Washblog

The same report describes a similar situation in Utah, where the national organization US English donated $250,000 to pay signature gatherers.  It must be noted as well that both FAIR and US English were established and are currently funded by one man, John Tanton.  

The politics of the anti-immigrant movement is truly national in scope, and we in Washington have to be prepared for self-interested parties to use Bob Baker's initiative to further their nativist agendas, not to mention their own political careers.  I wouldn't be surprised if Tom Tancredo swings by (as he did on behalf of Prop 200); he is, after all, running for president on an ardenlty anti-immigrant platform.  And there are whisperings among Washington's Minutemen that top Minutemen will be visiting the state soon (though this probably has more to do with plans for a muster sometime this spring).

Regardless of their purpose in doing so, though, one thing remains clear: a victory for Protect Washington Now is not a victory for Washington and the people, documented or not, who live here.  It is spit in the eye of every young child without healthcare, every teenager further ostracized from their peers, and every parent who follows the money and jobs to Washington, hoping only to make a better life for their families.  I-946 was a punitive, enforcement-only measure that did nothing to address the real immigration problems our country, and our state, faces, and it was roundly rejected as such.  We must do it again. cross-posted at www.notinmycounty.org