Text-Based Assignment #2

Frames allow organizers and potential participants to achieve a common definition of a social problem and a common prescription for solving it (G&J, 52). In order for a movement to successfully attract people to join and remain committed the movements issues be presented or “framed” so that they fit with the beliefs, feelings, and desires of potential recruits (G&J, 52). According to Goodwin and Jasper, “Such frames can be appealing stories, powerful cluster of symbols, slogans, catch words, or attributions of blame for social problems” (G&J, 52).

Collective identity as explained by Goodwin and Jasper, “Is another concept used to get at the mental worlds of participants that might help explain participation: in order to devote time and efforts to protest, people must usually feel part of a larger group they think they can help” (G&J, 52). The sense of belonging to a collective identity group will be so strong that it will overcome other aspects of the person's personal identity.

The anti-immigration movement claims to have one collective identity, which is the “Untied States Citizen”. The United States Citizen includes people of different ages, races, and class. For example, The AIC (Americans for Immigration Control) claim to have “more than a quarter of a million members - citizens of all races, creeds, and colors” (http://www.immigrationcontrol.com).This social movement used many frames to help understand and organize their movement. They use these frames to express their beliefs and offer ways of seeing social problems that resonate with the views and experiences of potential recruits. The AIC use slogans as “Take Action” and use presidents quotes to contribute to their protests such as “Our present immigration laws are unsatisfactory…all persons should be excluded who are below a certain level of economic fitness…" —Theodore Roosevelt. Operation Generation is a minuteman project seeks American patriots of all colors, that specifically targets people of ages 18 to 39 years old. They use catch words such as,” If you are tired of pressing “1” for English, then do something about it” (http://www.myspace.com/operation generation). Many anti-immigration protestors use attributions of blame for social problems such as immigrants stealing jobs from teens and use free social services.

The framing of the pro-life and the environmental movement use similar ways to transmit their ideas through marketing and resonating. Beliefs about abortion were seen “framed” as religious beliefs. The anti-abortion and pro-abortion sides renamed themselves as pro-life and pro-choice as the pro-life movement sought to position itself to reach out to people who did not necessarily share their religious understandings of the issue, and the pro-choice movement defensively repositioned itself to emphasize its defense of contraception and personal responsibility. The environmental movement use collective action frames to communicate their vision of the world. There framing is based on protecting wildlife, preserving the countryside, and our national heritage of buildings (Cotgrove & Duff, 72). They give a higher priority to the protection of the environment. The pro-life seeks protection to life. The anti-immigration movement seeks protection against illegal’s and terrorists.

The anti-immigration movement does not have a particular iconic face. However, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the nation's oldest and most influential immigration restriction group, was formed by John Tanton in 1979.
Those who are against the anti-immigration movement believe that those that lead this movement are white supremacist and racist people, which includes John Tanton.

The anti-immigration movement have strategies for recruiting people because currently anti-immigration activists are predominately white and are considered white supremacist and racist. According to Duke Falconer, “Minuteman leader Jim Gilchrist intentionally chose a black Los Angeles neighborhood in hopes of attracting more diversity to his cause” (http://www.epluribusmedia.org/features/2007/20070205_immigration_p1.html). Jim Gilchrist, the president and founder of the Minuteman Project completed a tour of several states where Congressional races were very close. Many candidates believe that Gilchrist endorsement will give them the edge to win their contested races. While on tour Gilchrist spoke on dozens of radio and television shows about the recent amnesty bill and the dangerous direction the U.S. Senate is taking. Gilchrist was featured on WOR radio station and was an honored guest on Fox and Friends television show. This is one leader of this social movement that used television and radio to recruit members to the Minutemen Project.

The strategies that anti-immigration leaders use to retain their members is by utilizing the internet. Leaders use the internet websites to promote protests and communicate by e-mail and radio archives. The use of video clips, “action alerts,” newsletters, journals, etc. and the constant updating of information on the website, keep members informed and committed.

The persons that have been primarily responsible for framing the anti-immigration movement have been upper middle class, middle-aged white males. For example, “John Tanton, founder of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, and Palmer Stacey as the founder for Americans for Immigration Control (AIC).

Persons that might join the anti-immigration movement would be typically similar to the leaders of this movement. The salient characteristics of the anti-immigration members are typically white, male, middle-class to upper middle-class, Christian, and republican. Such member as Tom Tancredo a Republican from Colorado.

The intersectionalities that the anti-immigration movement may present is the race differences between members. The race differences may have challenges posed by their intersectionalities because this movement is directed against brown skinned people (Mexicans). Although, there is a Hispanic anti-illegal immigration group called “You don’t speak for me” (http://dontspeakforme.org/news.html), there might be tensions between the Hispanic and non-Hispanic anti-immigration groups. According to the Article Anti-Immigration Groups and the Masks of False Diversity, “Mark Potok, who has tracked such groups for the Southern Poverty Law Center, these front organizations have become more common "because the (immigration control) movement is overwhelmingly white, there's a great desire to throw off the accusations of racism, and the easier way to do that is to have groups that are not white" (http://www.epluribusmedia.org/features/2007/20070205_immigration_p1.html).

Leaders of the anti-immigration movement want to portray their members as United States citizens of all different races. The reason for this is so they can diminish the beliefs of them being racist. According to the article Anti - Immigration Groups and the Masks of False Diversity, “The Vdare is a group founded by Vietnamese-Americans who felt that the current immigration laws favored Latinos and, more importantly, that any change that allowed for legalization of current undocumented immigrants further discriminates against Asians in general and Vietnamese in particular. With some other recently formed ethnically-oriented anti-immigration groups, the driving force behind the group is not in fact a Vietnamese-American, but rather a local Caucasian businessman” (http://www.epluribusmedia.org/features/2007/20070205_immigration_p1.html). Obviously, minority groups typically Mexicans are excluded from this group.

According to Duke Falconer, “Col. Al Rodriguez, the founder of the group, and the other members of the group forgot to mention as they made their rounds of media appearances including those on FOX and Lou Dobbs. This group of concerned citizens of Latino descent did not spring solely from minds of its participants, it was midwifed in its birth by the nation's preeminent anti-immigration cabal; the Tanton organization” (http://www.epluribusmedia.org/features/2007/20070205_immigration_p1.html). Falconer later describes how on the website on Col. Rodriguez's interviews with cable news there was no mention made about the Tanton organization's association with You Don't Speak For Me. Oddly, however, the contact information given on the press page of the website lists Ira Mehlman and Susan Wysoki as the primary contacts for the group (http://www.epluribusmedia.org/features/2007/20070205_immigration_p1.html).

It would be difficult to allow Hispanics to this particular anti-immigration group because this movement deals with issues in the U.S.-Mexico border. Many leaders such as Gilchrist have claimed that he refuses to work with white supremacists, but the SPLC report questioned his sincerity. The report interviewed a former volunteer in Gilchrist's campaign who said that "they were basically allowing skinheads and white nationalists to work the phone banks and do IT and distribute National Alliance fliers targeting non-whites”(http://www.splcenter.org/center/splcreport/article.jsp?aid=150). The only way to re-frame this social movement to be more inclusive is to change many of the members racist beliefs and to promote more diversity, without a doubt that would be extremely hard to do.