to go to court to defend the right of illegals to register to vote. [Human Events, 6/10/11]

Said That Without “Illegal Alien Votes” Democrats Can't Be Reelected. In January 2012, Hedgecock wrote at Human Events:

Mindless propaganda twisting easily accessible scientific studies is a testament to the desperation of the Obama re-elect campaign and it's media acolytes. Without illegal alien votes (as Harry Reid proved in his 2010 campaign), unpopular Democrats cannot be re-elected. If it takes a phony campaign to “save the black bear” to insure that illegals continue to stream into the country, then so be it. Nobody really reads those studies anyway, do they? [Human Events, 1/6/12]

LARS LARSON

Lars Larson Referred To “Illegal Aliens, Or As We Call Them, Undocumented Democrats.” In December 2011, Larson said on Fox News:

Allison let me help connect the dots for my liberal friend Leslie. Illegal aliens, or as we call them, undocumented Democrats, are stealing the jobs of American citizens. With 15 million people out of work, only a million of those 12 million illegals in the country work farm jobs. The rest of them are working jobs that Americans are willing to do right now. [Fox News, America Live, 12/13/11, via Media Matters]

Lars Larson Claimed That Undocumented Immigrants Commit “A Larger Proportionate Share” Of Crimes. In June 2011, Larson said on Fox News:

Illegal aliens, like it or not, are populated by the millions in our country. They come here, they take jobs, they send billions of dollars out of the country, and, unfortunately, they're involved in more than their share, a larger proportionate share, of criminal activity. States should be looking out for their own citizens by saying we're gonna identify these illegals, and then alert the federal authorities so they can be deported. [Fox News, America Live, 5/31/11, via Media Matters]

DAVE ELSWICK

Visited Outpost Of The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. In October 2008, Elswick visited "Camp Anvil," a border vigilante outpost in southern Arizona, to promote the efforts of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, an “armed citizen border patrol” group. [YouTube, 10/14/08]

JOYCE KAUFMAN

Said “If Ballots Don't Work, Bullets Will.” Addressing the crowd at a July 3, 2010 Tea Party of Ft. Lauderdale rally, Kaufman said:

I don't care how this gets painted by the mainstream media, I don't care if this shows up on YouTube, because I am convinced that the most important thing the founding fathers did to ensure me my First Amendment rights, was they gave me a Second Amendment. And if ballots don't work, bullets will.

I've never in my life thought that the day would come where I would tell individual citizens that you are responsible for being the militia that the founding fathers designed. They were very specific. You need to be prepared to fight tyranny, whether it comes from outside, or whether it comes from inside. And we are at a moment in history where I have a president who has declared to the entire world that he cannot secure my borders, that he cannot get rid of people who don't belong in this country, which means he cannot do his job. [YouTube, 7/6/10]

Said On The Topic Of Punishing Illegal Immigrants: “We Should Hang You And Send Your Body Back To Where You Came From.” The Miami New Times reported that Kaufman said on her radio program: “If you commit a crime while you're here, we should hang you and send your body back to where you came from, and your family should pay for it.” And in an interview with the New Times, Kaufman said:

There's nothing illegal about saying that people should be [hanged] in public squares for crimes. ... Now, if I said, 'Okay, you guys need to go out and capture the first Hispanic immigrant that you think might have committed a crime and commit an act of violence on him' -- if I did that, I've violated FCC rules. But I wouldn't do that. ...

I don't think violence will win this. I don't want to hurt anybody. I just want the laws to be enforced in this country. [Miami New Times, 10/25/07]

Said Immigrants “Drive Without Mufflers” And “Bring Disease.” In a 2007 Miami New Times interview, Kaufman said:

We are destroying the environment in this country at an incredibly accelerated pace because of this group of people who have come to this country and have to live a very substandard existence. They don't have mufflers on their cars. I mean, it sounds like silly nonsense, but it's not. The cumulative effect is huge. They live, you know, 10 to a household; they bring disease with them. [Miami New Times, 10/25/07]

Claimed That “Sharia Law Is Infiltrating My Society,” And If Nothing Is Done, “America Will Fall. From a 2009 interview with the Broward Palm Beach New Times:

“I am obsessed with exposing radical Islam,” Kaufman told us by phone. “Sharia law is infiltrating my society, and if something isn't done about it, America will fall. I'm just addressing these issues in an open and honest way. Islam needs to go through a major reformation; it's a nontolerant religion. You had the same thing with Christianity, the Crusades, early on, and eventually Christianity was reformed. I look at London; I have friends who can't live there anymore. The same thing is happening here.” [Broward Palm Beach New Times, 7/16/09]

HELEN GLOVER

Cheerled for Minutemen. In September 2010, Glover promoted the founding of a Minuteman anti-immigration vigilante group in Providence, RI. [TXMinuteMen.Blogspot.com, 9/26/10]

Hosted Anti-Muslim Author Andrew Bostom. In Feburary 2012, Glover hosted Andrew Bostom who has claimed that “Shiite Iran's obsessive calls for the destruction of Israel and the mass murder of Jews are driven by a deeply rooted theological Islamic anti-Semitism.” [Work949.Wordpress.com, 2/23/12]

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS

Claimed You Can Spot “Illegal Immigrants” Because “They Are The Only People Tending Your Lawn, Baby-Sitting Your Children And Running Your Restaurants On The Cheap.” From a June 2011 column in The Washington Times:

Americans have become addicted to immigrant labor to fill jobs that Americans won't do (at the wages and under the working conditions immigrants are subjected to), while complaining about the side effects -- overburdened social services, crime and cultural dilution in the border states. But it's not hard to spot the illegal immigrants in any given neighborhood. In fact, it's quite simple. They are the only people tending your lawn, baby-sitting your children and running your restaurants on the cheap. [The Washington Times, 6/5/11]

HEIDI HARRIS

Suggested That Latino High School Students “Racist”. In a meeting with a Latino high school student group last October, Nevada Republican candidate for the US Senate Sharron Angle downplayed her use of menacing photos of Latino men branded -- illegal aliens in her campaign ads by claiming the men weren't necessarily Latino. -- Some of you look a little more Asian to me, Angle told the students. Appearing on MSNBC to discuss the comments, Harris said:

You know who should be asking for an apology? The Asian kids who apparently should be concerned that the Hispanics think it's insulting to be told that you look like an Asian. ... You want diversity? Then you don't belong to a Hispanic group. No, no, no, you don't belong to a Hispanic group if you want diversity. [Las Vegas Review Journal, 3/19/12]

Suggested It's Wrong For Teachers To Teach Tolerance Of Others. Harris has repeatedly played on the air The 12 Days of Winter, a parody of The 12 Days of Christmas. From the song: “On the 12th day of winter, my teacher taught to me: You don't need a gun. ... Tolerance of other. Di-ver-si-ty. Military bad. Islam is good. Suzy has two mommies.But we can't have Nativity scenes.” [Youtube, 12/6/10]

DALE JACKSON

Said If On Hispanic Students Leaving Alabama Because Of Its Controversial Immigration Law “Maybe You Fleeing The State Isn't So Bad.” On his blog, Jackson responded to a Huffington Post piece titled “Hispanic students are scared” by stating: “Why is this the case? Because the media lied and pretended that kids were going to be met with immigration officers at school. Screw em, if you are too stupid to actually know what is going on then maybe you fleeing the state isn't so bad.” [Truthout.org, 1/10/11]

LELAND CONWAY

Has Hosted “Catch An Illegal Immigrant Day” Guest Columnist. Conway's blog, Conservative Edge, periodically features guest columnist Morgan Brooke Wilkins, a former recruiter for the College Republican National Committee who organized a controversial “Catch an Illegal Immigrant” game on the University of Michigan campus, in which students dressed up as Minutemen pursued other students dressed up as “illegals.” In addition, earlier this year, Wilkins reportedly posted this joke to her Facebook page:

Q: What is a word that starts with a N and ends with an “R” that you never, ever, ever, want to call a black person?

A: Neighbor. [BarefootAndProgressive.com, 1/17/11]

TOM MARR

Attacked Christie For Being “Pro-Illegal Alien,” And Pandering To Radical Islam Over Appointment Of Muslim Judge. While guest-hosting Mark Levin's radio show, Marr called New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie “a fake, a phony, and a fraud.” Among the evidence he cited was that Christie was “pro-illegal alien” and had appointed Sohail Mohammed, who Marr claimed was tied to radical Islam, to be a New Jersey judge. [The Right Scoop, 1/22/11]

STEVE GILL

Border Security Proposal: “Send In The Military And Shoot People.” In May 2006, Gill called undocumented Latino immigration an “invasion” and endorsed the militarization of the border, including shoot-to-kill orders for Mexicans: He said: “If 100,000 Mexicans rushed the border at the same time and if people looked at the situation the way it really is, no one would call it anything other than an invasion, and we would send in the military and shoot people.” [The Tennessean, 5/28/06, via Nexis]

Referred To “Disease-Ridden” Immigrants. Also in May 2006, Gill referred to non-white immigrants as “undereducated” and “disease-ridden.” The Tennessean reported:

“They would never say we should bring cruise ships full of undereducated, disease-ridden, impoverished Haitians to this country to undercut the wages of the Hispanic community,” [Steve] Gill said. [The Tennessean, 5/28/06, via Nexis]

Said Obama and His “Evil Minions” Hate America. In August 2009, Gill wrote of President Obama: “This man, and his evil minions, really do hate this country! Democrats who do not denounce this President and his traitorous allies are in league with him and should be exposed for what they are!” [Media Matters, 4/5/11]

Referred to Convicted Rapists As “Vicious Black Animals” And “Black Thugs”

Also in August 2009, Gill wrote: “The trial of another participant in the rape, torture and murder of a young white couple by a group of vicious black animals has led to a second conviction on charges of rape and murder...The mainstream media has ignored this trial because of the race of the victims who were brutalized by black thugs.” [Media Matters, 4/5/11]

HOWIE CARR

Has An Illegal-Immigrant Driver Roll Call. Carr often reports traffic violators with Hispanic names from police blotters. The drivers have typically driven without a valid license, proof of insurance, and/or valid registration. The treatment implies that they are illegal aliens, and such segments often coincide with discussion of a new immigration proposal. The segment was introduced in August 2006, when issuance of drivers' licenses to illegals was an issue in the campaign for governor. [Wikipedia, accessed 5/8/12]

Said “It's Going To Take Some Politician's Kid Getting Killed By A Drunken Illegal Alien Before The Hacks Finally Figure Out That There's A Mighty Big Problem Here.” From his August 2011 column in the Boston Herald:

It's going to take some politician's kid getting killed by a drunken illegal alien before the hacks finally figure out that there's a mighty big problem here.

You know what happened in Milford on Saturday night. A totally smashed illegal from Ecuador is accused of running a stop sign and mowing down a 23-year-old American on a motorcycle, and then proceeding to drag him, screaming, under his truck for a quarter mile.

When the illegal finally ran off the road, the American became disentangled. He was still alive. But then the illegal backed his truck back over him, according to prosecutors. [Boston Herald, 8/24/11, via Nexis]

MARTHA ZOLLER

Said “Leftists, Socialists And Communists Have Taken Over” Pro-Immigrant Movement. Writing about Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and immigration, Zoller stated:

The rally was rounded out with chants for government-paid college education for illegal immigrants and the desire for “no borders” and “free movement for all workers.” They chanted “Si, Se Puede” (Yes, We Can), “It's still a crime to be brown in America” and “We must draw on the legacy of Che Guevara.” It's clear that leftists, Socialists and Communists have taken over this movement.

Now immigration has become an issue in the Georgia governor's race. Former Rep. Nathan Deal has been a champion of border security and ending birthright citizenship during his time in Congress and is taking that issue to his race for governor.

[...]

Arizona is acting on the needs of its people just as Georgia did several years ago when it passed legislation making it tougher for illegal immigrants to work and access the system in Georgia. GALEO (Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials) said Georgia was inhospitable to immigrants. Not exactly, Georgia has become inhospitable to illegal immigrants, there is a difference. [Human Events, 5/10/10]

LES KINSOLVING

Said Americans With AIDS Should Be Quarantined. In a July 10, 2010 WorldNetDaily column, Kinsolving endorsed mandatory quarantining of HIV+ Americans: If typhoid Mary Mallon was so isolated for so long, to protect the public from typhoid, when will New York and the United States begin protecting the public from spreaders of the far deadlier disease of AIDS?" [WND, 7/20/10]

Said Congressional Black Caucus Is “Racist.” Kinsolving called members Congressional Black Caucus racists in his August 31, 2010 WorldNetDaily column:

The Congressional Black Caucus is a racially segregated organization. These racists have repeatedly turned down membership applications from members of Congress who were born with insufficiently dark skin shade. [WND, 8/31/10]

Has Been A Dedicated Birther. Kinsolving, a “White House correspondent” for the far-right website WorldNetDaily, repeatedly pestered former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs about President Obama's “real” birth certificate, long after it was posted on the Internet. When Gibbs asked Kinsolving last year whether Kinsolving believes the president was born in the United States, Kinsolving replied, “I don't know.” [Politico, 6/10/10]

Said Repealing DADT Will Put “Buggers Into The Barracks.” In response to the permanent injunction against DADT, Kinsolving wrote at WND:

If [repealing DADT] is ever done to our armed forces there will be a far greater drop in enlistments by service members who, with their families, are opposed to sodomy acceptance. The recruitment of self-announced homosexuals would also cause a major medical problem given the sexual orientation's high rates of AIDS and syphilis. In two weeks from today every member of the House and one-third of the Senate is either up for re-election or has retired. Does anyone believe that this California federal judge's attempt to force the acceptance of openly announced buggers into the barracks will not result in an even greater number of votes against the majority of Democrats who support this very dangerous and disease-ridden judicial decision? [WND, 10/19/10]

JEFF KATZ

Suggested Awarding Sombrero Stickers & Free Taco Bell As A Reward For Murdering Immigrants. Katz once said on the air that motorists near the Mexican border should try to run over Mexican immigrants. Katz suggested that drivers be awarded a "Sombrero sticker" for every immigrant they hit. For every 10 stickers earned, Katz said, the driver should receive a free meal at Taco Bell. The 1996 remarks - which Katz called a station-approved joke - caused a furor in Sacramento, California, where Katz worked for KTSE-AM. Sacramento Mayor Joe Serna called the remarks a hate crime and demanded that Katz be fired. KTSE subsequently terminated his employment. [SFGate.com, 9/13/96]

Has An Anti-Muslim Record. In March 2007 on his Charlotte, NC show, Katz said he has “been looking for the reasonable, moderate, sensible voice of Islam that says stop killing in our name” and was accused of sarcastically referring to Islam as the religion of peace; “distort[ing] passages in the Koran” and calling Muslims who disagree with him apologists for terrorists.'" Additionally, he interviewed The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion author and Jihad Watch founder Robert Spencer and refused to host a Muslim to respond to accusations. The Islamic Center of Charlotte called for a boycott of the WBT-AM advertisers in response; Katz was fired by WBT-AM in December 2008. [TheRadioEqualizer, 3/10/07]

Has Been Accused Of Amplifying Racial Tensions. Katz, a former public housing cop and professional wrestling announcer, has a long history of amplifying racial tensions in the communities where he operates. In 1993, for example, a minority business group in Hartford, Connecticut threatened to boycott WPOP-AM, where Katz hosted an afternoon talk show the group called fascist, racist and homophobic. The Hartford Courant reported:

Dana J. Wright, the member of the local Afro-American Alliance ... wrote that [Jeff Katz's] show 'feeds on and fuels the ever-present tension that exists between blacks and whites, urban and suburban, the poor and the middle class. It undoes much of the work that Hartford residents, businesses and community groups have done to promote the virtues of a culturally and ethnically diverse city to its suburban population." For example, Katz said that in the Los Angeles incident, [Rodney] King had not followed the lawful direction of these officers and, according to the police reports, had lunged repeatedly at a number of the officers, and in many places the officers would have been justified in shooting him, absolutely. [The Hartford Courant, 1/22/93]

ROB SCHILLING

Said Law That Could Lead To Racial Profiling Is “Groundbreaking.” On his show's blog, Schilling described a law that critics said could lead to racial profiling of Hispanics as “groundbreaking illegal immigration reform” and cheered the architect of that law, Corey Stewart, when he announced his candidacy for Virginia lieutenant governor. [SchillingShow.com, 1/31/12]

PHIL VALENTINE

His Immigration Policy: “Shoot Him!” On April 27, 2006, Valentine held a Demagnetize America Illegal Immigration Town Hall Meeting in Franklin, Tennessee. More than 1,000 people attended. Jim Gilchrist, leader of the anti-immigrant vigilante group Minuteman Project, was advertised as the headliner but did not appear. Also sharing the stage with Valentine were TN State Senator Bill Ketron (R-13), State Representative Tom DuBois (R-64), and State Representative Glen Casada (R-63).

During the town hall meeting, Valentine conducted a question-and-answer session with Susan Tully, the National Field Director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

At one point, Tully described how Border Patrol agents repeatedly apprehend the same Latino immigrants, returning them to Mexico each time only to later detain the same individual. Tully claimed that a Border Patrol agent in Laredo, Texas, told her that this process had been repeated as many as seven times.

Tully then said she asked the agent, “What do you do on the eighth time?”

Valentine interjected: “Shoot him!”

Tully laughed, and the crowd cheered.

The exchange was broadcast live on 99.7 WTN. [Media Matters, 4/5/11]

Pushed Diseased Immigrants Myth.Valentine has repeatedly propagated the racist myth that Latino immigrants are reintroducing diseases such as leprosy and Chagas disease to America. As one flier promoting a Valentine anti-immigration event in June 2006 put it, “Diseases once thought eradicated are returning with a vengeance due to illegal immigration.”[Media Matters, 4/5/11]

Pushed “English-First” Intiative.Valentine was a high-profile supporter of the 2008 “English-First” ballot measure in Nashville that was ultimately defeated by voters. The measure was in fact English-only, not English-First. It would have prohibited city government workers from communicating in any language other than English and eliminated all translation services for non-English speaking residents. The drive for the ballot measure was funded almost entirely by ProEnglish, one of several anti-immigration groups founded by Dr. John Tanton, the founder of FAIR, who has longstanding ties to white nationalists and leading race scientists. [Media Matters, 4/5/11]

Links To An "Ebonics Translator" On His Website. Valentine's website links to an “Ebonics translator” that invites users to “talk like a pimp.” Additionally, while addressing racism and affirmative action in a May 10, 2009 op-ed column in The Tennessean, Valentine wrote: “I believe some people are taught to be victims. You've met the kind. They're constantly looking to be offended. There are certain people who believe the world owes them something. These are the folks obsessed with reparations and who believe that preferential treatment simply because of your skin color is somehow fair.” [PhilValentine.com, accessed 5/8/12]

Lent Credence To Oklahoma City Bombing Conspiracy Theory.Valentine has lent credence to the outlandish conspiracy theory that the FBI orchestrated the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City. He writes that the FBI worked in conjunction with Islamic terrorists including Jose Padilla, the U.S. citizen arrested in 2002 for conspiring with foreign Islamic terrorists in a “dirty bomb plot.” (Padilla was convicted in 2007.) [PhilValentine.com, 2/23/07]

CHARLES BUTLER

English Should Be The Official Language. In a section on his website devoted to immigration:

When the issue of Illegal Immigration is discussed it is guised to reflect that after 200 plus a years America's immigration policies are flawed. Nothing could be further from the truth. Both parties are pandering for the perceived new voters. We need to enforce our current immigration laws and policies.

Let me state up front that I do not believe in discriminating against gender, race, or class of persons regardless of citizenship. I do believe that everyone in the country should obey our laws and respect our culture. That means learning English, and seeking to assimilate in our way of life.

In the future I will focus on many issues and stories related to illegal immigration.

There should be a National law (like France implemented in 1992) passed to officially establish english as the language of the land.

Jobs that are funded with public dollars, taxpayer money should not have a bi-lingual requirement, the exception should be language courses, not operation or administrative positions.

In 1995, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan as Chairman of the House Committee on Immigration concluded that deportation has to be a part of an effective immigration policy. [Charles-Butler.com, accessed 5/8/12]