A organization calling itself Vietnamese for Fair Immigration was actually co-founded by white guy who espoused his views on Web sites and in letters to the editor while pretending to be Vietnamese, according to the Oakland Tribune.
Vietnamese for Fair Immigration’s primary complaint is that illegal immigrants — particularly Latino immigrants — are causing the long waits for their family members who come here from Vietnam. The group has placed a billboard ad in Berkeley that reads, “No Racist Amnesty.”
Tim Brummer apparently used the name Tim Binh as spokesman for the group. But his wife, who is Vietnamese, told the Tribune reporter that her husband was using a fake name. According to the story, some anti-immigration groups, which have overwhelmingly white memberships, are creating or backing other organizations to blunt accusations of racism. For example, Choose Black America, was created by the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
Seems like it’s going to be hard to have an honest debate about such an important issue if some of the players aren’t being honest about themselves.
This posting is also on Hyphen magazine’s blog.Â