The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) will hold its annual “Hold Their Feet To The Fire” event on April 17 and 18 in an effort to derail immigration reform and stop the passage of a recently-introduced comprehensive immigration reform bill.
The event -- which will host more than 60 talk radio hosts -- will allow the hosts to broadcast live and urge listeners to push lawmakers to oppose immigration reform.
Last year's event played host to many anti-immigrant radio commentators, including several who have announced that they will attend again this year. These hosts have used their platforms to attack immigrants for bringing diseases to America, committing a disproportionate amount of crime, and illegally voting in U.S. elections, and one host even called for the hanging of undocumented immigrants who commit crimes in the U.S. and sending their bodies back to their home countries:
Lars Larson
- Called undocumented immigrants "illegal aliens, or as we call them, undocumented Democrats"
- Falsely claimed undocumented immigrants commit "a larger proportionate share" of crimes
- Was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League for comparing an assault weapon registry to Nazi Germany
- Has pushed anti-immigrant falsehoods as a regular guest on Fox News
Joyce Kaufman
- Said that if an undocumented immigrant commits a crime here, “we should hang [them] and send [their] body back to where [they] came from”
- Claimed that immigrants "bring disease," a debunked falsehood often repeated by anti-immigrant activists
Roger Hedgecock
- Claimed that voter rolls are “stuffed with illegal aliens, felons, and dead people”
- Said that without "illegal alien votes" Democrats can't be reelected
- Called President Obama an "Affirmative-Action hire"
Tom Marr
- Attacked Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for his appointment of a Muslim judge and said Christie was “pro-illegal alien”
Dave Elswick
- Went to a minutemen border outpost in 2008 to promote the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a vigilante border patrol group which conducted armed border patrols
Howie Carr
- Said it would take a politician's child getting killed by a "drunken illegal alien" before politicians “finally figure out that there's a mighty big problem here”
- Claimed undocumented immigrants are only here “to vote for the Democrats that Americans won't vote for anymore”
These hosts' comments are not surprising given that they are attending an event sponsored by FAIR. The group has a long history of anti-immigrant remarks and has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group's founder and president Dan Stein, who recently published an error-ridden piece for Politico urging Republicans to “walk away” from a deal on comprehensive immigration reform legislation, has known ties to the nativist leader John Tanton and has received money from white supremacist groups.