The Subway Canaries

Several years ago John Tanton issued a memo to FAIR  outlining his multi-year, long term plans for immigration. 

Here are some excerpts published by the SPLC (I know it is liberal but they are doing yoeman’s work on this stuff.)

1. “Lobbying. John is correct in saying that we should try to achieve incremental changes through . . . we should abandon the effort to secure employer sanctions if Simpson-Rodino fails. The notion of introducing legislation through other Committees is sound, but in order to do so we will need an expansion in our lobbying staff and activities, not merely a reallocation of existing resources.
2. Changes in Agency Rules, Regulations and Practices, and the Courts: IRLI [Immigration Reform Law Institute]
   
   We have already taken steps in this direction by creating a Litigation Program. At the last meeting the Board approved the creation of IRLI, the Immigration Reform Law Institute, which we hope can expand our fund-
3. Raising market. The Litigation Program has already won successes: a dramatic reversal of an INS policy not to prosecute employers, and more recently a decision by the State of Texas not to give in to MALDEF’s demand that illegal aliens should receive unemployment compensation.

   To effectively bring about changes in Agency policy we will need to expand IRLI into a major, independent organization, one which can sue (on behalf of FAIR) when needed, pressure the agencies to change their policies, and resist proposed rule changes that come from the enemies of immigration control.

4. Grass Roots: We have taken steps within the past year to increase Field activities. We now have a more senior, energetic person running the program in Marty Winans. The “Targeted Congressional District Program” approved by the Board at the last meeting is providing us with a test of how to increase membership in key districts. And the establishment of a field office in Texas is giving us greater visibility in that state.

   John’s memo implies an expansion of these efforts. One idea which came out of the staff responses to John was the creation of regional specialists on the Washington staff, i.e. staff members working out of our office here whose job it is to develop ties with local media and local members in the key six states of major migration: Texas, California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Illinois.

   John’s memo also implies that we should look for local issues which can serve as a catalyst for grass roots development. Our anti-Sanctuary campaign in Austin is an example. We not only defeated the Sanctuary resolution there, but also created a large committee of local activists who are continuing efforts in education and lobbying for FAIR’s broader agenda. Another example is that we have opposed a race track near the Border in San Diego that will disrupt the Border Patrol’s activities.

   One additional way to create higher visibility is to conduct regional or national meetings and workshops. We have discussed annual meetings of FAIR members. Why not have three or four “annual meetings” in the areas of our major membership groups?

   Again: more grass roots organizing will increase our effective membership and our perceived political power. And it will take more money and staff, money which has either to be raised or reallocated.

5. Research and Publications: I said earlier that information is the source of our power. To expand our fund-raising market, we created the Center for Immigration Studies last year. We need to get CIS fully funded and entrenched as a major Washington think-tank, one that can venture into issues which FAIR is not yet ready to raise.

   This does not imply a retrenchment in FAIR’s information gathering and dissemination, however. Indeed, Patrick makes a strong case that we should expand these efforts, especially to get better information on the effects of immigration on key states and Congressional Districts, and to better synthesize the information so that it will be more useful to journalists.

6. Media: Typical reaction from the staff to the suggestion that we cut back here: “Sacrilege.” Media is a major conduit to the public, decision-makers, and our own members. Effective media coverage strengthens our other programs. For example, FAIR members see us and want to give; members of Congress and their staffs [sic] great media consumers. The only change I can contemplate is better targeting of our media efforts.
7. Direct Mail: Currently we are holding our own, generating enough new contributors to offset those who stop giving, but not much more.

   John’s memo suggests that we do more to build membership in crucial Districts, but there is no suggestion that we try to become a truly mass organization of 100,000 to 200,000 members by investing more in direct mail. The staff is divided on this point, which could be revisited by the board.

8. Fund Raising: To raise more money, we need to involve more of our closest friends. This means creating some sort of “cadres” of people, whether via Committees or some other designation, who will feel the sense of ownership required to put themselves on the line to raise funds for FAIR.
9. Administration: I do not see major implications here. It “ain’t broke.”
10. Border Control: We all hoped at the beginning that Sanctions alone would be enough. I have reluctantly concluded that we will have to do much more at the Border itself.

    What we need to do is develop a specific project to define what will be needed in each local stretch of Border, and build a specific constituency for each change. The old adage that “all Politics is local” applies here. We will never bring about needed fences, trenches, and manpower in Chula Vista, El Paso, and Brownsville without a meaningful plan and a local constituency. Each area is different, but determined local opposition will doom any plan developed in Washington, D.C.

    We need a Border Security Project which would be an integral part of FAIR, but it will never really succeed unless it has a “Champion” on our own staff and strong mandate from the Board. If we do not take the lead on better border control, somebody else will!

11. Going after the opposition One suggestion which has repeatedly arisen from within the staff is that we take a tougher line versus our principal adversaries. MALDEF is pursuing a line of litigation clearly designed to block immigration control and expand the rights of illegal aliens, yet they are supported by a “Who’sWho” of American foundations and corporations. We could do research which would document what MALDEF is up to and try to get them “defunded,” an act which would serve notice that we are “taking the gloves off.”

    Second, we could pursue employers. We could publicize well known employers of illegal aliens, or simply issue lists of INS arrest records, or we could put information on apprehended illegals and their employers into a rudimentary computor [sic] program in order to give the information to the IRS or the state tax collectors.

    Third, we could try to get an agreement from major U.S. corporations to have a policy of not hiring aliens out of immigration status. If we could threaten a big one–like Levi Strauss–with a nationwide consumer boycott, and force them to enter into an agreement, it might generate nationwide publicity.

    These are three examples of a new tactic of “taking the gloves off’ to put our opponents on the defensive and give our members and supporters fresh enthusiasm. Is it time for such tactics of confrontation?”