Thread: Anti-Illegal Immigration Coalition Plans Weekend of Protests Throughout U.S.

Anti-Illegal Immigration Coalition Plans Weekend of Protests Throughout U.S.

BY SYLVAN LANE

Three staunchly conservative political groups are planning more than 300 protests against President Barack Obama's handling of immigrants, as the crisis at the United States border wears on. The events are scheduled to take place around the country Friday and Saturday.

The American Legal Immigration Political Action Committee (ALIPAC),Overpasses for America and Make Them Listenarecoordinating an effort among other Tea Party-associated political groups, which fiercely oppose the federal government's housing of undocumented immigrants arriving into the country and what they consider a deliberate lack of enforcement of current immigration law.

The protests will take place at Mexican embassies, state capitol buildings, Walmarts, middle schools and overpasses across the country. Gheen expects some to be bigger than others, without giving an estimate of how many people will attend. Around 3,600 people have RSVP'd that they'll attend on a Facebook event page set up for the protests.

SEE ALSO: How the U.S. Border Became a Humanitarian Crisis

Tens of thousands of children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have been fleeing home and illegally crossing into the United States in drastically increasing numbers. Up to 90,000 children and teenagers from these countries alone may come to the United States by the end of 2014, according to the Los Angeles Times.

While many come to the U.S. to escape violence and poverty in their home countries, others are immigrating with hopes of immediate citizenship based on changes in immigration policy, which Vice President Joe Biden called "mispercetions." And smugglers are taking advantage of these misinterpretations for profit.

As of Friday morning, there are 320 protests planned for Friday, July 18, and Saturday, July 19, with at least one in every state except Vermont.
"Our goal is to unify Americans of every race, political party, and walk of life against this Obama-inspired invasion of our American homeland," Paul [William] Gheen, president of the South Carolina-based ALIPAC, told Mashable.

ALIPAC, which has been active since 2004, asked members in June to send used pairs of underwear to Obama and House Majority Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, after the Department of Homeland Security requested 42,000 pairsfor the undocumented immigrants then detained at the border. The Southern Policy Law Center lists ALIPAC as ahate group.

Overpasses for America started last summer as Overpasses for Obama's Impeachment. As the name suggests, the group held protests on overpasses calling for the president's removal from office. In August, two men were arrested in Missouri for refusing to move their protest even though police officers told them they were blocking traffic. The group now has over 80,000 likes on Facebook with state and local chapters across the country. Members still campaign for Obama's impeachment.

Make Them Listen was founded in October 2013 to "[assist] conservatives by providing information and guidance to effect change through correspondence with our elected officials," according to its Facebook page, and has a much smaller following. While it claims MakeThemListen.org as its website, the webpage is currently under construction and its online activity is restrained to a Facebook page with 1,264 likes.

Gheen, who said he's worked as a consultant for 46 political campaigns, toldMashable he believes President Barack Obama and his administration are not enforcing immigration laws in order to establish a dependable block of Democratic voters that will help them "overthrow the republic."

"They make more money this way, they have more control of the government this way — there's a constellation of power groups working to the support the invasion of illegal immigration," said Gheen.

SEE ALSO: The Evangelical Crusade Against Immigration

Protesters in Iowa are schedule to attend a rally held in honor of a Louise Sollowin, a 93-year-old woman who died after being raped and beaten by an undocumented immigrant.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, will speak at the event, a spokeswoman for the congressman told Mashable. King is a staunch opponent of immigration reform beyond complete border security.
While the Obama administration is one major focus of the protests, the effort is also meant to encourage Republicans to vote out congressmen and senators who support immigration reform in the 2014 midterm election. Ghee named Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who voted for the immigration reform bill that passed the Senate last summer.
Overpasses for America founder James Neighbors wrote in a press release: "We need to protest and elect new members of Congress who will stop Obama's abuses of power and this invasion. Obama is making it clear that he cares more about illegal immigrants than the American citizens of all races who elected him."

Anti-immigration protests in Murrieta, California, and Oracle, Arizona, have been criticized by some for being unnecessarily cruel for targeting buses of scared women and children on their way to housing facilities.
However, Gheen told Mashable the upcoming protests are meant to "celebrate the victories" in these cities, and continue raising awareness of what he considers and existential threat to the United States.
"Now that Obama has helped the first wave of immigrants penetrate America's defense and disburse among the country," he said, "it's very important we pay attention to this matter."

Update:
Several protests against President Barack Obama's handling of the immigration surge to the American border are being met with significant, sometimes stronger counter demonstrations.
In Philadelphia, anti-illegal immigration protesters held a rally outside of the Mexican consulate, adjacent to Independence Hall. There, they were outnumbered four to one by pro-immigrant rights groups in a counter-demonstration, according to CBS Philly.

http://mashable.com/2014/07/18/anti-...tion-protests/

Pictures and video of events today at link to story.