Sarah Wasko / Media Matters

CNN contributor Ed Martin, who has been appearing on the network to argue against “amnesty for illegals,” previously co-authored a book suggesting that only immigrants from European countries could have American “values” and arguing that accepting immigrants “from Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East” helps tear “apart our nation’s heritage and social fabric.”

Martin joined CNN in September despite having previously called the network “fake news” and “state-run media” and claimed that it hasn’t “been credible for a long time.” He joins a stable of at least a dozen other pro-Trump CNN commentators who often provide theatrics instead of informative segments on the cable network.

Martin has used his new on-air position to defend Trump (as expected) but also to attack undocumented immigrants with the derogatory term “illegals” and urge the Republican Party to stand against “illegal immigration amnesty.”

He appeared on the October 25 edition of Anderson Cooper 360 and praised the Republican Party for “no longer [being] for illegal immigration amnesty. That's what [Sen. Jeff] Flake [(R-AZ)] wants. That's what he said in his speech. He said, ‘I hope we get back to a party that gives amnesty to illegals and has trade deals.’ That's not the Republican Party.” During that segment he also said it would be “great” if Arizona elected Joe Arpaio to be its next senator; Arpaio is a racist former sheriff who was pardoned by President Trump after he used his office to target and discriminate against Hispanics.

During another segment on Cooper’s program that night, Martin said: “The Republican Party is now Trump's party. It's not for international trade deals where we get cheated. It's not for illegal immigration amnesty. It's changed.”

Martin also appeared on Cooper’s program on October 17 and said of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ): “I mean requisite comment, war hero and sorry he's sick. But then McCain is why the Republican Party is -- was fading until Trump. His brand of the interventionist, grow the amnesty for illegals, trade deals, everything.”

Martin co-authored the 2016 book The Conservative Case for Trump, which aimed to persuade “well-meaning conservatives” that the then-Republican candidate “is worthy of every conservative’s vote.” The book was also written by anti-gay and anti-feminist writer Phyllis Schlafly, who passed away the day before its release, and conservative writer Brett Decker.

The book’s first chapter, “Immigration Invasion,” suggests that the United States should accept immigrants only from European countries. The authors wrote that the “effort to transform America started with Ted Kennedy whose 1965 Immigration Act shifted immigration away from European countries in favor of immigrants from Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In doing so, he helped move immigration away from countries that shared -- actually created -- America’s Western values. Taking their place were immigrants who would help make a more ‘multicultural’ America that liberals could play to their advantage.”

“Immigration that is in America’s national interest is one thing. Immigration that floods our welfare rolls and prisons, and that tears apart our nation’s heritage and social fabric is something else,” they added.

The authors also claimed that the current immigrants to the country are ungrateful and pawns of the Democratic Party:

In the past, immigrants came to America and were grateful for the opportunities they found here, and they accepted American history as a great, inspiring story of patriots and heroes. Now, thanks to the Left, they often view American history as a racist story of “white privilege” and oppression that only big government can undo, where they are entitled to “free” government programs, and in which lawlessness can be justified against allegedly “racist” Republicans. The rioters at Trump rallies who burn American flags, wave foreign ones, and beat up Trump supporters is a vision of what America could become, all with the blessing of the Democratic Party that sees immigration, and the political correctness that prohibits us from talking honestly about immigration, as a way to transform America in the leftist direction that it wants. For decades, the American people have wanted our government to address the crisis of illegal immigration; and yet our government hasn’t, except to make matters worse by not enforcing our existing immigration laws, winking at “sanctuary” cities, expanding illegal immigrants’ access to social services, and floating proposals for “amnesty” that would grant illegal immigrants citizenship.

They wrote additionally about the country’s demographics: “Shouldn’t we have some say over our demographic future, of what America is and will become? Shouldn’t we have an immigration policy that serves America’s national interests? In Europe we have seen the danger of large unassimilated Islamic communities making historic changes in countries and their future; yet we seem blind to similar changes happening here.”

The book also cited the white nationalist website VDare in its section about “Anchor babies on welfare." The authors wrote that “a federal case in Texas could provide a means to stop the practice of extending automatic U.S. citizenship to children born to illegal aliens. The Texas case includes a sworn affidavit from Mexico’s consul general for Texas that openly admits that Mexico’s official policy is to encourage its poor people to migrate here illegally in order to gain access to our generous welfare system.” The citation for that paragraph is “Allan Wall, ‘Mexico Files Amicus Brief in Texas Anchor Baby Case,’ VDARE, August 27, 2015.” CNN has itself correctly noted that VDare is a “white nationalist site.”  

Martin did not respond to a request for comment about his book and whether he stood by his citation of VDare.

Martin has also previously pushed smears against minorities. He spoke at a 2016 rally and said: “You're not racist if you don't like Mexicans. They're from a nation. If you don't think Muslims are vetted enough, because they blow things up, that's not racist.”

While serving as then-Gov. Matt Blunt’s (R-MO) scandal-plagued chief of staff in 2008, Martin reportedly said that “every frigging developer can figure out who is legal, and when he says there's a bunch of Mexicans out there, I guess some of them are probably not legal."