Today, People For the American Way (PFAW) released a new report analyzing the leading anti-immigration groups, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), NumbersUSA, and Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The report analyzes the groups’ history and white nationalist roots. It also explores the undue influence they wield in Congress and their work to drive the talking points and policy priorities of leading Republican presidential candidates like Donald Trump.

“These leading anti-immigration groups poison the well on immigration reform in America,” said PFAW Senior Fellow Peter Montgomery. “Yet despite the fact that these groups peddle misinformation and pander to the xenophobic fringe to further their anti-immigration goals, they continue to wield influence in the media, in Congress, and on the campaign trail.”

Among the report’s findings:

• Today’s anti-immigration movement centers on a small group of interconnected organizations all stemming from one white nationalist and population control activist, John Tanton.
• The organizations tied to Tanton – including the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) and NumbersUSA – saturate media coverage of immigration issues and maintain close ties to anti-immigration politicians.
• All of these groups have ties to the dark underbelly of the anti-immigrant movement, which smears immigrants in racial terms, plays to fears of demographic change and caters to those who want the U.S. to be and remain a nation run by and for a white majority.

Read the report here.

For questions about the report or to schedule an interview, please contact Laura Epstein ([email protected]).

People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and defend constitutional values including free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy.

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