Ku Klux Klan Seizing On Anti-Immigrant Sentiment To Draw New Members

Citing the issue of child arrivals through the U.S.-Mexico border, about 100 members of the Ku Klux Klan held a protest in North Carolina over the weekend to drum up support against immigration. The event was part of the organization’s latest campaign strategy to recruit new members.

According to a local Fox affiliate, Klan members did not give a speech at the rally, opting instead to shout messages of white power and hate against “mixed breeds.” At the same time, the Fox reporter said that immigration advocate counter-protesters across the street sang the gospel song, “Hallelujah.” The event at the Troy County Courthouse devolved into a shouting match between Klan members and counter-protesters who were separated by law enforcement officials. For over a month, the KKK has advertised the Troy rally, calling on local residents to “save our land, join the Klan.” The rally drew between 400 and 500 immigration advocates counter-protesters.

Almost 63,000 unaccompanied migrant children, mostly from Central America, have come across the southern U.S. border since October 2013 and the KKK has increasingly used that situation to hold anti-immigrant protests. The KKK held a private rally at a member’s home in the South Carolina city of Abbeville last weekend, while 300 immigration advocates counter-protested about an hour away in Greenville, S.C. And last month, the group left fliers and bags of candy on driveways in South Carolina, urging residents to call a “Klan Hotline” to disseminate hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric. The organization, fast dwindling in members and funded by nativist groups, has seen membership sharply drop since 2010.

full: http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2014/08/11/3469708/kkk-north-carolina-anti-immigrant-protest/