www.msnbc.com Open in urlscan Pro
2600:141b:1c00:248c::1fe9  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

MSNBC Logo
 * Decision 2024
 * Rachel Maddow
 * Morning Joe
 * Inside with Jen Psaki
 * Deadline: Legal Blog
 * The ReidOut Blog
 * Trump Documents Library
 * Columnists
 * MSNBC Films


MSNBC Logo

Featured Shows

 * The Rachel Maddow ShowMondays 9PM ET
 * Morning JoeWeekdays 6am ET
 * Deadline: White House with Nicolle WallaceWeekdays 4PM ET
 * The Beat with Ari MelberWeeknights 6PM ET
 * The ReidOut with Joy ReidWeeknights 7PM ET
 * All In with Chris HayesWeeknights 8PM ET
 * The Last Word with Lawrence O’DonnellWeeknights 10PM ET
 * The 11th Hour with Stephanie RuhleWeeknights 11PM ET
 * Alex Wagner TonightTuesday-Friday 9PM ET

Follow msnbc

 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

More

 * MSNBC on Peacock
 * MSNBC Columnists
 * TV Schedule
 * MSNBC Newsletters
 * Podcasts
 * Transcripts
 * MSNBC Insights Community
 * MSNBC Store
 * Help
 * Trump Trials Documents Library

Weekday Shows

 * Way Too Early
 * José Díaz-Balart Reports
 * MSNBC Reports
 * Andrea Mitchell Reports
 * Katy Tur Reports
 * Symone
 * The Katie Phang Show

Weekend Shows

 * Velshi
 * Inside with Jen Psaki
 * Weekends with Jonathan Capehart
 * Alex Witt Reports
 * Yasmin Vossoughian Reports
 * PoliticsNation
 * American Voices with Alicia Menendez
 * Ayman
 * The Mehdi Hasan Show

 * About
 * Contact
 * Help
 * Careers
 * MSNBC Store
 * AD Choices
 * Privacy Policy
 * Do Not Sell My Personal Information
 * CA Notice
 * Terms of Service (Updated JULY 7, 2023)
 * MSNBC Sitemap
 * Closed Captioning
 * Advertise
 * Join the MSNBC Community

© 2024 NBCNEWS.COM

Close the sidebar


THE REIDOUT BLOG


FROM THE REIDOUT WITH JOY REID

 * ALL REIDOUTBLOG POSTS
 * THE REIDOUT
 * PODCASTS
 * FULL EPISODES

Previous Post
Next Post


JAMES O'KEEFE REPORTEDLY FUELS THREATS TO ARIZONA MIGRANT CENTER

Right-wingers like Kari Lake and Elon Musk helped boost the provocateur's false
claim he found a "secret" center for migrants. But the center isn't secret at
all.

SHARE THIS —
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

Jan. 9, 2024, 7:01 PM EST
By Ja'han Jones

An Arizona-based immigrant shelter for asylum-seekers claims it has faced
threats stemming from conspiratorial claims pushed by right-wing provocateur
James O’Keefe and promoted by GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake. 

The International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization that runs a
migrant shelter in Phoenix known as the Welcome Center, told The Arizona
Republic it has seen “increased threats to our staff” after right-wingers
O’Keefe, Lake and Elon Musk helped fuel conspiracy theories about its operation.




You may remember O’Keefe as the former head of conservative media group Project
Veritas, which used dubious video editing and shady editorial tactics in an
effort to depict media organizations and left-wing groups making controversial
or otherwise unflattering statements. He was axed in 2023 amid allegations of
workplace mistreatment and claims that he spent donor funds on “personal
luxuries.” He has continued his work independently. 

Most recently, O'Keefe released a video to his more than 2 million followers on
X (formerly Twitter) falsely alleging he’d “exposed” a “secret migrant center”
operating in Phoenix, which O’Keefe claimed is “bussing thousands of migrant
‘refugees’ every hour on the hour” to Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport. 

The reality is the center isn’t operating in secret at all. The Arizona Republic
reported on the center in a feature last year, in which officials from the
center, asylum-seekers who were staying there and even a rep for Sen. Mark
Kelly, D-Ariz., touted its success.

Musk and Lake responded to the video online by pushing anti-immigrant rhetoric
and suggesting money spent there is misused taxpayer funds.



Musk expressed shock at O’Keefe’s claim that the IRC received a $415 million
government contract (a particularly rich reaction coming from Musk, whose
companies have been known to rack up billions of dollars in government contracts
in a single year).

Lake responded to O’Keefe’s video with bigoted claims, popular among
conservatives, that migrant arrivals constitute an “invasion” of the U.S. “Every
time I fly out of the Phoenix Airport (which is often) there are busses
unloading illegals who pour into the airport & fill planes headed to cities all
across the country,” Lake posted on social media. "This is what an invasion
looks like." (Lake can't have seen many actual invasions if this is what she
thinks one looks like.)

Nonetheless, right-wingers like Lake have pushed the invasion claims and
portrayed migrants seeking better lives in the U.S. as malicious ne’er-do-wells
with a penchant for crime. All the while, in recent years, centers that house
migrants have become scapegoats for conservative conspiracy theorists who want
to express their anti-immigrant bigotry — the Welcome Center in Arizona is just
the latest example.

Ja'han Jones

Ja'han Jones is The ReidOut Blog writer. He's a futurist and multimedia producer
focused on culture and politics. His previous projects include "Black Hair
Defined" and the "Black Obituary Project."

CONTINUE READING


Previous Post
Christian Ziegler ousted as chair of the Florida Republican Party after rape
allegation
Next Post
Roger Stone blames AI for alleged audio threats
Latest Post
GOP finds its weapon for psychological warfare: immigration

 * About
 * Contact
 * Help
 * Careers
 * MSNBC Store
 * AD Choices
 * Privacy Policy
 * Do Not Sell My Personal Information
 * CA Notice
 * Terms of Service (Updated JULY 7, 2023)
 * MSNBC Sitemap
 * Closed Captioning
 * Advertise
 * Join the MSNBC Community

© 2024 NBC UNIVERSAL

NBC News LogoMSNBC LogoToday Logo