As the host organization, nearly every event of the Hold Their Feet to the Fire effort was planned by FAIR, but the Monday morning rally in Lafayette Park, directly across from the White House, was the work of Atlanta-based activist D.A. King. Like just about everything else associated with the week, the rally in Lafayette Park proved to be an absolute success.
Hundreds of activists publicly demonstrated their demands for real action to control illegal immigration. In addition to King, immigration reform activists and others who happened to be passing by heard from noted talk show hosts Roger Hedgecock, Mark Williams and Terry Anderson; the co-founder of the Minuteman Project, Chris Simcox; Peter Gadiel of 9/11 Families for a Secure America; Bay Buchanan of Team America PAC; Lupe Moreno of Latino Americans for Immigration Reform; John Vinson of Americans for Immigration Control; and Erin Anderson a resident of the besieged Arizona border area.
Fresh from the success of the Minuteman Project that attracted worldwide media attention, Simcox brought the message from the border directly to the White House. “We are demanding, not asking, for secure and safe borders. We are demanding, not asking, for the enforcement of existing immigration laws,” Simcox told the crowd. “We will remain on duty until we are relieved by Humvees filled with National Guard or U.S. military troops.”
While the planning and execution of the rally was entirely carried out by King and other activists, FAIR provided printed signs and a banner calling for an end to illegal immigration.
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