NumbersUSA

NumbersUSA is an immigration reduction organization founded in 1997 by environmental journalist Roy Beck and fostered by anti-immigrant activist John Tanton. It is considered to be part of the Tanton Network. According to Beck, NumbersUSA has been independent of Tanton since 2002.

According to NumbersUSA's website, its goals are to "examine numerical levels of annual legal and illegal immigration" and to "educate the public about the immigration-reduction recommendations." Numbers USA advocates for an end to birthright citizenship, a reduction in current immigration numbers, and stronger laws applying to employers of undocumented immigrants.

NumbersUSA consists of a 501(c)(3) private foundation, NumbersUSA Education and Research Foundation, and a 501(c)(4) advocacy and lobbying group, NumbersUSA Action. In 2012, NumbersUSA Education and Research Foundation reported $5,221,503 in total revenue, $5,494,041 in total expenses, and $4,163,123 in net assets; and NumbersUSA Action reported $1,039,623 in total revenue, $1,016,178 in total expenses, and $1,582,726 in net assets.

Strategic Focus
Since its foundation, NumbersUSA has explicitly distanced itself from "race-based" arguments on immigration policy, claiming to strictly be "about the numbers." Roy Beck has stressed this aspect of NumbersUSA on many occasions, stating, "Not only is it ethically wrong to engage in . . . stereotyping, it is tactically short-sighted. There is much to suggest that most immigrants already among us would support reductions in immigration numbers." .

NumbersUSA differs from many other immigration reduction groups by focusing on the environmental and humanitarian costs of immigration, claiming that America's current immigration levels will dramatically affect the nation's carbon footprint and amount of arable greenspace. However, it should be noted that nativist activist John Tanton also has roots in the environmental movement.

Connections to Tanton, CIS, and FAIR
Various groups, including the Center for International Policy and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have criticized NumbersUSA for maintaining close ties to more traditional immigration reduction groups, including the Center for Immigration Studies and FAIR. Both groups were founded by John Tanton, an environmentalist and immigration reduction advocate with direct financial connections to several hate groups, including the Pioneer Fund, the Social Contract Press (which he edits), and Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Roy Beck worked for John Tanton as a journalist from 1994-2001, and authored many articles for The Social Contract. Roy Beck has distanced his organization from John Tanton in recent years, claiming that NumbersUSA has been independent of Tanton since 2002.

Funding
NumbersUSA consists of a 501(c)(3) private foundation, NumbersUSA Education and Research Foundation, and a 501(c)(4) advocacy and lobbying group, NumbersUSA Action. In 2012, NumbersUSA Education and Research Foundation reported $5,221,503 in total revenue, $5,494,041 in total expenses, and $4,163,123 in net assets; and NumbersUSA Action reported $1,039,623 in total revenue, $1,016,178 in total expenses, and $1,582,726 in net assets.

Roy Beck has personally stated that NumbersUSA "doesn’t get a penny from any foundation or the government.” However, its research branch, which shares office space and a website with the foundation, has taken donations from at least two Scaife foundations: the Colcom Foundation in 2007 and the Sarah Scaife Foundation in 2008. The Sarah Scaife Foundation has donated millions to fund far-right groups such as the Center for Security Policy and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

NumbersUSA and the 2013 Immigration Reform Bill
In 2013, NumbersUSA has played a major role in the anti-immigration reform movement as part of the John Tanton Network. This backlash comes in response to an immigration reform agenda introduced by a bipartisan group of senators in January. NumbersUSA has received over $17 million in donations from a major anti-immigration group called the Colcom Foundation, and $3 million from the Scaife Foundations to help steer their efforts to kill the immigration legislation. In one of their reports, NumbersUSA blames immigration for "sprawl, congestion, overcrowded schools, lost open spaces and increasing restrictions on ... individual liberty caused by the new population explosion." Roy H. Beck, executive director for NumbersUSA, hopes to gather 1.8 million activists to thwart the immigration bill. Says Beck, "The way this bill’s written is perfect for our plan to defeat it. It is adding more foreign workers at every turn, as if we have a labor shortage.”

2011-2012 Ad Campaign
In 2011, NumbersUSA began a national ad campaign, advocating the reduction of legal immigration. The first ad aired during the October 13th Republican Presidential Nomination debated in Las Vegas, Nevada. The second aired in South Carolina in the weeks leading up to the June 21, 2012, South Carolina Republican Presidential primary. Both ads claimed that legal immigrants were being brought in to the country "to take American jobs."

Staff
Key staff as of June 2013:


 * Roy Beck - Executive Director and President
 * Anne Manetas - Deputy Director
 * Jim Robb - Vice President of Operations
 * Rosemary Jenks - Director of Government Relations
 * Grant Newman - Legislative Analyst
 * Chris Chmielenski - Director of Content & Activism
 * Van Esser - Chief of Membership Services
 * Solomon S. Gifford - Director of Technology

Former staff include:
 * Mark Wills - Chief Legislative Analyst
 * Caroline Espinosa - Media Coordinator

Board
"Independent Directors" as of January 2012:


 * Roy H. Beck, Founder, President and CEO
 * C. Gary Gerst, Chairman
 * Laura Gutman
 * Stuart L. Scott
 * Don Weeden
 * Frank Wylie

Former directors include:


 * Marti Dinerstein

Contact Information
1601 N. Kent St., Suite 1100 Arlington, VA 22209 (703) 816-8820 Web: http://www.numbersusa.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/NumbersUSA/129255907131113 Twitter account https://twitter.com/NumbersUSA

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Roy Beck
 * Donald E. Weeden
 * John Tanton
 * John Tanton Network
 * Federation for American Immigration Reform
 * Center for Immigration Studies

External Articles

 * Alfredo Martin Bravo de Rueda Espejo, “The charming racism of NumbersUSA,” Daily Kos, June 6, 2009.
 * John Tanton is the Mastermind Behind the Organized Anti-Immigration Movement - Southern Poverty Law Center, Intelligence Report, Summer 2002, Issue Number: 106