August 12, 2010

The Honorable Bill Brady, State Senator

The Honorable John Millner, State Senator
The Honorable Randy Hultgren, State Senator
The Honorable Tony Peraica, Cook County Commissioner
The Honorable Randy Ramey, State Representative
Angel Garcia, Candidate for Cook County Board
Roger Keats, Candidate for Cook County Board Chairman
Steve Rauschenberger, Candidate for Illinois State Senate
Raphael Rivadeneira, Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Illinois President
The Honorable Maria Rodriguez, Long Grove Mayor
Joe Walsh, Candidate for U.S. Congress
Rick Newton, Tri-Count-Teas Rally Chairman

Cc:
The Honorable Tom Cross, House Minority Leader
The Honorable Christine Radogno, Senate Minority Leader
The Honorable Pat Brady, State Republican Chairman

Dear Honorable Elected Officials, Candidates and Party Chairmen:

We recently became aware of the Tri-Count-Teas event scheduled to occur on August 14, 2010
which we understand may include the participation of numerous elected officials and candidates
for various state offices. According to the event’s website, which can be found at:
http://home.comcast.net/~tri-count-teas/site/?/page/Aug_14_Picnic_in_the_Park/ among the
confirmed speakers includes Ms. Rosanna Pulido, Director of the Illinois Minutemen Project and
it is because of her participation that we write today.

As you may know, Ms. Pulido has a long history of promoting hate, bigotry, and extremism. We
believe that as present and future leaders of Illinois, you would agree that the welfare of all of
our state’s residents must be protected, regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation,
country of origin, or immigration status. We must not let ourselves be divided by hatred and
extremism and for the sake of our nation we must all stand together and SAY NO TO HATE.

For years, Ms. Pulido has spoken regularly in public forums. In addition, she has actively posted
on the message board FreeRepublic.com under the name Chicagolady.1 Unfortunately, Ms.
Pulido has a long history of hateful speech, both as a blogger and in public forums. The
following reprehensible comments are attributable to Ms. Pulido:

· comparing Muslim prayer practices to a “dog smelling buts”;

· claiming that it is Mexican culture to “rip people off”;
· accusing the Catholic Church of supporting immigrant rights to bring in donations; and

1 Confirmation can be found at http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-

beat/GOP_Not_Fully_Embracing_Their_Candidate_for_Congress_Chicago.html.)
 · condemning Cardinal George for being “responsible for every illegal immigrant who dies
while crossing the border coming over here because he is luring them”;
· when speaking of gays, saying that Chicagoans are better off “in a meat packing town than
in a fudge packing town”;
· accusing people who are gay of indoctrinating children and saying they are “leading them
along like sheep to the slaughter.” (The complete quotes, with citations, follow this letter.)

Ms. Pulido has also served as Midwest field coordinator for the Federation for American
Immigration Reform (FAIR), which the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as a hate
group:

FAIR has long been marked by anti-Latino and anti-Catholic attitudes. It has
mixed this bigotry with a fondness for eugenics, the idea of breeding better
humans discredited by its Nazi associations. It has accepted $1.2 million from an
infamous, racist eugenics foundation. It has employed officials in key positions
who are also members of white supremacist groups.
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-
issues/2007/winter/the-teflon-nativists.

We believe hate should be stopped before it starts and are therefore asking that you:

1) Pledge to be hate-free. Muslims, Catholics, Jews, Latinos, African-Americans, and

members of the LGBT community are members of both parties – and all are citizens of
Illinois. We want you to join us in advocating for a hate-free campaign in 2010.

2) Cut ties to Ms. Pulido and FAIR. Ms. Pulido, FAIR, and others have a right to free
speech. But that does not mean we need to give them a microphone or share a stage with
them. Every time their voices are amplified, hate gets legitimized which in turn further
divides our community. We ask that you agree not to appear at events where Ms. Pulido has
a speaking role nor share a stage with her.

We call upon you to stand with us against all hate speech, including that of Ms. Pulido and that
you favor principles of broad participation and racial tolerance.

The webpage for the August 14, 2010 event describes the Tri-Count-Teas’ core beliefs as
“small/limited government, fiscal responsibility, constitutional adherence, free markets, personal
responsibility, and individual freedom”—values that many Americans embrace regardless of
race, religion, ethnicity, immigration status, or sexual orientation. Simply put, there is no room
for the division and hatred represented by individuals such as Ms. Pulido.

The Tri-Count-Teas site also states, this event “isn’t a ‘Republican’ or ‘Democrat’ event – it’s an
American event,” and so we urge you to please help all Americans feel welcome at your event.

Sincerely,
Joshua Hoyt Jane Ramsey
Executive Director, Executive Director,
Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Jewish Council on Urban Affairs
Rights

Tuyet Le Maria Pesqueira

Executive Director, Executive Director,
Asian-American Institute Mujeres Latinas en Accion

Bernard Cherkasov, Esq. Bishop Wayne N. Miller

Chief Executive Officer, Metropolitan Chicago Synod,
Equality Illinois Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Mohamed Nasir Ricardo Meza

Executive Director, Midwest Regional Consel,
Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater MALDEF
Chicago

Alie Kabba Rev. David L. Ostendorf

Executive Director, Executive Director,
United African Organizations Center for New Community

Fr. Larry Dowling Rev. Daniel Schwick

Chair, Priests for Justice for Immigrants, Executive Director,
Archdiocese Lutheran Advocacy-Illinois

Jenny Dale
Director, Rev. Alexander E. Sharp
New Sanctuary Coalition Executive Director,
Protestants for the Common Good
Julio Cesar Cortes Maria Pesqueira
President, Executive Director,
CONFEMEX Mujeres Latinas en Accion
Sr. JoAnn Persch Sik Sohn
Sisters of Mercy Executive Director,
Archdiocese of Chicago Korean American Resource and Cultural
Center

Rev. Chris Pierson

Director of Connectional Minisitries
United Methodist Church, Northern Illinois
Conference
 Rosanna Pulido’s History of Hate

“I lived in Mexico for a year. I was ripped off the worst by the Bible students. It is so cultural to
rip people off they do not see that it is wrong. It’s culture.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1932960/posts (post #27), December 1, 2007

Responding to the post, “Oh I don’t know, those pictures of dozens of men in mosques kneeling
on prayer rugs with their heads down low always looks pretty funny to me,” Chicagolady says:
“It reminds me of my dog, smelling butts.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1047852/posts?page=52#52, December 28, 2003

“How can you tell the difference between a radical Islamic Jihadist who is visiting from his
mosque and just another lay volunteer visiting from the mosque?”
Testimony before Illinois House of Representatives Executive Committee, April 16, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3wa3BxjKLI&feature=related

“If the Church succeeds in their mission, they will destroy the United States of America!”
Testimony before Illinois House of Representatives Executive Committee, April 16, 2008,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3wa3BxjKLI&feature=related

“Cardinal George is responsible for every illegal immigrant who dies while crossing the border
coming over here because he is luring them.” http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?
section=news/local&id=6721968 , March 23, 2008

“When you have a Catholic Church that is violating its 501(c)(3) by getting involved in political
issues; that has been ravaged because of all the children who were molested; and a lot of people
upset about that and leaving the church; what better way to fill your pews and fill your offering
coffers then with inviting in and giving sanctuary to illegal aliens?”
Public forum on immigration at Chicago History Museum, October 4, 2007,
http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=13961

Referring to the gay community: “Face it, its better to be in a meat packing town than in a fudge
packing town.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1922190/posts (post #42), November 7, 2008

“Great! Now the gays can indoctrinate the other kids who are struggling, they will be told that
they have gay tendencies and be lead along like sheep to the slaughter.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2134083/posts (post #3), November 18, 2008