澳彩开奖

The White House first began to weigh tightening controls on the U.S.-Mexico border last month, according to a . At that time, a group of 11 Republican House lawmakers issued a letter to the president seeking such a move, noting that 鈥渁ny outbreak in Central America or Mexico could cause a rush to our border.鈥�

The Trump administration, which has been criticized for its handling of the COVID-19 (also known as coronavirus) pandemic, moved beyond weighing the option of tightening border restrictions to starting the negotiating process for a policy of turning away asylum seekers who arrive at the U.S. border 鈥渨ithout any detainment and without any due process,鈥� according to a March 17 report in . The Times story noted that confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Mexico stood at 82 at the time the decision was made, which represents only a fraction of the 5,600 cases confirmed in the U.S. at the same time.

The effort to block the asylum-seeking process at the U.S.-Mexico border follows a pattern established early on in Trump鈥檚 tenure of cracking down harshly on non-white immigration into the U.S. and is expected to be applauded by anti-immigrant far-right activists, who have repeatedly urged the administration to exploit the crisis along racial and ideological lines. Many white nationalist and neo-Nazi websites, as well as anti-immigration think tanks, have contributed to this call.

VDARE, a white nationalist website created by anti-immigration activist Peter Brimelow, has produced 锘縜 deluge of propaganda related to the pandemic. A round-up of the site's writings, which was published to their website on March 21, listed some 110 posts on the topic that were circulated as far back as January. Additionally, VDARE produced nearly 50 posts related to the pandemic on their site between March 16 and March 23, dominating the framing of the group鈥檚 anti-immigrant propaganda overall.

VDARE published a column from nativist pundit and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan on Feb. 27, for example, encouraging President Trump to use COVID-19 to further his anti-immigrant agenda. The column preceded Reuters鈥� reporting that the Trump administration was considering such measures by two days.

鈥淟ike Trump鈥檚 America, all nations, in this crisis, are going to put their own people first. As they should,鈥� Buchanan wrote.

VDARE鈥檚 word may carry weight within the Trump White House. Stephen Miller, Trump鈥檚 de facto immigration czar, forwarded a link from VDARE to Breitbart News in October 2015 regarding the subject of Temporary Protected Status for refugees while serving as an aide to then-Senator Jeff Sessions, as Hatewatch previously reported. Under Miller鈥檚 stewardship on immigration, America has significantly rolled back rights for people seeking emergency refuge on its shores.

Buchanan, whose nativist 1992 presidential campaign was an ideological forerunner to Trump鈥檚 foray into politics, observed in his column that the COVID-19 crisis was an opportunity to expose the shallow popularity of the so-called 鈥溾�榦pen borders鈥� ideology,鈥� noting that 鈥渢he globalists are taking a beating鈥� due to the spread of the virus. He followed it up on March 12 with another post on VDARE, commenting that the COVID-19 pandemic might trigger a 鈥渄eathblow to the New World Order鈥� of globalization.

鈥淚s not the case now conclusive that we made a historic mistake when we outsourced our economic independence to rely for vital necessities upon nations that have never had America's best interests at heart?鈥� Buchanan wrote. 鈥淲hich rings truer today? We are all part of mankind, all citizens of the world. Or that it鈥檚 time to put America and Americans first!鈥�

As far back as Feb. 1, VDARE encouraged its readers to view the COVID-19 crisis through the lens of race. One piece on the site, titled 鈥淒o You Know All Coronavirus Victims Appear To Be Chinese? Thought Not!鈥� analyzed the crisis through speculative, unproven race science, and used the virus as evidence in support of the white nationalist refrain, 鈥渞ace is a biological reality.鈥� The same author followed up that post by writing on Feb. 15, 鈥淭he disease apparently does indeed discriminate by race.鈥� Even COVID-19鈥檚 first American victim, he wrote, was clearly not someone who had 鈥渄escended from people [who] arrived on our shores in the Mayflower.鈥� (In reality, cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and elsewhere have spanned across lines of race and ethnicity.)

Kevin DeAnna, a white nationalist who contributes to VDARE and other white nationalist publications聽under the pen name 鈥淛ames Kirkpatrick,鈥�聽praised Italy鈥檚 Matteo Salvini when he called for a shutdown of Italy鈥檚 borders. DeAnna聽prodded Trump to follow Salvini's聽lead. On March 15, DeAnna encouraged the president to 鈥渂an legal immigrants and refugees.鈥� But above all, he continued, Trump shouldn鈥檛 let the opportunity fall by the wayside, provided that it 鈥減roves that nationalists have been right all along.鈥�

Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigrant hate group that鈥檚 the brainchild of the late John Tanton and a favored think tank of Miller, has also written about COVID-19 with a nativist bent. The group published blog posts describing the virus as the 鈥淲uhan Flu鈥� while urging Trump to close borders in response to it. In one post titled 鈥淭he Wuhan Wakeup on Immigration and Border Security,鈥� published March 13, senior fellow Andrew R. Arthur referenced the threat of 鈥渁lien terrorists鈥� multiple times, while proposing a legal framework for drastically restricting immigration. Center for Immigration Studies鈥� fellow Dan Cadman also wrote of the pandemic in a post issued March 16, expressing concerns that undocumented 鈥渞eplacement workers鈥� would be used to replace people who fell ill.

鈥淏ut why would anyone think that the replacement workers 鈥� especially given the strong likelihood of their being in the United States illegally, and quite possibly recent border-crossers from who-knows-where 鈥� would be coronavirus-free?鈥� Cadman wrote.

Neo-Nazis, representing the hardest edges of the anti-immigrant far right, have made similar calls for closing the border in response to the crisis, but expressed pessimism that Trump and his cohorts would follow through on it. 鈥淲ild Rich,鈥� a neo-Nazi who has in the past praised acts of terrorism聽in the name of building a country for only white non-Jews, published a post on the subscription content service Patreon on March 17 called 鈥淥pen Borders Caused the COVID-19 Pandemic,鈥� writing that he has 鈥渮ero faith that our elites will make any considerable changes to the law or public policy in the aftermath of this event.鈥� The piece was reposted under the name Richard Houck at Counter-Currents and, later, at the American Renaissance site.

鈥淎s it stands, there is nothing to prevent a disease that pops up in any corner of the globe from making its way right into your favorite bar, grocery store, your university, your parent鈥檚 or grandparent鈥檚 nursing home, or your child鈥檚 school,鈥� he wrote, while calling to use the crisis to build a 鈥渞eal White nation.鈥�

Andrew Anglin, the editor of neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, expressed similar pessimism, while working characteristic notes of racism and misogyny into his analysis.

鈥淲ell, if anything good comes of this, maybe we will reinstate borders in white countries? Haha, no,鈥� Anglin wrote March 18, referring to a report about asylum seekers in The New York Times. 鈥淚 doubt they will even close them in the first place, let alone keep them closed afterward. If they are closed, it will be a massive celebration when they are reopened, with white women out in the streets cheering the return of the brown flood.鈥�

Advocates of immigrant rights, who have expressed concern about the Trump administration鈥檚 potential willingness to exploit the COVID-19 crisis to pursue a nativist agenda, are unlikely to be reassured by this increase in hateful rhetoric from the more extreme elements of Trump鈥檚 base.

鈥淚t is unbelievable that amid this global crisis, [the White House remains] consumed by this effort, using the pandemic as an excuse to turn back asylum seekers,鈥� Melissa Crow of 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Immigrant Justice Project wrote in a March 18 statement. 鈥淒enying asylum seekers their rights will do absolutely nothing to solve this pandemic.鈥�

The flurry of hate group activity related to the subject of border closings comes on the heels of 澳彩开奖鈥檚 annual Year in Hate report, which found an 18% increase in anti-immigrant activity and a 5% growth in white nationalist activity, despite a slight decrease in the overall number of hate groups in the U.S. in 2019.

President Trump connected the pandemic to the subject of immigration again on the morning of March 23, writing to his 75 million Twitter followers, 鈥淭HIS IS WHY WE NEED BORDERS!鈥�