A punishment to some, to some a gift, and to many a favor.
Contact: Jerry Kammer, 202-466-8185, gjk@cis.org
WASHINGTON (March 10, 2010) – After the collapse of the Senateamnesty bill in 2007, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) joinedwith the National Council of La Raza and others to launch a campaign tosmear the three largest mainstream groups making a case for tighterenforcement and lower immigration. At the center of this campaign wasthe designation of the Federation for American Immigration Reform as a”hate group” and the spread of that taint to Numbers USA and the Centerfor Immigration Studies. The announced goal was to pressure journalistsand policymakers not to meet or speak with these organizations. Toutedas an effort to “stop the hate,” it was a thinly disguised move tostifle debate.
CIS will release a report next week examining the SPLC and its role in this campaign. “Immigrationand the SPLC: How the Southern Poverty Law Center Invented a Smear,Served La Raza, Manipulated the Press, and Duped its Donors,” authored by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Jerry Kammer, will be released at a panel discussion on Thursday, March 18, at 9:30 a.m. at the Murrow Room of the National Press Club, 14th & F streets NW. The report will be online at www.cis.org.
The panel will include: