Cross-Posted at Jack and Jill Politics and Daily Kos:
Monday night I listened in on a organizing call for leaders of NumbersUSA, the “MoveOn” of the anti-immigrant lobby. The purpose of the call was to figure out how to throw a wrench in the upcoming grassroots mobilization (taking place in DC on March 21st) for real immigration reform. Already, tens of thousands of people have signed up to march to D.C. to demand economic justice for all Americans and an end to our nation’s abysmal immigration crisis— so naturally the anti-immigrant folks are freaking out.
Even still, some of the speakers on this call really took things to a new level. Here’s what went down.
Meagan Ortiz from VivirLatino, who also listened in, writes:
One particular participant on the call wanted to raise the issue of women, specifically how Mexican women were the new “welfare queens” with their “anchor babies”, taking an old stereotype waged against African-American women in the age of Reagan and revamping it to use against Latina women. This caller was not dismissed but rather praised for his message and told to use the word “dependents” instead of “babies” or “children” because that word was emotional for “them”, meaning Latinos and other immigrants. “We have children, they have dependents”, another caller guided.
