FAIR works to reduce immigration and protect American quality of life
Saturday, January 12, 2002
By: Dan Stein

Minneapolis Star Tribune

The Star Tribune recently published a piece by immigration lawyer Kathleen A. Moccio ("The organization is FAIR, but its immigration views aren't," December 29) that contained a variety of distorted and inaccurate quotes allegedly attributed to the writer and a couple of our past and present board members, solely to try to impeach FAIR's credibility as a source of immigration policy issues.

FAIR's real crime, of course, is that we work to reduce immigration while Ms. Moccio's livelihood depends upon it. No doubt this lawyer makes good money off the immigration system. We do not. We just care about the country as a whole. FAIR's views and membership closely reflect those of the society as a whole, and our board and advisory board has included many illustrious names and faces associated with the major political parties in America. Our funding base -- though too small -- is broad based.

At a time when world population pressures are placing incredible strains on U.S. border controls, our organization works hard to provide thoughtful, practical recommendations to improve the process by which we admit and select immigrants. More importantly -- and this particularly galls Ms. Moccio -- we engage the public in a broad discussion of how U.S. immigration population pressures are affecting the quality of life in America.

Time and again I meet Americans who recognize the extraordinary impact mass immigration is having in communities nationwide. At today's rates, the immigration system will add a staggering 150 million to our population in the next fifty years -- affecting every aspect of American society and her natural resources. Yet most voters are bewildered by a lack of basic information. Elected representatives rarely consult them on the core policy questions. The public wants information. They want to understand how immigration decisions are made. How the policy works -- or, as we now know from the 9-11 atrocities -- how it doesn't work.

Our ambition at FAIR is fulfilled when Americans get answers to questions that empower them as citizens; voters with a duty to debate who and how many immigrants arrive. We have a point of view, to be sure, but it is entitled to a more thoughtful treatment than the sparks coming from the combustible Ms. Moccio.