‘Fear-mongering’ Video From 'Hate Group' Compares Immigration To Terrorism

A child runs to the outstretched arms of her parents, laughing as she enjoys a day at a serene, small-town American beach. The sun is shining. Waves are lapping peacefully on the shoreline.

And that’s when the terrorists arrive.

That’s the narrative of a new advertisement from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a non-profit, “non-partisan organization of concerned individuals” that claims to have more than 500,000 “diverse members and supporters" and which is classified as an anti-immigrant "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

• See related article: The Number of Hate Groups in DC May Surprise You

FAIR's latest 30-second video doesn't use dialogue, offering only a medley of violent videos from terrorist attacks with a brief tagline at the end… “Mass Immigration, Too Dangerous For America.”

Watch the ad below.

FAIR issued a statement on Wednesday explaining the purpose of the video, which has garnered tens of thousands of views on Facebook since being posted.

“Current immigration levels exceed our capacity to carry out thorough background checks on the people we admit,” the group wrote. “As an example, investigators missed numerous red flags as they looked into the background of Tafsheen Malik, one of the terrorists who perpetrated the massacre in San Bernardino last December. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world are arriving at our borders, entering specious claims for political asylum, and being released into our country pending a hearing that is often years in the future.”

FAIR President Dan Stein opined that “unchecked” immigration can create a risk of terrorism.

“People are coming to the United States from countries where sophisticated international terrorist organizations operate openly, while we’re dramatically reducing our screening process from nearly two years to three months,” Stein charged. “This video highlights the dangers Americans face when we don’t have a leader who enforces immigration policy.”

• See related article: U.S. Supreme Court Declines To Rehear Obama Immigration Plan
• See related article: Donald Trump's New Immigration Plan: 'Same Thing' as Obama

‘FEAR AND HALF-TRUTHS’

American Immigration Council Communications Director Wendy Feliz told Patch that the anti-immigrant movement led by groups like FAIR "trade in fear-mongering, half-truths and mischaracterizations.”

“This current effort is simply proof that they continue to be out of touch with good, everyday Americans who believe in fair and practical solutions on immigration,” Feliz said. “We’re a nation that has always found ways to welcome immigrants and harness their talents towards a brighter future and we always will be.”

Avideh Moussavian, policy attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, issued the following statement to Patch:

"Only a year ago, the world gasped in horror at the image of Aylan Kurdi, a three-year-old Syrian boy whose body had washed up on a Turkish beach as he attempted to seek refuge in Europe from his war-torn homeland. To see FAIR’s fear-mongering ad start with a starkly different image at a beach — that of a family enjoying a carefree moment — and then suggest that immigrants and refugees represent a threat to our security is a moral outrage and an affront to the desperate attempts of refugees like Aylan to seek safe haven."

Moussavian continued:

"If we want a truly stronger nation, rather than demonize immigrants and refugees and painting them as dangerous, we should live up to our ideals and welcome, honor and protect those who have fled mass atrocities as well as those who have come to contribute to the vibrancy of America.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center alleges that "FAIR leaders have ties to white supremacist groups and eugenicists" and have had previous advertisements rejected because of racist content.

"FAIR’s founder, John Tanton, has expressed his wish that America remain a majority-white population, a goal to be achieved, presumably, by limiting the number of nonwhites who enter the country," the SPLC writes on its website.

FAIR's response to the SPLC designation as a "hate group" can be seen here.

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Photo: Federation for American Immigration Reform, YouTube

Send feedback to eric.kiefer@patch.com