A local chapter of a national organization that promotes greater scrutiny of Muslims in the name of national security laid out its goals for the year this weekend.
This year, the Flathead Valley Chapter of ACT For America has five avenues of focus: increasing membership; bettering relationships with local churches; becoming more visible in the media; influencing how public schools educate students about Islam; and supporting legislation that upholds the supremacy of Montana law.
Calvin Beringer is co-chair of the Flathead Valley Chapter.
"We’re really concerned about right now, the going thing, is the immigration problem," says Beringer. "That needs to be solved."
Beringer says ACT is tracking Senate Bill 97, introduced by Senator Keith Regier (R-SD3), a Republican from Whitefish, which would prohibit the application of foreign law when it violates Montana law or the U.S. Constitution.
"What we’re finding with a lot of people, is they want Montana laws, and they want the constitution followed in Montana," Beringer says. "And that’s what we want."
Similar legislation was introduced in 2015 but failed. ACT is also tracking about a dozen proposed bills that deal with refugee resettlement.
About 100 people attended ACT’s January meeting at the Outlaw Inn in Kalispell Saturday, where they screened the film “Islam Rising” about Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders, a far-right party leader seen as a likely contender to become the next Dutch prime ministers. Wilders was convicted of inciting discrimination last month.
ACT calls itself educational, but Montana-based and national human rights groups say ACT engages in hate-speech.
Copyright 2020 Montana Public Radio. To see more, visit Montana Public Radio. 9(MDIyMjUyODczMDE0NTMzMDcxODE2NTgwYQ000))