The poisonous residue of immigrant scapegoating has accumulated in the margins, fueling the rise of hate groups setting their sights on Latinos, regardless of citizenship status.
According to a recent study published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, hate crimes are on the rise, with attacks on Latinos increasing in tandem with the intensification of the immigration debate. Since 2000, the number of hate groups has swelled by 48 percent, and attacks on Latinos have spiked by 35 percent between 2003 and 2006. While anti-immigrant candidates are repeatedly thrashed in national elections, this has not stopped their like-minded progeny in the street from taking matters into their own hands, confident that their actions are legitimized by what's happening around them.
This can be attributed to the fact that the anti-immigrant movement has crafted in the public mind the archetype of the undocumented immigrant as Latino, criminal, and a threat to the "American way of life
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