Activist arrested in Lake Worth City Hall confronting newly elected racist commissioner : Miami IMC

Lake Worth, FL—Today, November 6th, 2009, Scott Maxwell’s inauguration in
Lake Worth City Hall was interrupted by immigrant activist, Ana
Rodriguez. Rodriguez was charged with ‘Disruption” by the Palm Beach
County Sheriff and released following the event.

Rodriguez stepped between Maxwell and the judge during his
swearing-in, saying “Mr. Maxwell, us immigrants are not bacteria, we
are human being and deserve respect and dignity like everybody else…
You better learn some tolerance if you’re going to work for Lake
Worth, because this is a diverse, immigrant city.”

Commissioner Scott Maxwell was exposed during his campaign as having
close affiliations with multiple national hate groups, including the
misleading organization titled Federation for American Immigration
Reform (FAIR). Maxwell hosted a radio show, called Connecting the Dots
on Illegal Immigration which called FAIR a “wonderful organization”
and encouraged people to seek guidance from them. His radio also
featured prominent anti-immigrant voices and call-ins from members of
the Minutemen, a right-wing border militia group.

He also included links for FAIR and other documented hate groups on
his website BorderControlNow.com, which has now been taken down.

Links to Scott Maxwell’s website and radio show can be found at:
whoisscottmaxwell.blogspot.com

For further information on FAIR, check out the recent Southern Poverty
Law Center Report:

Nation's Most Prominent Anti-Immigration Group has History of Hate, Extremism

“The country's leading anti-immigration organization — whose leaders
have testified repeatedly before Congress and are frequently quoted in
the media — has ties to known racists and a long track record of
bigotry, according to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center
(SPLC).

The group, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR):
-is the creation of a man who operates a racist publishing company and
has compared immigrants to "bacteria;"

-has employed members of white supremacist groups in key positions;

-has promoted racist conspiracy theories; and

-has accepted more than $1 million from the Pioneer Fund, a racist
foundation devoted to eugenics and to proving a connection between
race and IQ.

FAIR and its ties to white supremacy are examined in the latest issue
of the SPLC's quarterly Intelligence Report.

The SPLC today added FAIR to its list of hate groups operating in the
United States.
"FAIR's position on immigration is rooted more in its anti-Latino and
anti-Catholic beliefs than in policy concerns," said Mark Potok, the
director of the SPLC's project that monitors hate group activity.
"Remarkably, it has still managed to infiltrate the mainstream and
shape the immigration debate in this country."

FAIR helped defeat federal immigration reform earlier this year and
has played a key role in fueling the fierce, anti-immigrant backlash
in the United States. It was founded in 1979 by John Tanton, a man who
has compared immigrants to bacteria and warned that high birthrates
will allow Latinos to take over America. Still a member of FAIR's
board, Tanton also operates The Social Contract Press, listed as a
hate group for many years by the SPLC because of its anti-Latino and
white supremacist writings.

"The sad fact is that attempts to reform our immigration system are
being sabotaged by organizations fueled by hate," Henry Fernandez, a
senior fellow and expert on immigration at the Center for American
Progress, told the Intelligence Report.

The SPLC has documented a 40 percent increase in the number of hate
groups since 2000, an increase that SPLC analysts attribute to the
anti-immigrant fervor that is sweeping the country. The FBI recently
released statistics showing a 35 percent rise in hate crimes against
Latinos since 2003. A sampling of some of the most egregious acts of
violence against Latinos over the past three years is included in the
new issue of the SPLC's Intelligence Report.

For remainder of SPLC Report:
http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?aid=295