Rosanna Pulido

There are more "illegals" in Illinois than in California, Rosanna Pulido told The Conservative Voice in July 2006. Pulido said she'd learned this startling "fact" from Susan Tully, the national field director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), and that it had inspired her to participate in the original Minuteman Project operation in April 2005, and then to form and lead the Chicago and Illinois chapters of the Minuteman Project.

Never mind that the FAIR data is false (in fact, Illinois ranks five states behind California in terms of the number of "unauthorized immigrants," according to the authoritative Pew Hispanic Center). "In Chicago, Ill., where I live, the city is under siege by illegal aliens who speak Spanish, use public services and take jobs away from citizens," Pulido testified before a congressional subcommittee in May 2007.

By that point Pulido, who's of Mexican descent, was also representing American Hispanics Against Illegal Immigration and the FAIR-funded front group You Don't Speak for Me! "I believe there are a lot of Hispanics out there like me who are afraid to speak out," Pulido told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I'm uniting with other Latinos who know we must stand up for the rule of law and fight for every American citizen no matter what race or ethnicity they are."

Later in 2007, Pulido accepted a job as FAIR's regional field coordinator for the states of Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, New Mexico and Ohio. (FAIR was listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center last December.)

When Latina magazine honored Elvira Arellano, a Mexican woman who sought refuge in a Chicago church so as not to be deported and separated from her son, Pulido excoriated the women's magazine for "turning a criminal into a hero."

Whatever organization she's speaking for, Pulido has a flair for the dramatic. Last October she told the Northwest Herald that she "liken[s] what's happening with illegal immigration to [Hurricane] Katrina. … We are drowning in illegal aliens."

The Intelligence Report contacted Pulido by phone and asked her to explain the difference between her various roles within the anti-immigration movement. She referred all questions to Bob Dane, FAIR's press secretary.

Apparently, the Illinois leader of You Don't Speak For Me! now lets FAIR speak for her.