Behind The Veil: America’s Anti-Immigration Network

"What if all the leading anti-immigration groups were founded by the same man, funded by the same organization, and [had] ties to White supremacy?"

So begins Heidi Beirich's narrative in "Behind the Veil"-a new video that details the common origins of many of the country's leading anti-immigration groups and their ties to White supremacists.

In the video, Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)-- the nation's premier monitor of hate groups -- discusses SPLC's research on organizations such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), NumbersUSA, and the Social Contract Press.



Source: NCLR's 'WE CAN STOP THE HATE' Campaign

Nativist Tide Boosts Anti-Latino Hate Groups

The Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups more closely than any other organization, reports that 888 hate groups are now active around the nation, 80 of them operating in California.

That count leaves out about 300 other groups which the center says frequently harass and intimidate immigrants.

The recent rise in number of hate groups also parallels a rise in hate crimes against Latinos, which the FBI reported up by 35 percent between 2003 and 2006. FBI experts say those crimes usually are intended to target illegal immigrants, but often hit legal residents, many of whom are native U.S. citizens.

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A Georgia Latina Recounts Trauma of ICE Home Invasion

Speaking in her native Georgia accent, Justeen Mancha, an American Latina recounts the trauma of having her home invaded by armed ICE blackboots.

"I carry that fear with me everyday, wondering when they'll come back. Just because I have brown hair and brown eyes, they think that I'm illegal, but I'm not."

Without a warrant, ICE broke into the young woman's Stillmore home in search of nonexistent "aliens". Finding none--and without apology, the stormtroopers moved on to terrorize dozens of other "Latino" families in the community.

"In the civil rights movement, we had to stand up against legalized injustice and racial discrimination. They are afraid that federal agents might storm their jobs, round them up, require them to prove their citizenship, and hold them in bondage without a warrant for their arrest or guarantee of a trial. This is not right. It is not fair. It is not just." U.S. Rep. John Lewis

The video is a clip of the young woman's testimony to the National Commission on ICE Misconduct and Violations (Thursday, May 29, 2008).



Related: Panel hears about alleged misconduct in ICE raids