Couple weeks ago, Frederick County, Maryland, Sheriff Chuck Jenkins announced he was going on a “border tour” to get a “first hand look” at the refugees from Central America - many of them unaccompanied children - who have been crossing from Mexico into the US by the thousands in recent weeks.
Now the gullible sheriff is back home in Maryland, offering interviews and soon, we surmise, he will be heading to D.C to share around his new knowledge.
According to the Associated Press, Sheriff Jenkins’ “fact finding mission” was being sponsored by a group known for fact-free screeds against immigrants: the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
Too bad Sheriff Jenkins does not pick his sponsors better than this.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, FAIR was founded by John Tanton, a prominent figure in our contemporary nativist, i.e., Tea Party movement.
John Tanton carries a lot of weight with the Tea Party crowd and for good reason. He has complained long and loud about a supposed “Latin Onslaught” heading into the United States. In his own crude words, Tanton frets about the Hispanic birth rate in the US, which compares unfavorably, Tanton says, to the birth rate of White Americans.
According to John Tanton, here’s the problem:
“those with their pants up are going to get caught by those with their pants down!”
Apart from the blatant racism espoused by its founder John Tanton, the Southern Poverty Law Center reports that FAIR:
“has long been marked by anti-Latino and anti-Catholic attitudes”
“has mixed this bigotry with a fondness for eugenics, the idea of breeding better humans”
“has accepted $1.2 million from an infamous, racist eugenics foundation” (That would be the Pioneer Fund, which according to the New York Times, has promoted theories affirming the genetic superiority of whites.”) (Sourced below.)The Southern Poverty Law Center adds that FAIR:
“has employed officials in key positions who are also members of white supremacist groups.”
“has promoted racist conspiracy theories about Mexico's secret designs on the American Southwest”
Now that he’s back home, Sheriff Chuck Jenkins of Frederick County, MD needs to answer a couple questions:
Sheriff Jenkins, are you in agreement with the FAIR nonsense about immigrants or did you merely want free airfare to the Rio Grande?
Sheriff Jenkins, did you take vacation days for your FAIR junket to Texas or did you bill all this as official, salary-based anti-immigrant “fact finding” to the taxpayers of Frederick County?
SOURCES:
