SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER COMBATING NATIVISM PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF IMMIGRANTS GETTY IMAGES/CHRIS KLEPONIS/POOL

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visit For more information about more information For for the most vulnerable members of society. for the most ABOUT THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER LAW POVERTY ABOUT THE SOUTHERN THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER LAW POVERTY THE SOUTHERN The Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Montgomery, Alabama, is a nonprofit civil rights Alabama, is a nonprofit based in Montgomery, Center, Law The Southern Poverty organization founded in 1971 and dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice justice and to seeking hate and bigotry, in 1971 and dedicated to fighting organization founded SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER COMBATING NATIVISM PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF IMMIGRANTS

The SPLC is supported entirely by private donations. No government funds are involved. © 2019 Southern Poverty Law Center. All rights reserved GETTY IMAGES/CHRIS KLEPONIS/POOL , sparked this protest in Montgomery. in protest this sparked , Photo by Sarah Reynolds Sarah by Photo The New York Times York New The About the Report About the Alabama’s 2011 anti-immigrant law, called “cruel, destructive and embarrasing”and destructive “cruel, called law, anti-immigrant — 2011 Alabama’s This report was prepared by the staff of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Law Poverty Southern the of staff the by prepared was report This the “worst in the nation” — by by — nation” the in “worst the ON THE COVER ON THE COVER 8 14 21 23

27 30 32 TABLE OF CONTENTS

4 FOREWORD 6 AN EARLY BATTLE: SPLC SHUTS DOWN TERROR CAMPAIGN WAGED BY KLAN AGAINST VIETNAMESE FISHERMEN 8 – 18 TIMELINE 1998-2010 12 SPLC EXPOSES RACIST AGENDA OF JOHN TANTON, ARCHITECT OF NATIVIST MOVEMENT 16 SPLC WINS JUSTICE FOR IMMIGRANT WOMAN BRUTALLY ASSAULTED WHILE ON THE JOB 18 – 36 TIMELINE 2011-2019 20 SPLC CASE REUNITES IMMIGRANT MOTHER WITH BABY TAKEN IN HOSPITAL 24 SPLC LAWSUIT GUTS ALABAMA’S EXTREMIST-INSPIRED ANTI-IMMIGRANT LAW 28 SPLC CASE STOPS RACKETEERING, TRAFFICKING SCHEME THAT ENTRAPPED HUNDREDS 32 SPLC LAUNCHES PROJECT TO PROTECT RIGHTS OF DETAINED IMMIGRANTS IN TRUMP ERA 37 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 3 FOREWORD We often pride ourselves on being a nation of immigrants but sometimes ignore the dark side of our history. Millions came to our shores, not escaping persecution, but as slaves. Millions more were drawn by the promise of opportunity, only to find xenophobia and discrimination. In the 1850s, an influx of Catholics from Ireland and Germany sparked the rise of the Know-Nothing Party and a fierce backlash from Protestant America. In the early 1900s, an influx of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe – many of them Jews – helped fuel the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. In recent years, immigration from Mexico and Central America has triggered another backlash, one that is still with us. We’ve seen it in the growth of hate groups. We’ve seen it in the passage of harsh anti-immigrant laws in states like Arizona and Alabama. And we’ve seen it in the rise of an ugly form of populism represented by Donald Trump, a man who rose to political prominence by promoting conspiracy theories about the birth of the nation’s first black president and whose path to the presidency was paved by his promise to ban Muslim immigrants and build a giant wall along the Mexican border. But while Trump has exploited and nurtured the current anti-immigrant movement, he didn’t create it. It’s been years in the making. And the Southern Poverty Law Center has been at the forefront of combating this nativist backlash for the past two decades. Our work began, actually, years earlier when we fought a court battle against the Klan to stop the intimidation of Vietnamese fisher- men in Texas (see page 6). In courtrooms across the country, we’ve filed case after case to protect the victims of anti-immigrant bigotry and discrimination – migrants terrorized by violent extremists, immigrant workers cheated out of wages, families torn apart, women sexually assaulted in the workplace, and many others. In our nation’s classrooms, we’ve reached millions of schoolchildren with resources that dispel myths and stereotypes about immigrants and that help create inclusive classrooms. In the halls of Congress, we’ve testified about the increase in far-right extremism asso- ciated with the nativist movement and urged lawmakers to exercise leadership in the fight against the violence it generates.

4 southern poverty law center And, to the broader public, we’ve exposed the white supremacists who’ve worked for decades behind the scenes to stoke bigotry against newcomers to our shores. This report documents our work. We know, of course, that we have much more to do. Indeed, since Trump’s election, our work has taken on a new urgency. With the help of our supporters, we’ve responded to the challenges with ambitious new initiatives to help those in need and to hold the Trump administration accountable for flouting the law and the Constitution. But the reality is, because of our nation’s continuing demographic changes, Trumpism – a virulent brand of far-right populism – will likely be with us long after Trump has left the scene. Our pursuit of justice for immigrants, in many ways, represents but the latest chapter in the story of a nation reaching for its highest ideals in the face of hate and extremism. We’re proud to stand for the values upon which our country was founded – and grate- ful for the supporters who stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in the fight for justice.

J. Richard Cohen President, Southern Poverty Law Center

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 5 AN EARLY BATTLE By the late 1990s, a powerful nativist movement — organized largely by a network of far-right extremists — was beginning to transform the American political landscape. But the SPLC saw the racism and xenophobia at the heart of the movement nearly two decades earlier when it fought a legal battle to protect Vietnamese immigrants who were being intimidated and threatened by violent Klansmen in Galveston Bay.

It was the spring of 1981, and a dangerous confron- have to get it the way our founding fathers got it tation was brewing on Galveston Bay in Texas. – with blood, blood, blood.” Beam then offered Several years earlier, Vietnamese refugees to train the fishermen at his paramilitary camps. had settled in the fishing community of Seabrook “When you come out of there, you’ll be ready for after fleeing their country in the aftermath of the the Vietnamese.” Vietnam War. To make a living, these men and The intimidation quickly escalated. Crosses women had acquired shrimp trawlers. But they were burned in the yards of Vietnamese fisher- were viewed as rivals by local white fishermen. men. Fishing vessels were torched. Vietnamese Now, tempers were reaching a boiling point. fishermen and neighbors who cooperated with In an attempt to drive out the Vietnamese, some them were threatened, sometimes with weapons. of the locals sought out an emerging Klan leader Then, in a particularly menacing display two named Louis Beam, a former Vietnam War heli- months before the opening of shrimp season, robed copter door gunner. Beam, who had established Klansmen armed with shotguns and assault rifles the Texas Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and a heav- cruised the bay in a trawler equipped with a small ily armed paramilitary wing he called the Texas cannon and a human figure hanging in effigy from Emergency Reserve, was training his growing the rigging. The Klansmen docked near the home legion of racist followers in guerrilla tactics for of a leader of the refugee community and terror- what he believed was a looming “race war.” ized his family. The “grand dragon,” as he called himself, was The Vietnamese community, understandably, a dangerous, violent man who had returned from was terrified. Vietnam in 1968 full of rage against communists. At the time, SPLC founder Morris Dees was With a new enemy, one that he conflated with the embroiled in a court fight against another Klan Viet Cong soldiers he had fought, Beam unleashed faction in Alabama. It was becoming apparent that a campaign of terror on Galveston Bay. the Klan was reemerging after a brief hibernation “It’s going to be a hell of a lot more violent that followed the end of the civil rights movement. than it was in Korea or Vietnam,” Beam told a But the new version was a more militarized Klan, mob of cheering fishermen at a rally. “If you one typified by men like Beam. Dees read about the want our country for the whites, you’re going to Texas situation and paid a visit to a leader of the

6 southern poverty law center Vietnamese fisherman, Col. Nguyen Van Nam. He had been a U.S. ally in the war but was forced to flee his country after Saigon fell in 1975. Dees relished the idea of taking on Beam. The Vietnamese were reluc- tant, however, fearing retaliation if Dees – “demon Dees,” in Beam’s words – went to court on their behalf. Many of the fishermen had already put their boats up for sale. But Dees persuaded them to move forward. With shrimp season approaching, he and his colleagues filed suit in federal court. Over the ensuing weeks, Dees and his legal team endured numerous threats from Beam, who at one point brought a concealed pistol to a deposition. Members of the Texas Knights of the Ku Klux Klan patrolled The intimidation tactics con- Galveston Bay in 1981 in an attempt to drive out Vietnamese tinued, aimed at both the SPLC legal team and fishermen who had settled in the area. SPLC founder Morris the Vietnamese. The group’s elders decided to Dees (top left) took on the group and its leader, Louis Beam, with a federal lawsuit that stopped the campaign of terror abandon the suit. But Dees argued against the and shut down Beam's paramilitary operations. retrenchment, explaining the history of the Klan and its terrorism during the civil rights movement. “It may be the fishermen that feel the heat now, but you can be sure that if they get the fishermen in violence or acts of intimidation against the to give up today, then they’ll go after the rest of you Vietnamese. Beam also was ordered to shut down tomorrow. … You have just as much right to be here his paramilitary force. as Louis Beam. That’s what America is all about.” The victory meant the Vietnamese could earn Armed with video footage of Beam’s paramilitary their living in peace. camps and other evidence, Dees won an injunction And for the Klan, it was the first of many setbacks barring Beam and his Klan thugs from engaging at the hands of Dees and the SPLC. SPECIAL TO SPLC TO SPECIAL

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 7 The SPLC represented Martha Sandoval in a case that led to Alabama offering driver’s license tests in Spanish and other languages. PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF IMMIGRANTS A TIMELINE ▲ 1998 In a challenge to Alabama’s “English only” policy, the SPLC wins a federal court judgment requiring the state to offer driver’s license tests in Spanish and other languages. Though the U.S. Supreme Court reverses the decision, Alabama con- tinues to offer the tests in eight foreign languages.

1999 A settlement with the Madison County, Ala., tax assessor requires him to grant a homestead tax exemption to Julio and Carmen Telleria and to change a racist policy toward immigrants. The asses- sor earlier refused to grant the exemption because the couple did not speak English.

▲ 2001 The SPLC warns about the violent extrem- ism and vigilantism of the emerging anti-immigrant movement in the report Blood on the Border. One neo-Nazi urges “any lone-wolf to leave a few bod- SPECIAL TO SPLC ies in the desert to get things warmed up.”

▲ 2002 In the report The Puppeteer, the SPLC exposes John Tanton as the founding father of the

8 southern poverty law center Salvadorans Fatima Leiva and Edwin Mancia (right) modern anti-immigrant movement – the man who were assaulted, terrorized and held captive by armed organized its financing, recruited key personnel and border vigilantes in 2003. Two years later, the SPLC won $1.5 million in judgments against members of intellectually led an array of organizations to carry Ranch Rescue. out his ideological and political battle plan against non-white immigrants.

▲ 2003 The SPLC exposes stealth efforts by rad- ical anti-immigration leaders to seize control of the Sierra Club.

2004 Responding to the abuse and exploitation of low-wage migrant work- ers, the SPLC creates its Immigrant Justice Project to protect their rights and seek reforms of the guest worker system.

2005 The SPLC defends the rights of an immigrant mother who was ordered by a Tennessee judge to learn English within six-months or lose custody of her daughter because of “neglect.”

▲ 2005 The SPLC wins nearly $1.5 million in court judgments in a case against the border vigilante group Ranch Rescue on behalf of two Salvadoran immigrations who were assaulted, terrorized and

SPECIAL TO SPLC TO SPECIAL imprisoned in Texas.

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 9 Migrant workers flocked to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to help with the cleanup effort. The SPLC represented many who were cheated out of wages.

▲ 2006 A company that cheated migrant work- ers out of their wages agrees to pay $223,000 to 168 workers in an SPLC case. They had been hired to help clean up New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The company also agrees to reform its practices in a settlement that could eventually be worth $1 million. KEVORK DJANSEZIAN/AP IMAGES (BELFOR); SPLC (HUERTA) ▲ 2006 The SPLC creates its Esperanza initia- tive to stand up for the rights of immigrant women. One study finds that 90 percent of farmworker women report that sexual harassment is a prob- lem in their work.

2006 Express Forestry Inc. agrees to pay more The SPLC presents its Esperanza Award in 2007 to civil rights than $200,000 to hundreds of guest workers to icon Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez and helped organize the 1965 grape worker resolve claims in an SPLC lawsuit that it system- strike in California. The SPLC chronicled the strike and grape atically cheated and threatened workers. boycott in its Teaching Tolerance film Viva la Causa.

10 southern poverty law center The forestry industry in the South was among the worst abusers of guest workers. The SPLC won nearly $15 million 2006 in settlements and court verdicts for forestry workers A lawsuit sponsored by the SPLC results in a victimized by unscrupulous employers. $98,750 verdict for a family of Mexican-Americans terrorized by border vigilante Roger Barnett, who claimed to have captured 10,000 people who crossed his land in Arizona.

▲ 2007 In its groundbreaking report Close to Slavery, the SPLC exposes the rampant and sys- tematic abuse of foreign guest workers by U.S. businesses and labor contractors. New York Times columnist Bob Herbert calls it a “stunning” portrait of vulnerable workers who are being “ruthlessly exploited” while working in forestry, agriculture, food-processing and other low-skill jobs.

2007 One of Florida’s largest fruit and vegetable wholesalers agrees to pay $215,000 to settle allega- tions of sexual harassment in one of the few such lawsuits brought on behalf of farmworker women. VALERIE DOWNES VALERIE

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 11 GETTY IMAGES/CHRIS KLEPONIS/POOL

- - - founded. Though previous investiga tions by the SPLC and others had had SPLC and others the tions by political lobbying by issuing stud issuing by lobbying political data skewed on based typically – ies – that scapegoated immigrants for rallying of social ills and by a host support for the grassroots angry, harsh treatment of immigrants. to the radical right, Tanton linked put discovery explosive Beirich’s about his racist doubt any to rest become influential in Washington Washington in influential become leaders its and media, the in and testify to asked frequently were other Tanton’s before Congress. FAIR’s complemented groups In fact, maintaining a veneer of respectabil of a veneer maintaining fact, In ity and credibility was crucial, because FAIR had had crucial, because FAIR ity and credibility was society and culture to persist requires a European- and culture to persist society Three that.” at one clear a and majority, American to the head of one of his he wrote years later, Latinos could “run whether questioning groups, an advanced society.” motives and those of the groups he motives Tanton as 1969, exposed that as earlier The letters the “science” in eugenics, interest a keen showed human race that had been of breeding a better still he was Decades later, the Nazis. by promoted about “lessfretting intelligent” people being allowed medicine and that “modern children, saying to have social programs are eroding the human gene pool.” he wrote only the beginning. In 1993, That was come to that, “I’ve ecologist to a controversial the point of view that for European-American A fascination with eugenics A fascination - - - - - decades. Nearly 30 years earlier, in 1979, Tanton had had Tanton 1979, in earlier, years 30 Nearly claimed that The Michigan ophthalmologist Though his name was virtually unknown to the virtually unknown Though his name was There, plain to see, were doz It was 2008, and the SPLC’s SPLC’s the and 2008, was It a treasure What she found was he was no racist. He insisted that his views on that his views on insisted He no racist. he was immigration grew out of his earlier activism on Heidi Beirich was there to unlock there to unlock Beirich was Heidi of correspon two decades trove: Tanton, John placed that dence who had long denied being moti heart racism, at the very vated by southern poverty law center law 12 southern poverty environmental and population issues. and population issues. environmental founded the Federation for American Immigration founded the Federation and three years later a foundation, Reform (FAIR) a as a funding conduit for nearly Inc., to serve U.S. bring anti-immigrant groups he would other dozen two next the to life over Tanton himself. Tanton the undis was public and the news media, Tanton that movement puted father of a radical nativist flexing now and was in strength had been growing its political muscles. scene. of the white nationalist and Tanton between of letters ens white deniers and leading Holocaust lawyers, Klan lodged all – era the of by there thinkers nationalist the secrets buried in those boxes.the secrets Michigan. Inside them was the key key the Michigan. Inside them was – and exposing – to understanding agenda the man who of the racist anti-immi modern the birthed had grant movement. SPLC Exposes Racist Agenda of John John of Agenda Racist Exposes SPLC Movement Nativist of Architect Tanton, in an hidden away lay boxes The 17 cardboard of library at the University obscure historical The correspondence also showed that Tanton had long lionized John B. Trevor Sr., a principal architect of the Immigration Act of 1924, which established a racial quota system for immigrants that stood until 1965. Tanton wrote that Trevor’s work should serve as FAIR’s “guidepost to what we must follow again this time.” Never mind that Trevor was a man who distributed pro-Nazi pro- paganda, drew up plans to crush uprisings of “Jewish subversives” and warned of “diabolical Jewish control.”

Money from Pioneer Fund The letters also revealed that Tanton had intro- duced members of FAIR’s board to the president of the Pioneer Fund to discuss fundraising efforts. FAIR had earlier accepted $1.2 million from the Pioneer Fund, a foundation established in 1932 by men close to the Nazi regime to sup- port eugenics research. There was much, much more. The cache was filled with letters to many of the most prominent leaders of the white nationalist movement, some A library at the University of Michigan (bottom) held the of them Tanton’s close friends. personal correspondence of John Tanton (above left), showing Beirich’s investigation led to an exposé pub- that the founder of a network of anti-immigrant groups had been at the heart of the white nationalist scene for decades. lished by the SPLC and, eventually, to a lengthy, The SPLC exposed the “Tanton Files” in 2008. front-page examination of Tanton’s racism by The New York Times. As she wrote in the SPLC’s Intelligence Report, Tanton and his groups had repeatedly claimed “that But as the Tanton files clearly demonstrated, they are different” from the nativist movements of “that is far from true.” the past, like the Klan of the 1920s and the “Know- Based on the new evidence, the SPLC named Nothings” of the 1840s. “Their critics, they say FAIR a hate group, a designation that has greatly angrily, are simply tarring them with the brush of diminished the organization’s standing in political

ARUNA B. PHOTOGRAPHY B. ARUNA racism to unfairly denigrate their arguments.” and media circles.

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 13 The SPLC sued on behalf of five Haitian women who worked at a tomato packinghouse in Immokalee. They endured repeated sexual advances by their supervisor and faced retaliation – three were fired – after complaining.

2008 The SPLC documents a 48 percent increase in the number of U.S. hate groups between 2000 and 2007, an increase driven by the anti-immi- grant fervor sweeping the country. FBI statistics indicate a 35 percent rise in hate crimes against Latinos from 2003 to 2006.

▲ 2008 The SPLC wins a $2.5 million judgment against the leader of the Imperial Klans of America (IKA) and several members after Klansmen sav- agely beat a teenage boy of Panamanian descent, calling him an “illegal spic,” at a county fair in Kentucky. The victory begins the unraveling of the IKA, once one of the largest Klan factions in the country. In 2005, it boasted 39 chapters; four years after the verdict, it was defunct. Jordan Gruver was brutally beaten by Klansmen

in Kentucky. The SPLC won a $2.5 million verdict ▲ 2008 The SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance project against the Imperial Klans of America in 2008. releases a new classroom documentary film and teaching kit – Viva la Causa – about one of the most important social justice movements in U.S. history – the farmworker strike and grape boycott of the 1960s.

2008 SPLC investigators uncover and expose the personal correspondence of John Tanton, the father of the anti-immigrant movement. The let- ters show that he had operated at the center of the white nationalist movement for decades, frequently corresponding with Klan lawyers and antisemitic academics – and that he was keenly interested in eugenics, the “science” of breeding better human beings. The explosive findings lead the SPLC to PENNY WEAVER name his flagship organization, the Federation for SPLC brings story of farmworker struggle to classrooms. American Immigration Reform, a hate group.

14 southern poverty law center Carlos Morales (left) and Javier Monroy were hospitalized with serious injuries when they were beaten by nativist thugs. The SPLC told their story in an exposé about the rampant harassment of Latino immigrants in Suffolk County, N.Y. ▲ 2008 SPLC client Justeen Mancha testifies ▲ 2009 The SPLC report Climate of Fear docu- before a U.S. House subcommittee about a terrify- ments the widespread violence, harassment and ing ICE raid on her Georgia home in 2006, when abuse aimed at Latinos in Suffolk County, N.Y., she was 15. An SPLC suit alleged that she and her driven by an anti-immigrant atmosphere fostered mother, both U.S. citizens, were targeted because by community leaders and law enforcement. The they were of Latino descent. “I was so scared. I still U.S. Justice Department announces an investiga- am. I carry that fear with me every day — wondering tion into “discriminatory policing” in the county. when they’ll come back.”

2009 The SPLC reaches a settlement recovering $170,000 for 39 migrant workers who worked for Justeen Mancha testifies to Congress. months without pay – enduring threats and squalid living conditions – while repairing apartments in post-Katrina New Orleans.

2009 The SPLC reunites immigrant Cirila Baltazar Cruz with her infant daughter, who was taken away a year earlier by Mississippi author- ities acting on false allegations shortly after the child’s birth. The state court case triggered a fed- eral investigation into the actions of the hospital and state authorities. LOWELL HANDLER (MORALES AND MONROY); LISA NIPP (MANCHA) LISA AND MONROY); HANDLER (MORALES LOWELL

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 15 The SPLC won justice for Lilia Martinez, who was brutally assaulted by a manager at a yarn factory in North Carolina, even after she had complained about his sexual harassment. SPLC Wins Justice for Immigrant Woman Brutally Assaulted While on the Job

Long before the #MeToo movement, the SPLC was told that it was none of her business. Later, Lilia fighting back against the routine sexual harassment was suspended and disciplined. faced by many immigrant women working in agricul- Two months later, back at work, Lilia was ture and other low-wage jobs where they have little attacked again. or no protection from predatory bosses. She was called to an exterior building for what Language barriers prevent too many women she thought was a meeting with her other super- from seeking help, and a fear of deportation and visors. Instead, her attacker was lying in wait. He an unfamiliarity with harassment laws make them trapped her inside the small trailer, grabbed her, particularly vulnerable to abuse. and when she fell to the floor, dragged her toward That was the case for Lilia Martinez, who in him by her hair. 2007 was working at a factory in North Carolina Lilia feared for her life and desperately tried to that produced yarn. break free. She was able to open the door only to She endured months of unwelcome sexual be crushed by her attacker. advances, comments and innuendo by a manager She escaped and was found by another manager, – harassment that became so pervasive that Lilia her clothing torn, where she had collapsed near the asked her co-workers to physically hide her from factory entrance. the manager wherever he came near. The SPLC filed suit on Lilia’s behalf not only to Eventually, the man called her into his office, protect future workers at the factory but to remind blocked her exit and attempted to kiss and touch other employers that no one should be forced to ARMANDO BELLMAS Lilia against her will. She fought back, and he only give up their dignity for a paycheck. allowed her to leave after she threatened to scream. The company agreed to a $230,000 settlement The next day, Lilia told a co-worker about the that included the enforcement of a new sexual assault. When the co-worker reported it, she was harassment policy.

16 southern poverty law center

TODD BIGELOW Environmentalism and the Hypocrisy of Hate ▲ SPLC exposesacampaignby far-right nativists to 2010 farmworker women. LegalProvidersfor Sexual Violence AgainstFarmworkers: AGuidebook Criminal Justice Professionals Guidebook for cials. assist legal providers and criminal justice offi 2010 systematically cheatedoutoftheirwages. lawsuit filedonbehalf ofguest workers who were agrees to pay $2.75 million to resolve an SPLC Arkansas-based SuperiorForestry ServiceInc. 2010 In oneofthelargestsettlements ofitskind, meatpacking. immigrant womenworkinginagricultureand theft–ofundocumented ual harassmentandwage though hewasn’t withacrime. charged by policeduringatraffic stopinAlabama, even to a migrant farmworker whose money was taken 2009 SPLC reveals theroutineabuse–includingsex Immigrant Women in the U.S. Food Industry, fessionals dealingwithsexualviolenceagainst

2010

Sexual Violence AgainstFarmworkers: A The SPLCwinsthereturn ofnearly$20,000 The SPLC publishes two guidebooks to In itsreport In thereport offerexpertguidancetopro Greenwash: Nativists, Injustice onOurPlates: combating nativism protecting therightsofimmigrants 17 , the and the - - - sexual harassment andwage theft. and meatpacking faced routine exploitation, including undocumented immigrant women working inagriculture A 2010 investigation by theSPLC found that These immigrants in Tennessee were jailed for complaining about not being paid. recruit environmentalists to their cause by falsely blaming immigrants for a host of environmen- tal problems.

2010 A yarn factory in North Carolina agrees to pay $230,000 to settle an SPLC lawsuit on behalf of a Latina factory worker who was sexually assaulted and brutalized by a plant manager after she had ear- lier reported his sexual harassment.

2010 A federal court rules for the SPLC and a coalition of immigrant rights advocates in a chal- lenge to Bush administration revisions to the H-2B guest worker program. The court invalidates the Department of Labor’s method of calculating guest worker wages, resulting in an increase of millions DAVE MARTIN (DURRETT WORKERS); ERIK LESSER (TORRES) of dollars for guest workers.

▲ 2010 The SPLC wins a $235,000 settlement for a group of Mexican immigrants who were jailed and The SPLC won compensation for Castro Angel Torres after he turned over to immigration authorities after they was beaten by police in Georgia. staged a brief work stoppage at Durrett Cheese Sales in Tennessee to protest that they had not been paid in weeks. In a precedent-setting deci- sion, a federal judge ruled for the first time that a ▲ 2011 To settle an SPLC lawsuit, police in Cobb law enforcement agency could be held liable for County, Ga., agree to compensate a Latino man retaliation under the Fair Labor Standards Act for who suffered broken bones in his face when he was arresting workers who were demanding their pay. beaten by officers during a 2010 traffic stop.

18 southern poverty law center 2011 The SPLC releases When Mr. Kobach Comes ▼ 2012 Following a two-week trial, a jury orders to Town: Nativist Laws & the Communities They a labor recruiting firm and its owner to pay $4.5 Damage, demonstrating that harsh anti-immigrant million to 350 Filipino teachers who were lured to laws enacted in communities across the country – teach in Louisiana public schools and forced into and promoted by far-right nativist organizations exploitave contracts through the guest worker pro- – have burdened taxpayers with millions in legal gram. The SPLC case also resulted in a new legal expenses, inflamed racial tensions and devastated precedent when a judge for the first time applied businesses. The study also examines how these laws the federal Trafficking Victims Protecton Act in a have been promoted and defended by Kris Kobach, class action lawsuit. lawyer for the hate group FAIR. 2012 The SPLC report Alabama’s Shame: HB 56 2011 The public school district in Durham, N.C., and the War on Immigrants exposes how Alabama’s agrees to eliminate discriminatory practices that draconian anti-immigrant law, HB 56, created a created a hostile environment for Latino students, xenophobic climate, leading to violence and wide- following a federal civil rights complaint filed by spread harassment and discrimination targeting the SPLC. Afterward, Teaching Tolerance pub- Latinos, regardless of their immigration status. lishes a "best practices" guide to help teachers across the country better serve students learn- 2012 In an SPLC case that will help thousands of ing English. aspiring students, a federal court rules that colleges and universities in Florida can no longer charge 2011 The SPLC reaches a settlement requiring out-of-state tuition rates to the children of undocu- Candy Brand, an Arkansas agricultural company, mented immigrants who are residents of the state. to pay $1.5 million in withheld overtime wages to more than 1,500 guest workers who harvested 2012 After a seven-year court battle, a federal and packed tomatoes. It’s one of the largest set- court orders Eller and Sons, a Georgia forestry tlements ever reached against a single employer company, to pay $11.8 million to 4,000 foreign of guest workers. guest workers who were systematically cheated

SPLC lawyers pose with Filipino teachers who were among 350 lured to Louisiana and forced into exploitive contracts. The SPLC won a $4.5 million verdict for them. MATTHEW HINTON MATTHEW

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 19 GETTY IMAGES/CHRIS KLEPONIS/POOL She didn’t see her baby again for three months. again for three months. see her baby She didn’t When told about it, Cirila couldn’t believe what believe couldn’t Cirila it, about told When which turned up After a cursory investigation, Then, over the next three months, she had just she had just three months, the next Then, over Court three visits – each time at the Youth But then the visitations one hour. and for just were halted. false accusations against her – claiming the young the claiming – her against accusations false for sex exchanging told her that she was had mother the baby up to give and that she intended housing in a also wrote The hospital workers for adoption. that she “report of suspected abuse and neglect” an “illegal alien.” was been even she had not hearing. The fact is, she was workers. hospital the with communicate to able had offered Chatino, also spoke who cousin, Her room while in the allowed not to translate but was being interrogated. she was a local judge the allegations, no evidence to support adequate ruled that Cirila “neglected to provide care and supervision” for her child. The state’s proficiency of lack her that claimed had petition in danger.” in English “will place the baby

Mississippi. n SPLC lawsuit, which which lawsuit, SPLC n A It’s a story of unbelievable cruelty perpetrated perpetrated cruelty unbelievable of story a It’s from after the birth, a patient advocate The day What’s more, the baby was given to a local white given was more, the baby What’s had this happened? How So, after giving birth in 2008 she had no way after giving birth in 2008 she had no way So, the beginning of yearlong nightmare. It was of understanding what was happening to her at at her to happening was what understanding of the hospital came to Cirila’s room and spoke to to room and spoke the hospital came to Cirila’s lodged the advocate her in Spanish. Afterward, center law 20 southern poverty against a vulnerable woman who had no way of of a vulnerable woman who had no way against rights. her defending describes what investigation, federal a prompted took place. Two days after the birth, child welfare workers took after the birth, child welfare workers days Two ordered by she was – and, later, girl away her baby about it. quiet a court to keep who practiced before lawyers couple, who were both the arrangement. judgethe very who approved only a little Spanish. Rather, she spoke Chatino, an Chatino, she spoke Spanish. Rather, only a little in indigenous home language original her from southern Mexico. in Pascagoula, Hospital Singing River Cirila Baltazar Cruz spoke virtually no English and Cirila Baltazar Cruz spoke SPLC Case Reunites Immigrant Mother Mother Immigrant Reunites Case SPLC Hospital in Taken Baby with Cirila Baltazar Cruz was reunited with her baby girl after the SPLC took action on her behalf.

It looked like her parental rights would be ter- But the SPLC wanted to make sure this didn’t minated and the baby would be formally adopted happen to any other families in Mississippi, so it by the couple who had taken her. filed suit against the hospital and the state. But by now, the SPLC was on the case and was “It was a very painful experience for me and for determined to reunite Cirila with her child. my baby,” Cirila said. “This is why I want other peo- As part of its strategy, the SPLC filed a civil rights ple to know, because I don’t want anyone else to go complaint with the federal government, sparking through the same experience.” an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health The suit remains unresolved, but in 2014 a fed- and Human Services (HHS). eral judge ruled against the state’s motion to have At its conclusion, the HHS wrote to the head of the claims dismissed, writing that the hospital and the Mississippi Department of Human Services state workers may have violated the constitutional (MDHS) that it had “grave concerns” about the rights of Cirila and her daughter. The judge wrote case, noting that the state had failed to comply with that the case was “riddled with contradicting sto- various requirements of federal law. “The MDHS ries and potential indicia of misconduct.” staff interviewed did not see these issues as prob- The judge also noted that the constitutional lematic,” the letter said. “This leads us to conclude right to family integrity is “clearly established.” that this may be how business is conducted and that Even so, four years later, the SPLC would find this is not an isolated incident.” itself fighting for the rights of immigrant parents Within days, the state reversed course, and who had been separated from their children at Cirila was reunited with her daughter. Months the border under President Trump’s “zero tol- later, she regained permanent custody. erance” policy. SHARÓN STEINMANN SHARÓN

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 21 The SPLC’s Mary Bauer speaks in opposition to Georgia ‘s harsh anti-immigrant law, which was largely eviscerated by a lawsuit filed by a coalition of civil rights groups including the SPLC.

out of their wages. The verdict is the largest yet 2013 Under pressure from the SPLC, the Head in a guest worker case, and the SPLC wins sev- Start program in Jefferson Parish, La., agrees to eral precedent-setting rulings, including a finding provide equal access to impoverished Latino pre- that the president of a company can be held per- schoolers who were previously denied enrollment. sonally liable. ▲ 2013 Litigation over Georgia’s ▲ 2012 In Death in the Desert, the anti-immigrant law, HB 87, comes SPLC chronicles the deaths of more to an end after a coalition of groups than 200 people in the Tucson, Ariz., including the SPLC successfully chal- sector of the border and the lives lenged several provisions of the law. affected by the U.S. Border Guard, a militia group that terrorized Latinos 2014 Major provisions of South in the area. Carolina’s anti-immigrant law are permanently blocked as part of a set- 2013 Alabama’s vicious anti- tlement agreement with a coalition immigrant law, HB 56, is gutted after including the SPLC. the SPLC reaches an agreement ▲ with the state to permanently block 2014 Immigrants in Alabama most of its key provisions. The 2011 describe grueling work conditions at

law criminalized many aspects of undocumented poultry processing plants for the SPLC report Unsafe ERIK LESSER immigrants’ lives and resulted in widespread at These Speeds. The report reveals a world where harassment of Latinos. employees are fired for work-related injuries or even

22 southern poverty law center In a 2014 report, the SPLC exposed the plight of for seeking medical treatment from someone other immigrants like Juan (pictured with his two children), than the company nurse or doctor. who work in grueling, dangerous jobs in poultry processing plants in the South. Juan fractured two vertebrae when he fell while lifting an 80-pound box of 2014 After the SPLC demands a north Alabama chicken. He was fired and received no compensation to school district admit a Latino student denied help pay his medical bills. enrollment, a resolution is reached that allows the student to attend high school. The district also agrees to take steps to ensure fair enrollment prac- tices for all students.

2014 The SPLC releases Culture Shock: The Exploitation of J-1 Cultural Exchange Workers, describing how many foreign students lured to the U.S. as part of a “cultural exchange program” are being deceived by recruiters and exploited by employers.

2014 A federal appeals court ruling in an SPLC case effectively closes a regulatory loophole that has depressed wages for foreign workers employed under the H-2B guest worker program as well as domestic workers in those industries. EDWARD BADHAM EDWARD

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 23 GETTY IMAGES/CHRIS KLEPONIS/POOL - - - In addition to Arizona’s “papers please” pro In addition to Arizona’s only not 56, as H.B. known law, Alabama’s 56 went H.B. week after Alabama’s In the first vision, Alabama lawmakers added cruel new added cruel new vision, Alabama lawmakers to required school officials The law elements. guaranteed racial profiling but encouraged the rent of vigilantism, leading Alabamians to believe rent of vigilantism, leading Alabamians to believe Latinos intimidate and harass cheat, could they with impunity. determine whether enrolling children were born enrolling children were born whether determine children within the United States or were the It criminalized of undocumented immigrants. undocumented. with the common interactions to undocumented the for felony a it made It state. the with transactions business into enter undocu with contracts private nullified it And mented immigrants. in the harassment and intimidation of all Latinos nature about the unconstitutional Concerned state. and the human rights violations that of the law, in federal the SPLC sued the state would follow, court. It also joined a coalition of civil rights groups of Georgia and South Carolina for suing the states enacting similar measures. spe- to a in came calls 1,000 than more effect, into reporting fear, the SPLC established, cial hotline abuses. discrimination, intimidation and other 5,000 the SPLC received Within six months, had unleashed a tor The law calls from Latinos. - - - - In the following year, five more states followed states followed more five year, In the following Arizona led the way in 2010 with Senate Bill 1070, 1070, Bill Senate with in 2010 way the led Arizona Across the country, state legislatures began began legislatures state Across country, the southern poverty law center law southern poverty passing harsh laws designed to drive immigrants immigrants designed to drive passing harsh laws laws These deport.” “self or states, their from 24 interchangeably, an egregious error later cited by by cited later error egregious an interchangeably, a federal judge. legislators forged it amid debate rife with stereo targeting and bigotry incendiary rhetoric types, population. The chief of the state’s sliver a tiny “empty to need they colleagues told sponsor Senate the In the House, the clip” to deal with immigrants. immigrant” “illegal and “Hispanic” used sponsor tine traffic stops from anyone they suspected of anyone they suspected from stops tine traffic crimi imposed also law The undocumented. being who hired, transported or nal penalties on anyone harbored an unauthorized immigrant. legis new the was Nowhere example. Arizona’s white supremacists. that made it a crime to be present in the a statute without proper documentation and allowed state rou during papers immigration demand to police lation more draconian than in Alabama, where pitch. fever connected to far- lawyers were crafted largely by for Federation the like – groups extremist right the SPLC American Immigration Reform – that ties to had earlier exposed for their longtime SPLC Lawsuit Guts Alabama’s Extremist- Alabama’s Guts Lawsuit SPLC Law Anti-Immigrant Inspired a at was sentiment anti-immigrant 2011, In Alabama’s 2011 anti-immigrant law, called “cruel, destructive and embarrasing” — the “worst in the nation” — by The New York Times, sparked this protest in Montgomery.

Enrique Corral, a U.S. citizen, put it this way: most of the Alabama law’s provisions, including the “Hateful people are hateful no matter what, but chilling requirement for school children to verify with this law they feel more empowered. If I used their parents’ immigration status. Key provisions to just spit on you, now I’m going to spit on you and of South Carolina’s and Georgia’s laws were blocked kick you when you’re down.” as well. Frightened of being separated from their par- In October 2013, the SPLC announced a final ents, thousands of children stopped attending settlement that gutted Alabama’s law. Earlier, The school. Latino farmworkers fled the state, leaving New York Times had called it “cruel, destructive and crops rotting in the fields and farmers absorbing embarrassing” – “the worst in the nation.” Now, millions in losses. the headline on its editorial about the SPLC vic- Among those affected were a family with three tory read, simply: “Alabama Surrenders.” small children whose water connection was shut off Following the victory, founder Morris Dees because they couldn’t provide immigration docu- thanked the SPLC supporters who had made it all ments; a day laborer whose employer flashed a gun possible. “The law undermined our most funda- rather than pay the wages she was owed; a family mental ideals as a nation,” he said. “This victory whose car was repossessed even though the payments will have a major impact on many lives – not just were up to date; and a teen who needed emergency immigrants, but legal residents and U.S. citizens surgery after being refused treatment at a hospital. who could be suspected of being unauthorized sim- As these nightmares unfolded, the SPLC sought ply because they are Latino.” relief in federal court – and won. The courts blocked SARAH P. REYNOLDS P. SARAH

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 25 In a 2014 report, the SPLC described how foreign 2014 In Back to the Border, the SPLC chronicles exchange students, like those above, are frequently lured extremist-led protests that turned away buses full to the U.S. by false promises of professional training only to find themselves cleaning hotel rooms. of children seeking legal asylum from a Border Patrol facility in Murrieta, Calif. ▲ 2015 College students who are legal residents of South Carolina are granted in-state tuition and financial aid after the SPLC challenges a discrim- inatory policy that punished those who could not prove their parents were legal U.S. residents.

▲ 2015 The SPLC wins $2.3 million in lost wages for 240 Jamaican guest workers after a luxury golf resort near Charleston, S.C., pushed their wages below federal standards by charging them exces- sive fees for recruitment, travel and housing. ▲

2015 SPLC President Richard Cohen testi- GERRY MELENDEZ fies to Congress against repealing the birthright citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment: “The clause expresses a fundamental principle of our

26 southern poverty law center in the Atlanta area that targeted mothers and their children.

2016 SPLC President Richard Cohen warns Congress about the threat of violence from far-right extremists motivated by hatred for immigrants and Muslims.

2016 The SPLC sues Collier County Public Schools in Florida after immigrant children are barred from Joel Licea, a star student and athlete in high school, was able enrolling in high school – a violation of state and to attend college in South Carolina after an SPLC suit forced federal laws. the state to change a policy that denied him in-state tuition because of his parents’ immigration status. 2016 In a settlement with the SPLC, Georgia agrees to no longer deny driver’s licenses to thou- democracy – that there are no second-class cit- sands of immigrants based on their previous, rather izens; that all persons born in this country, than current, legal status. The SPLC represented regardless of the status of their parents, are equal six people who were approved to work in the U.S. citizens under the law.” but were nonethess denied licenses.

2015 After a four-week federal court trial, the 2016 In a complaint to the U.S. Justice Department, SPLC wins a $14 million jury verdict for Indian the SPLC exposes how Latinos in Jefferson Parish, guest workers who were defrauded in a labor traf- La., were treated more harshly for traffic offenses in ficking scheme engineered by a Gulf Coast marine a local court, facing additional fees and fines. services company and its agents. The verdict ulti- mately becomes part of a $20 million settlement on behalf of 200 workers, each of whom paid $10,000 or more in recruiting fees to obtain jobs repairing damage to the offshore oil industry from Hurricane Katrina.

2015 The Board of Immigration Appeals – the highest administrative body for interpreting and applying immigration laws – chooses to no longer request legal briefs from anti-immigrant hate group FAIR after urging from SPLC.

▼ SPLC President Richard Cohen 2016 The SPLC exposes unconstitutional tac- testifies. tics by ICE agents during early morning raids ALUKA BERRY (LICEA); JAY MALLIN/ZUMA WIRE/ALAMY LIVE NEWS (COHEN) LIVE NEWS WIRE/ALAMY MALLIN/ZUMA JAY (LICEA); BERRY ALUKA

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 27 GETTY IMAGES/CHRIS KLEPONIS/POOL ------suicide. They were stuck. It was either work or go It was home. They were stuck. here,” come to money much so borrowed had “I But conditions. demanded better The workers Law Poverty at the Southern lawyers Eventually, in New 2015 The case went to trial in January As the weeks dragged themselves on, they found own hous When some men tried to find their Orleans. After four weeks of testimony, a jury a jury After four weeks of testimony, Orleans. recruiter had engaged in labor trafficking, fraud, who and discrimination. The jurors, racketeering a victim of false also found that one of the men was to five a $12 million verdict imprisonment, awarded the SPLC. by represented workers would still be deducted from their pay. Workers Workers pay. be deducted from their would still deportationwho complained were threatened with who mortgaged for those prospect – a disastrous the jobs. their futures to obtain program, foreign workers worker Under the guest – no mat employment to seek other allowed are not much abuse they suffer. ter how then my if I am returned, then “And Sulekha said. entire family would [be in] the streets.” the before dawn, one morning in March 2007, sev detain and “arrest” to guards in sent company One who were organizing protests. eral workers he attempted so distraught was launched Center learned about their plight and Signal and its agents a federal lawsuit against in SPLC had seen this kind of exploita The 2008. tion before. It had already filed numerous suits for abusing their highly vulner employers against workers. able guest labor a and lawyer its with along Signal, that ruled subjected to racial slurs and other types of discrim and other subjected to racial slurs were workers other Meanwhile, inatory treatment. occupied they quarters the in to live required not the Indians. – just “man camp” fee ing, Signal officials told them the - - - - “I felt like we were living in a jail,” one man, man, one jail,” a in living were we like felt “I Each man had to pay $1,050 per month to live live to month per $1,050 pay to had man Each And then they saw the living quarters. the living quarters. And then they saw hor “When I was at the labor camp, I arrived Many sold valuable possessions to come up up come to possessions valuable sold Many dis they arrived, others the and he when But The recruiting ads, however, promised good pay however, The recruiting ads, The lure: tantalizing another, was there And It was not without sacrifice. Each had to pay Each had to pay without sacrifice. not It was rified and stunned to see the living conditions,” living conditions,” see the stunned to rified and in one room men slept “Twenty-four said. Josy four showers, only There were bunk beds. with with the money. One man, Josy, put up his fam One man, Josy, with the money. ily’s land and home as collateral and pawned pawned as collateral and home land and ily’s southern poverty law center law 28 southern poverty Sulekha, would later testify. two toilets and two sinks. The space was incredibly The space was and two sinks. two toilets room to walk.” little very cramped, and there was there. fenced more, the isolated camp was What’s Visitors were at the gates. in, and guards stood searched employees and company rarely allowed, belongings. the workers’ hope of permanent residency. heirloom jewelry. For illusory. that the recruiting pitch was covered simply no there was worker, one thing, as a guest and lots of work. and lots allow would that cards green promised men were United the in stay to families and their them States permanently. ture in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005. in 2005. ture in the Gulf of Mexico and $10,000 recruiting fees – between exorbitant for Signal worker a guest – to become $20,000 with company services marine a International, in Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. shipyards The men came from India – nearly 600 in all – to to – all in 600 nearly – India from came men The jobs similar in and pipefitters welders, as work damagerepairing the massive that Hurricane infrastruc related and rigs oil to wrought Katrina SPLC CaseSPLC Stops Racketeering, Trafficking Hundreds Entrapped that Scheme It wasn’t the end of the case, however. A judge had earlier refused to certify the case as a class action. So, the SPLC recruited nearly a dozen of the nation’s top law firms and civil rights organizations to file additional lawsuits on behalf of another 200 men, on a pro bono basis. Together, the suits comprised one of the larg- est labor trafficking cases in U.S. history. Facing the avalanche of litigation, Signal filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But in 2015, it agreed to a $20 million settlement to resolve all the claims. Indian guest workers (top) stage a hunger strike after they It was a watershed for the rights of guesst were defrauded and subjected to a range of humiliating workers – and an important development for U.S. abuses while working at a Gulf Coast shipyard following the workers, as well. During the trial, the SPLC demon- devastation of oil and gas infrastructure by Hurricane Katrina. SPLC lawyers led a trial team (bottom) that won a $12 million strated that Signal saved $8 million in labor costs by jury verdict against Signal International and its recruiting hiring guest workers at below-market wages. Now, agents after a four-week trial in 2015. other companies would think twice before engag- ing in the same kind of behavior. “This agreement will ensure some compensa- tion for these workers who only sought a better life when they took these jobs,” said Alan Howard, who was SPLC board chair at the time and led the trial team. “They persevered and won justice. This agreement sends a powerful message that guest workers have rights and cannot be exploited.” (STRIKE); MATTTHEW HINTON (LEGAL TEAM) (LEGAL HINTON MATTTHEW (STRIKE); TIMES YORK HOFFMAN/ NEW BRENDAN

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 29 Rosa Vargas Morales, a mother of three, fled Guatemala with her children. When her home near Atlanta was raided on Jan. 2, 2016, agents took her and two children even though CONTRIBUTED she was living under an order allowing her to stay in the country under supervision.

30 southern poverty law center 2016 An SPLC complaint to OSHA – seeking to Donald Trump’s incendiary rhetoric on the cam- improve working conditions for immigrants as paign trail. Many children fear for the safety of well as U.S. workers – results in a $300,000 fine themselves and their families if Trump is elected. for an Alabama poultry processing plant that The report is widely covered in the media. ignored dangerous working conditions and fired two whistleblowers. 2016 As President Trump shifts the nation’s depor- tation machinery into high gear, the SPLC launches 2016 In reaction to an SPLC lawsuit, lawmakers the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative, to in Louisiana repeal a discriminatory statute that provide free legal help to detained immigrants. required naturalized citizens to provide proof of By 2018, the program has legal offices at five of the citizenship when registering to vote, a requirement most remote immigrant prisons and is providing not asked of U.S.-born voters. assistance at six others.

2016 Responding to a survey of more than 10,000 educators by the SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance program, teachers report a sharp uptick in the An SPLC suit blocked a North Carolina law that hindered harassment and bullying of immigrant children, farmworkers like Victoria Hernandez from collectively Muslims and others who have been the targets of bargaining with employers. JEREMY M. LANGE

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 31 Morena, a mother of six, lived in Georgia for 23 years but was imprisoned for a year after a traffic stop. The SPLC secured her release.

SPLC Launches Project to Protect Rights of Detained Immigrants in Trump Era

The images were heartbreaking. Across America those who had been woven into the fabric of their in the summer of 2018, TV screens flickered with communities for decades. scenes of children at the border being ripped from Trump, of course, had telegraphed his inten- their parents’ arms and thrown into cages that tions with his xenophobic campaign rhetoric. He looked like dog kennels. had slandered Mexican immigrants as “rapists” But as the brutality of President Trump’s and “killers.” He had pledged to build a wall at the “zero-tolerance” border policy was becoming Southern border. He had vowed to stop all Muslim apparent to the nation, the lawyers at the SPLC travelers at the border. were already up to their necks in tragic stories. In response, as the Trump administra- Every single day, in cities and towns across the tion began, the SPLC launched the Southeast country, families were being torn apart as Trump Immigrant Freedom Project, an ambitious proj- and Attorney General Jeff Sessions shifted the ect to provide free legal assistance to people swept nation’s deportation machinery into high gear. up Trump’s dragnet. Over the ensuing months, the For more than a year, the SPLC lawyers had SPLC established legal offices – deploying SPLC been representing people who had been thrown lawyers and volunteers from across the country into remote prisons in the Deep South – often in – at five of the most remote immigrant prisons horrible, inhumane conditions – to wait for months in the Deep South. It provided vital assistance at or even years for deportation hearings. six others. These weren’t the “bad hombres,” the gang The goal was to protect the rights of immigrants ROBIN HENSON members, Trump complained about on the cam- and to ensure that the Trump administration didn’t paign trail. Rather, they were ordinary people, often stray outside the bounds of the law.

32 southern poverty law center The SPLC found many people in dire need of help. the most notorious immigrant prisons in the coun- They were people like Morena, a 38-year- try. The SPLC lawyers, in fact, faced hostility and old mother of six. She had lived in Georgia for obstruction when trying to see clients. They often 23 years after escaping violence in El Salvador, were forced to wait for hours to see a single client where her sister was murdered by gang mem- – and sometimes were blocked altogether. At the bers. But after a traffic stop, she was sent to LaSalle Detention Center in Louisiana, there was an immigrant prison, where she was locked just one attorney-client visitation room for some up for a year. The SPLC was able to secure 1,200 detainees. her release, pending the outcome of her case. Meanwhile, private prison companies were prof- There were many others in desperate situations. iting handsomely and seeing their stock prices soar Jose, 27, had traveled from Guatemala to the as the Trump administration sent more and more U.S. border to seek asylum with his 3-year-old son, people into their prisons. Josecito. Even though The SPLC soon dis- he broke no law, border covered that at least agents took the boy away one of those companies, and sent both of them CoreCivic Inc., was fat- into detention thousands tening its bottom line by of miles apart. They were requiring immigrants at separated for 54 agoniz- the Stewart Detention ing days before the SPLC Center in Georgia to work was able to reunite the for as little as $1 a day to father and son, who was cook, clean and maintain obviously scarred by the the facility. Detainees who experience. “God bless refused were threatened you, God bless you,” Jose with solitary confine- kept saying. ment, the loss of their own And there were people SPLC lawyers and paralegals meet in their makeshift physical security and even who appeared to have been office in the remote town of Lumpkin, Ga., where they help criminal prosecution. targeted specifically by immigrants who are being held at the privately operated, In April 2018, the SPLC Immigration and Customs for-profit Stewart Detention Center. sued the billion-dol- Enforcement – like lar company in federal Manuel Duran. He was a Spanish-language journal- court, accusing it of depriving detainees of basic ist who had worked in Memphis for a decade and had necessities like food, toilet paper, toothpaste soap written articles critical of local law enforcement’s and costly phone cards so they would be forced to collaboration with federal immigration agents. work and purchase those items at the company’s Duran was arrested in April 2018 and detained commissary. for seven months in Louisiana before the SPLC was One of the SPLC’s clients, a Guatemalan asylum able to win a court ruling securing his release and seeker, had been in the facility for 33 months. He delaying his deportation to El Salvador, where he sometimes had to work seven days a week, and was could face serious danger because of his work. punished for filing a grievance after he was forced As they worked on individual cases, the SPLC to work while sick. lawyers exposed a detention and legal system This scheme was just one of the many human stacked against immigrants. rights abuses uncovered by the SPLC. As the orga- In a federal lawsuit, the SPLC accused the Trump nization continued to fight the Trump deportation administration of denying detainees their due pro- machine, there was little doubt that many more cess rights, including the right to counsel, at three of would lie ahead. SPLC

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 33 2017 A federal court orders DHS and ICE to com- ply with a public records request by the SPLC. The SPLC files suit over the constitutionality of ICE raids in the Atlanta area in 2016.

2018 The SPLC provides legal representation to about 50 immigrants who were among nearly 100 arrested in Bean Station, Tenn., during the largest workplace raid since the George W. Bush administration.

2018 The SPLC sues DHS for unconstitution- ally denying immigrants their due process rights, Daniela Vargas speaks up for Dreamers. including the right to counsel, while they’re held on civil charges in isolated immigration prisons. ▲ 2017 The SPLC and other civil rights groups win The suit details how SPLC lawyers face numerous the release of Daniela Vargas, a DACA recipient who illegal obstacles when attempting to meet with and was detained by immigration agents after speak- represent detained immigrants. ing at a press conference in Jackson, Miss., about her hope to remain in the U.S. She’s among nearly ▲ 2018 A federal court blocks a North Carolina 800,000 Dreamers, who were brought to the U.S. as law that hinders the ability of farmworkers – most small children and know no other home. of them Latinos who work seasonally – to organize and bargain collectively with employers. The SPLC 2017 Immigration judges in Atlanta are failing to and other groups sued on behalf of the Farm Labor uphold ethical standards to ensure immigrants receive Organizing Committee. fair and impartial treatment, the SPLC reports. ROGELIO V. SOLIS/AP IMAGES (VARGAS); RANDOLPH W. MCDOW (WERNER) ▲ 2017 Dan Werner, director of the SPLC’s Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative, is rec- ognized by the Mexican consulate for his work protecting immigrants from discrimination.

2017 The SPLC sues Trump administration over its executive order blocking Muslim travelers from entering the U.S.

2017 The SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance program publishes a suite of resources to help classroom teachers deal with the problems facing the children of immigrants and to help students understand the SPLC lawyer Dan Werner is honored by controversies over immigration. the Mexican consulate.

34 southern poverty law center Thousands march in Washington, D.C., on June 30, 2018, to protest President Trump’s cruel policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the border. The SPLC was among the national sponors of the Families Belong Together march. More than 600 marches took place across the country in a show of support for migrant families.

2018 The SPLC sues a private prison company that boosts profits by forcing detained immigrants in Georgia to work for as little as $1 a day simply so they can purchase basic necessities – such as food, clothing, toilet paper and phone cards – from the prison store, in violation of anti-trafficking laws. ▲ 2018 The SPLC wins a stay of deportation for journalist Manuel Duran, who was detained by ICE after being arrested while covering an immigration protest, and files suit on his behalf.

▲ 2018 The SPLC is a national sponsor for the #FamiliesBelongTogether rallies in Washington, D.C., and across the nation to protest the Trump administration's policy of separating children from their families at the border.

2018 After a yearlong investigation, the SPLC exposes how the nation’s immigrant detention centers and immigration courts, particularly in the Deep South, are stacked against immigrants, leading many to give up their cases. The findings SPLC won a stay for Manuel Duran. are documented in the report No End in Sight. /GETTY IMAGES (MARCH); MELISA VALDEZ (DURAN) VALDEZ MELISA (MARCH); IMAGES /GETTY POST THE WASHINGTON HOCKSTEIN/FOR EVELYN

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 35 SPLC lawyer Mary Bauer (below right) speaks with asylum seekers in Tijuana, Mexico, in November 2018, as President Trump was claiming that an approaching caravan of migrants harbored gang members and terrorists.

2018 In Florida, the SPLC sues the sheriff of Monroe County for illegally holding a U.S. citi- zen in the county jail at the request of ICE. It’s the first suit to challenge a Florida sheriff for unlaw- fully detaining people for ICE as part of a Basic Ordering Agreement – a scheme to use local law enforcement to find and deport immigrants.

2018 The SPLC sues the Hancock County, Miss., sheriff after a family is detained for four hours solely because they look Latino.

▲ 2018 A federal judge temporarily blocks the Trump administration’s asylum ban days after the SPLC challenges it in court. It denied migrants the ability to seek asylum if they arrived at places other than official ports of entry.

▲ 2019 In a suit against the Trump adminis- tration, the SPLC seeks the release of more than 10,000 immigrant children being held in detention TODD BIGELOW and used as “bait” to gather information that could be used to arrest and deport their potential spon- sors living in the U.S.

36 southern poverty law center Acknowledgments

EDITORIAL EDITOR/WRITER Booth Gunter WRITER/RESEARCHER Christine Harrison

DESIGN DESIGN DIRECTOR Russell Estes DESIGNER Sunny Paulk DESIGN ASSOCIATE Angela Greer

SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER

PRESIDENT & CEO J. Richard Cohen INTELLIGENCE PROJECT DIRECTOR Heidi Beirich LEGAL DIRECTOR Rhonda Brownstein TEACHING TOLERANCE DIRECTOR Maureen Costello FOUNDERS Morris Dees, Joseph J. Levin Jr. GETTY IMAGES/CHRIS KLEPONIS/POOL IMAGES/CHRIS GETTY

combating nativism protecting the rights of immigrants 3 GETTY IMAGES/CHRIS KLEPONIS/POOL

splcenter.org 400 Washington Ave., Montgomery, Ala. (334) 956-8200

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