[ Devona Walker ]

Devona WalkerAnyone who criticizes Arizona's immigration law, requiring that law enforcement stop anyone they suspect of being an undocumented or illegal immigrant, has been criticized -- accused of playing the race card or race-baiting.

There are many reasons to be concerned with the rate of illegal immigration in this country. But at the very roots of this "nativist" movement, there is some very real racism.

Don't believe me, then perhaps you might take the word of one of the nation's most vehemently anti-immigrant lobbying groups, ALIPAC (Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee).

ALIPAC was recently forced to withdraw their support from a rally in Arizona supporting SB 1070, otherwise known as the "papers please" legislation because they found out that its organizers were not only welcoming but inviting racist skinheads groups to the protest.

"We are sad to announce that ALIPAC is withdrawing support for any rallies in Arizona in June to support SB 1070 due to the discovery of racist group involvement and the actions of former Congressman Tom Tancredo," ALIPAC said in a written statement, one that I originally found on the white supremacist website amren.com. "We take our commitment to working with and unifying Americans of every race and walk of life behind the effort to secure our borders very seriously. While the illegal alien supporters constantly make false accusations of racism and racist involvement, it is of paramount importance that groups like ours work to keep any racist element out of our events and operations."

ALIPAC speaks specifically about the organizer Dan Smeriglio. Smeriglio runs an anti-illegal immigration group called the "Voice of the People" but he is directly associated with various skinhead groups, most notably Keystone United, formerly Keystone State "Skinheads" (KSS). Its membership has, in the past, also been members of more violent groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nations. One of its members Steve Smith, who was previously affiliated with the KKK and Aryan Nations, was arrested in 2003 along with two other KSS members -- Keith Carney and Steve Monteforte -- for assaulting a black man Scranton, PA. Back in November, several members of the North Eastern PA Chapter of Keystone United attended a local Tea Party Against Amnesty. This event was also hosted by Smeriglio.

"All in all, I must say the event was a success for Keystone United. We had the opportunity to speak with new people and gave them some literature and newsletters . We also had the privilege to meet and talk to a gentleman all the way from Europe. He explained to us how European countries are facing the same issues of Illegal Immigration as we are here in the U.S," the Keystone Skinheads said in a written statement about attending the event.

But it's not just Smeriglio's association that are troubling, it's his tactics of intentionally trying to set up an environment that will incite violence. Let's call it the permit game. Smeriglio routinely, according to ALIPAC, invitied them and other anti-illegal immigration groups and activists to events telling them they had obtained permits to protest at a particular site. But in each case, it was a lie. Immigrant support groups and people actually had the permits to protest at those locations.

So, how does this work? He intentionally invites the racist fringe to come to anti-illegal immigration rallies, then he lies and tells them they are suppose to protest where the pro-immigrant groups are protesting.

The guy's intent is obvious: He wants a violent altercation.

Check out the video:

"A few weeks ago, we got behind a rally in Phoenix on June 5 being planned by Dan Smeriglio of Voice of The People USA and retired Congressman Tom Tancredo. On Monday, May 10th, we discovered two painful truths that forced us to take a new direction," ALIPAC wrote. "First, June 5 organizer Dan Smeriglio had radically misinformed us about his possession of permits for a location in Phoenix on June 5. He did not have any permits and the illegal alien supporter had permits for the location he had promised us. This happened last year when Smeriglio promised us he had permits for a rally in DC and we had to cancel when we learned he had misinformed us and the illegal alien supporters had the permit for our rally location. Unfortunately we had quite a case of political déjà vu with Mr. Smeriglio misleading organization leaders about permits, while our opposition held the ground he promised us."

The second problem also arose around June 5, when we picked up a release by a smaller illegal alien supporting group called One People's Project. The group was attacking Dan Smeriglio claiming he was working with skin heads and Nazis and attacking ALIPAC for associating with Smeriglio. "However, we reviewed the video and computer screen shots that our opposition possesses regarding Dan Smeriglio and discovered that they are correct. The video and screen shots of Dan Smeriglio's Facebook account indicates that he has willingly been working with members or racist skin head groups long after he knew their identities and politics."

If that's not enough, how about this.

Now the anti-illegal immigration folks are disparaging Dora the Explorer, they are upset that she is teaching little American children Spanish, and they have decided to claim that she is an illegal immigrant and have posted a mugshot of her on the Internet. In her police mug shot, the doe-eyed cartoon heroine with the bowl haircut has a black eye, battered lip and bloody nose. Dora the Explorer's alleged crime? "Illegal Border Crossing and Resisting Arrest."

"Dora is kind of like a blank screen onto which people can project their thoughts and feelings about Latinos," said Erynn Masi de Casanova, a sociology professor at the University of Cincinnati. "They feel like they can say negative things because she's only a cartoon character." Now, come on! I am not a huge fan of Dora either, but only because her unchaperoned adventures seem a bit reckless, but an illegal immigrant? Please! If these folks are already racially profiling cartoon characters, what do you think they will do to real world Hector and Jose?