In the mid 1990s, John Tanton, the founder of a host of anti-immigrant organizations, including NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies, decided to develop a platform to educate the public on eugenics without using the term “eugenics.”

Eugenics was used to justify slavery in the U.S. and Nazi Germany’s crimes against Jews, and Tanton recognized that the American public had come to reject pseudo-scientific arguments that certain racial or ethnic groups were inferior to others.

To hide his promotion of eugenics, Tanton decided to use the word “genetics” instead of “eugenics,” and to focus on plant life as a gateway topic to promote his belief in inherent biological IQ differences. These racialized arguments are still popular in many of today’s white nationalist and neo-Nazi organizations.

In a letter to Dr. Robert K. Graham of the Foundation for the Advancement of Man, Tanton said the project would emphasize:

“mankind’s use of eugenic principles on plants and the lower animals as a way to condition the public to the idea of genetic manipulation, and raise the question of its application to the human race. In fact, we report on ways it is currently being done, but under the term genetics rather than eugenics.”

Graham is the founder of the controversial project, “Repository for Germinal Choice,” a sperm bank which gained infamy by trying to only recruit Nobel Prize winners as donors. Only one Noble Prize winner ever admitted to donating his sperm and that was William Shockley, who was outspoken about his belief that American Blacks were of low intelligence. All of Graham’s donors were white.

Tanton’s activism with regard to racial eugenics is based on the disturbing belief that those identified as the most productive “gene pool of the human stock” should be the ones with access to and control over scarce resources.

The same American eugenics movement of the early 20th century that informed Nazi Germany’s practices also advocated against immigration in the 1920s. It is believed that eugenicists helped pass laws that ranked immigrants based on ethnicity – at the time Nordic and Anglo Europeans being the most desirable and Asian immigrants the least. Eugenics movements have found genetic fault with nearly every physical trait and ethnic group outside of the “Nordic race”. These have been considered the “undesirable” immigrant masses over the past 100 years.

Today’s anti-immigrant movement focuses on criminalizing, detaining and deporting primarily non-white immigrants.

While it’s hard to find anything left of SAGE’s website, www.genetics-ed.org, the goals and objectives were clear. The project would start “formally as a membership organization, doubtless with a self-perpetuating board to help guarantee that it stays on course” and would attempt “to reach the young, the well-educated, and the affluent.”

Tanton’s obsession with eugenics shines a light on his motivations for associating with white nationalists and controversial anti-immigrant views.

*The John Tanton letters and memos are a public collection at the Bentley Historical Library.

The National Policy Institute (NPI), a white nationalist organization, believes that in order for “The European identity of the United States and its people [to] be maintained, Federal decentralization and territorial separation should be recognized as legitimate and humane means of preventing and resolving divisive social, ethnic, and racial conflicts.”

Glenn Beck has yet to respond to NPI’s boycott; however, this is an ideal opportunity for mainstream media to finally speak out against Beck’s racially divisive brand of journalism.

The National Policy Institute’s “boycott” comes amid a rash of neo-Nazi activities targeting immigrant communities.

On February 20, forty-eight Ku Klux Klan members covered in white hoods protested against undocumented students marching to Washington D.C to raise awareness of immigrant’s civil rights. The KKK’s Imperial Wizard Jeff Jones stated that “We are here to tell you wake up Georgia and stop the Latino invasion now.” “I know plenty of people who are willing to work and would do anything right now,” according to the Jacksonville newspaper.

The Nationalist Socialist Movement (NSM), a neo-Nazi group, is currently mobilizing its membership to attend its national meeting, “Reclaim the Southwest,” on April 17. In the announcement, the NSM relies on immigration issues to rally its base. The flier for the event says, “Let your voice be heard as we speak out against illegal immigration, Sanctuary Cities”. According toNSM’s webpage, the “rally will be hosted in Southern California this year with the rally on the South Lawn of L.A. City Hall”.

On May 1, the American Nazi Party (ANP) is hosting its National Conference in Detroit, Michigan. Like the Nationalist Socialist Movement, ANP also uses immigration issues to rally its troops. On the front page of ANP’s webpage, the Nazi Party sends its visitors an alarming message by claiming that “America has an estimated 20 MILLION brown, mestizo ILLEGAL ALIENS who have INVADED OUR NATION – this evil”.

The biggest concern for the American Nazi Party (ANP) is the upcoming demographic changes, particularly for white Americans. On the top part of the page, the ANP warns that”only 23% of the American population under the age of 18 is WHITE. Already, four U.S. states are MAJORITY NON-WHITE, and 10% of all counties in America are MAJORITY NON-WHITE. World-wide, White women of child-bearing age comprise only 3% of the earth’s population. Do these FACTS disturb you? They should.”

When the anti-immigrant leader, Shawna Forde, murdered 9-year-old Brisenia Flores, the anti-immigrant group NumbersUSA said nothing. When a gang of teenagers killed Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant in Suffolk County, Rhode Island, the Center for Immigration Studies said nothing. When congressional leaders support hate-crimes legislation, the Federation for American Immigration Reform supports elected officials who oppose hate-crime legislation.

While the Tanton Network portrays itself as credible single-issue anti-immigrant organizations the organization’s founder, John Tanton, sings a different tune. As neo-Nazi groups express concern of whites no longer being the majority, I’m reminded of John Tanton labeling immigration as a demographic issue.

As immigration legislation reform looms, reporters hold America’s moral compass in their pens. Mainstream media continues to say very little about Glenn Beck’s journalistic habits, it also says very little about the John Tanton Network’s ties to neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups campaigning on behalf of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Center for Immigration Studies and NumbersUSA’s anti-immigrant agenda.

Tanton at a Social Contract event

This February’s Tanton Memo of the Month* details a list of nearly 30 organizations founded by U.S., Inc., John Tanton’s financial “umbrella” organization. The other day I found this document in our archives. As I plied through a variety of anti-immigrant documents, I stumbled across John Tanton’s description of his “umbrella”, U.S., Inc. For those unfamiliar with John Tanton, he’s the founder of a variety of anti-immigrant organizations, including Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), NumbersUSA, Pro-English, U.S. English, the white nationalist publication The Social Contract, and a variety of environmental and anti-immigrant projects.

Tanton has also financially supported over 50 organizations and individuals who, essentially, campaign on his behalf. Not all of his projects directly relate to immigration issues. Some support projects preserving wildlife, like ProWild, “a project that promoted the ranching of native animals in East Africa, or “Bringing Out the Best in Ourselves”, which “is a series of small grants to local public and parochial schools,” and Scenic Michigan, “an affiliate of the national organization Scenic America.”

Some are familiar with John Tanton from our work on immigration issues. John Tanton orchestrated today’s anti-immigrant movement. Tanton also cares deeply about preserving the environment, but only for a certain sector of the population. As Tanton openly admits in an interview, “Immigration is a demographic issue.” The entry point for Tanton, whether its immigration, the environment, or English-only issues, is the demographic composition of the nation. He may filter his language for a post-civil rights audience, but the message is the same. As white nationalist circles have no problem claiming that a community’s racial makeup is to blame for high rates of poverty in communities of color, Tanton will simply say that immigrants south of the border are a “brain drain” and negatively affect the successes of western civilization. Even though Tanton may not state the cause of this “brain drain,” the fact that he defines immigrants as a “drain” matches perfectly with white nationalists’ perception of people of color.

As you scroll the list of organizations, you will notice that some of these organizations no longer operate directly under U.S., Inc., for example the anti-immigrant group NumbersUSA. This does not mean that NumbersUSA no longer works with John Tanton. In fact, NumbersUSA received financial support from Tanton in 2007. NumbersUSA also signed onto a joint project with U.S., Inc. and the population control organization, Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS), an organization that has also received financial support from the Pioneer Fund, a foundation that financially supports scientific racism.

As immigrant rights supporters push for immigration reform, the John Tanton Network’s participation in our national debate on the issue is not benign. To John Tanton, immigration is a “demographic issue.”

*The John Tanton letters and memos are a public collection at the Bentley Historical Library.

Before detailing FAIR’s controversial relationships with white nationalists, let’s first examine Kobach’s colleague at IRLI, Mike Hethmon. Hethmon has worked with John Tanton (the founder of FAIR) for nearly nine years. Just last fall he attended Tanton’s annual Writers Workshop. In fact, Hethmon began his “legal overview” presentation by personally thanking “Dr. Tanton for hosting and sustaining what is now I believe 33 years of the Writers Workshop.” Hethmon also added that he has “had the privilege of attending for several years.”

What is even more disturbing is Hethmon’s association with two other attendees: Peter Brimelow, the founder of VDARE, a website dedicated to “race-betterment,” and Wayne Lutton, editor of The Social Contract, a quarterly white nationalist journal published by John Tanton. According to a recent article Lutton also writes for the anti-Semitic publication Occidental Quarterly and was scheduled to give a presentation on immigration issues during an anti-Black annual conference sponsored by American Renaissance.

After reviewing the long list of these troubling relationships, it’s hard to tell if immigration is the only issue of concern for Kris Kobach and the Immigration Reform Law Institute.

But the Immigration Reform Law Institute’s attorneys don’t just rub elbows with hate groups and far-right extremists, both Kobach and Hethmon have received significant financial support from FAIR. According to tax documents, FAIR has paid Hethmon over $400,000 and Kobach $125,000. In 2004, Kobach also accepted $10,000 from the U.S. Immigration Reform PAC, formerly known as the FAIR PAC. Perhaps IRLI’s legal counselors are merely following in the footsteps of their financial backers.

Arpaio’s office has not disclosed where it got the funds to pay Kris Kobach. Maybe the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is receiving a little help in that department.

According to several documents, John Tanton, the founder of FAIR, solicited and successfully received over 1.2 million from the Pioneer Fund. The Pioneer Fund is a foundation committed to eugenics and “scientific racism” used to justify the crimes of Nazi Germany.

FAIR also hired members of the Council of Conservative Citizens, an organization originally developed to fight integration during the Civil Rights Movement. When civil rights organizations asked FAIR to explain its controversial relationships, particularly its funding sources, FAIR’s current president Dan Stein stated, “I don’t give a sh*t what they do with their money, my job is to get every dime of Pioneer’s money.”

In 1989, John Tanton wrote, “I have all along seen the immigration battle as really a skirmish in a wider war . . .” Since that time critics of Tanton have worried that his “wider war” is one steeped in racism and white nationalism.

Yesterday’s development should alarm Maricopa County residents. Kobach’s ongoing relationship with the Immigration Reform Law Institute and FAIR is disturbing. According to a Kansas City Star article, Kobach blamed his loss of a 2004 Senate race on a series of ads “that charged Kobach with associating with groups that had white supremacist ties.” Kobach said he underestimated the ads’ effect. Perhaps he thought Kansas voters would support a candidate who works for a hate group. Gratefully, he was wrong.

If voters in Kansas stood tall against bigotry, so should Maricopa County.

As discussions on immigration reform fill airwaves and blogs in the coming months, anti-immigrant and immigrant rights organizations will debate if immigration financially benefits American society. Currently, the John Tanton Network, a web of over two dozen organizations, is attempting to represent the interests of American workers, particularly organizations like Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). Almost every month, the Center for Immigration Studies claims that immigrants drain the economy, are responsible for high unemployment and decrease wages for American workers. At the same time, John Tanton’s controversial history sings a different tune. His history suggests that the Tanton Network is more concerned with dividing American workers rather than increasing monthly wages.

John Tanton’s controversial relationships with white nationalists have yet to be fully uncovered. His friendship with Peter Brimelow, the founder of VDARE, a white nationalist website, continues to this day. Last October, Brimelow gave a presentation on Hate Crime Legislation at Tanton’s Writers Workshop, an annual gathering of anti-immigrant and white nationalist thinkers sponsored by the Social Contract Press, a project founded and financially supported by John Tanton. Mike Hethmon, the head counsel for FAIR’s legal arm, Immigration Reform Law Institute also gave a brief “legal” presentation.

Several board members and a staff member of the Center for Immigration Studies are also listed as contributors of The Social Contract, a quarterly journal published by the Social Contract Press. In fact, CIS’ Research Director, Steven Camarota, developed the article, Effects of Immigration on the Labor Market for The Social Contract’s fall 1999 issue. This isn’t surprising considering John Tanton founded the Center for Immigration Studies in the mid 1980s.

In the early fall of 1985, John Tanton began laying the financial groundwork to build his anti-immigrant think-tank. In a fundraising appeal Tanton states that, “the funding could come through U.S., Inc. instead of FAIR, if that helped keep the amounts going to any one organization to more acceptable levels. We’re in the process of setting up as independent projects both the Center for Immigration Studies and the Litigation Program.”

In a document dated September of 1985, John Tanton describes the intent behind the founding of the Center for Immigration Studies. In the document, Tanton highlights that it’s essential to develop an “independent” think-tank to win the “Battle of Ideas”.

“After careful and prolonged study, the FAIR Board has concluded that a Think-Tank on the scale of Worldwatch Institute is needed. For credibility, this will need to be independent of FAIR, though the Center for Immigration Studies, as we’re calling it, is starting off as a project of FAIR.”

In every contentious debate there are often two distinct motivations: one is a desire to solve the issue at hand, the other uses the issue to further a hidden agenda. As the Center for Immigration Studies pours out fact after fact arguing against immigration, an agenda pertaining to national identity is present yet hidden from the discussion. The only thing that is irrefutably clear is the Center for Immigration Studies’ alarming and controversial history of ties to white nationalism.