Experts: Immigration Debate Spurs Hate On Border

By ABC-7 Reporter Martin Bartlett

EL PASO — Nearly five decades after the civil rights movement, groups like the Ku Klux Klan are still alive and well, according to experts, but their target is changing and their numbers are growing.

“The truth is these hate groups do not distinguish between their hatred in minority populations,” said Heidi Beirich, Director of Research for the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center.

The center has been tracking the rise and evolution of hate groups across the country since 1971. The latest edition of their quarterly newsletter, Intelligence Report, details a continued rise, especially among white supremacist groups in America.

And since the immigration debate exploded before the eyes of the world, she says more and more hate groups have sprung up especially on the border.

“The truth is that there’s a surge in hate groups in America has been a nativist one and a total anti-Latino wave,” she said.

Researchers are tracking 66 hate groups in Texas, none near El Paso. But for the first time they’re tracking at least one hate group in New Mexico and a growing number across the Southwest.

“We saw a huge rise in the number of hate groups along the Mexico border — New Mexico’s was an example,” Beirich said. “The fact (is) that immigration is becoming more of an issue for the nativist groups and hate groups.”