SPLC's arrogant Heidi Beirich continues campaign against the rule of law

By Dave Gorak, 05/23/2011

In February, SPLC added the Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration (MCRI) to its list of nativist/extremist groups and has refused to remove us despite repeated requests to do so because we do not meet their criteria.

The most recent request, also ignored by Ms. Beirich, comes from MCRI co-founder and former Executive Director Joseph L. Daleiden:

5/3/2011

Heidi Beirich

Director of Research

Southern Poverty Law Center

Dear Dr. Beirich,

I was very disappointed to learn that you did not respond to the Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration’s (MCRI)’s request for information regarding any misleading or false information used by MCRI. As a co-founder of MCRI and the Director for many years I had been careful to have documentation to support anything I said or wrote on the subject of immigration. My successor as Director, Dave Gorak, has also been careful to publish only facts and the results of studies.

As long as you wish to keep files on MCRI you may wish to include the examples listed below regarding my past involvement in other social issues. I think you might find it especially interesting to learn that I was a longtime contributor to SPLC in its fight against the KKK and racism. In fact, as a demographer and economist, my motivation for starting MCRI was two-fold: the need to control population growth to protect the environment, and the need to control excessive immigration because it depressed wage rates and job opportunities for American workers, especially American Blacks. (You may wish to review the chapter on immigration in my book, The American Dream, Can It Survive the 21^st Century? or the study “Hispanics Gain Employment at Expense of Blacks in Midwest,” by Joseph L. Daleiden, with Frank Latin and Raj Pakka. This study shows that during a recession Blacks are first to be laid off and last to be hired during the recovery. (In general, employers prefer to hire Hispanics instead of Blacks. In large part this is because they can offer less pay and job benefits in recruiting immigrant labor, especially illegals.

My concern and that of MCRI has never been with Hispanics per se, it is only that they are the major source of legal and illegal immigration. Moreover there is more data on this group than any other ethnicity. Additionally, Hispanic immigrant groups (such as the National Council La Raza and the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) have used race as the basis of their organizations to press their demands. If the preponderance of immigrants were English, German, Japanese or whatever and organized themselves along those ethnic or racial lines I would have focused on those groups instead.

As we have made so clear in dozens of articles and speeches, MCRI has never opposed immigration in itself, only excessive numbers immigrants which clearly have indeed depressed wage rates and reduced job opportunities not only for native born Americans, but immigrants themselves. No one can move up the economic ladder if there is always someone new willing to work for less. When supply for labor is in excess of demand, wage rates will always be suppressed. The excess supply of labor (in addition to the loss of jobs to outsourcing to be sure) is a major reason that the hourly wage rate adjusted for inflation has not increased since 1975. Based upon the growth in total factor productivity between 1975 and 2008, if there was shortage of labor rather than a surplus, real hourly wages would have increased significantly. During the 30 year following WWII, when annual immigration was less than 20% of today’s rate and we were not hemorrhaging jobs to outsourcing, real hourly wages doubled.

Finally, it seems to me and many others involved in trying to protect American workers that the motivations of the SPLC are more than a little suspect. It would appear that after the fine job the SPLC did in defeating the KKK and such racist organizations, the SPLC appears to have looked for a new mission. Were contributions dropping? Looking for a new cause you decided to hitch your financial wagon to the fastest growing movement in the US – immigrant rights.

Although I’m sure that this campaign has been quite effective in raising contributions, I find it disgraceful and contemptuous. Having known several of the people and organizations you have irresponsibly attacked, I can only compare this to a blatant form of McCarthyism. You even use a favorite McCarthy tactic of guilt by association. Focusing on only one member of the past MCRI Board of Directors whose past analysis you disagree with, you not only label him a hate monger but apparently anyone who has had any association with him.

You should be ashamed.

I urge you to either provide us with evidence of false or misleading statements made by MCRI in which case we will be willingly correct any such errors or else cease to slander our organization.

Sincerely,

Joseph L. Daleiden

Some examples from my support and involvement for past and present social issues:

· Spoke before city council and participated in demonstrations in successful fight for open housing in Evanston, Illinois

· Was only white person in demonstration for jobs for blacks at Illinois Bell - much to chagrin of upper management

· Performed studies to promote locating operator services offices for Illinois Bell in or adjacent to black neighborhoods in Chicago and opposed the wishes of upper management to relocate office in white suburbs. Since I also determined Affirmative Goals for company I won the battle and saved/ created over 1000 jobs for Blacks.

· Held preliminary discussions with the Illinois Department of Corrections to investigate the possibility of locating operator services office in an Illinois Prison facility to provide jobs for inmate. I they performed well, would be hired by Illinois Bell upon release. Although the Director of the Department of Corrections enthusiastically supported the idea it was adamantly opposed by Illinois top management and I was fired. I was rehired when I threatened to take the story to a columnist for the Chicago Tribune but virtually blacklisted for the next 15 years.

· Was loaned as an economic consultant to the Carter Administration charged with developing and implementing and Executive Order requiring long term analysis of all major legislation and budget initiatives with regard to America’s long term health of urban and community areas. In this capacity, among other studies, I analyzed the long term impact of US immigration policies. The conclusion was inescapable: the flood of low-skilled labor coupled with the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs would depress wage rates for Americans especially blacks. Later studies over the next 30 years confirmed this conclusion.

· Served on Board of Directors of Trilogy a not for profit providing a sheltered workshop for persons suffering from Schizophrenia

· Active supporter in woman’s rights and abortion rights movements providing financial assistance for over 45 years.

· Supported farm workers efforts to gain union recognition by joining numerous marches and boycotts in addition to contributing significant amounts of money. Have certificate from Cesar Chavez recognizing my involvement. Advised Chavez through mutual friend that unless the UFW could halt illegal immigration they would be unable to increase inflation adjusted wages. Chavez supported this position at the time. The failure of the UFW to continue to support this position has resulted in inflation adjusted wages for farm workers being less today than when UFW was formed.

· Quit supporting SPLC when it appeared they switched from fighting racism to fighting any organization which opposed excessive immigration and used bogus claims of racism and hate against any organization which supported reducing immigration to sustainable levels.

· After retiring from Director of Long Term Planning at Ameritech wrote and published several books including a review of socioeconomic policies. In 1995 co-founded the Midwest Coalition to Reform Immigration (the name was later changed to Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration). The goal of the organization was, and still is, to reduce immigration to level that will stabilize America’s population to protect the American workers (including immigrants) and the environment. With constant growth of population such protections are impossible. Retired as Director of MCRI in 2001 and turned it over to Dave Gorak.

· Served term on Planning Commission of McHenry country. Worked on Long Term Plan to preserve farmland, water and open space

· Board of Directors for Alliance of Air, Land and Water (ALAW)

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