To the editor:

Sheldon Weisgrau has no ethical responsibility to be truthful (Public Forum, June 25). The Journal-World, on the other hand, does have an ethical obligation to ensure that it does not publish malicious lies.

Weisgrau attempts to pass off as fact the discredited accusations of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a disreputable organization. FAIR has a 31-year record of advocacy on immigration policy that belies the SPLC charges parroted by Weisgrau.

Over more than three decades, FAIR has established a clear and very public record of advocating immigration reforms that place the interests of the American people paramount. In thousands of media interviews, hundreds of published reports, and more than 100 appearances before Congress to present expert testimony on immigration policy, FAIR’s message has been consistent and mainstream.

The vehemence of the open-borders lobby’s campaign against FAIR is a testament to our organization’s effectiveness in blocking their agenda of amnesty for millions of illegal aliens and massive increases in future immigration. Unable to persuade the American public with their arguments, groups like the SPLC and their allies are reduced to ad hominem attacks against FAIR and others who stand in their way.

To paraphrase Mr. Weisgrau, it behooves the Journal-World to investigate the accuracy and motives of people seeking space in the paper to spread falsehoods.

Ira Mehlman, media director

Federation for American

Immigration Reform,

Washington, D.C.