By Scott Martindale

Lyndon LaRouche supporters were there. So were members of America’s Communist party. There was even a group calling itself “The World Can’t Wait: Drive Out the Bush Regime.” At April 10’s immigration rally in downtown Los Angeles – where thousands protested immigration reform legislation currently before Congress – activists from various political groups mixed in with the noisy and spirited crowd. They set up booths, passed out fliers, even waved American flags alongside their mostly Latino counterparts.

I asked Lenny, a representative from the Revolutionary Community Party USA, about his party’s views on U.S. immigration. He held up the latest issue of Revolution, his party’s weekly newspaper. The front-page headline read: “Welcome the Immigrants: Tear Down that Wall!” I asked Lenny for clarification: Are Communists advocating open borders? Yes, he replied. No restrictions on immigration whatsoever. Anyone and everyone should be welcome to this country.

Next, I talked to Lucy with the “World Can’t Wait” campaign. This group was passing out bright green poster signs to protestors that read, “The World Can’t Wait: Drive Out the Bush Regime.” Again, I was confused. President Bush, a proponent of a temporary guest-worker program, has spoken out strongly in favor of immigration reform. Not good enough, Lucy said. Guest-worker programs create a permanent underclass of people, she explained, and regardless, the Bush administration essentially lumps all immigrants into the same category as terrorists. Bush must go.

All of the political activists, to their credit, repeatedly expressed support for the protestors. But the presence of political groups seemed out of place. Much of their propaganda material had nothing to do with immigration. LaRouche’s handout didn’t even mention the current immigration debate. The green poster signs from the “World Can’t Wait” campaign emphasized getting rid of Bush, not fixing the immigration system.

What were these political groups really doing here? Were they genuinely committed to supporting a unified, pro-immigrant cause? Or were they primarily there to garner support for their own cause?