Federation for American Immigration Reform

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is an anti-immigration group that has been branded a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). FAIR calls itself an "organization of concerned citizens who share a common belief that our nation's immigration policies must be reformed to serve the national interest." It was formed in 1979 by population control advocate and nativist John Tanton, who believes that immigration is a significant part of the US population "problem," and is part of the anti-immigrant John Tanton Network.

In 2011, FAIR reported $6,202,879 in total revenue, $6,130,583 in total expenses, and $10,142,838 in net assets.

Role in Arizona's Anti-Immigrant Law
FAIR played a significant role in drafting Arizona's controversial SB1070 anti-immigrant law, which has been successfully challenged by the US Department of Justice. According to the FAIR website, "FAIR's legal affiliate, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI)[,] assisted [Arizona] Senator Pearce in drafting the language of SB1070."

Designation as a Hate Group
In 2007, the SPLC branded FAIR a hate group, stating that:

"The founder, chief ideologue and long-time funder of FAIR [ John Tanton ] is a racist. Key staff members have ties to white supremacist groups, some are members, and some have spoken at hate group functions. FAIR has accepted more than $1 million from a racist foundation devoted to studies of race and IQ, and to eugenics -- the pseudo-science of breeding a better human race that was utterly discredited by the Nazi euthanasia program. It spreads racist conspiracy theories."

Lobbying Against the 2013 Immigration Reform Bill
In 2013, FAIR has played a major role in fighting the immigration reform bill, part of a proposal introduced by a bipartisan group of senators in January. FAIR has received nearly $15 million in donations from the Colcom Foundation, started by Cordelia Scaife May, a close friend of John Tanton and sister to Richard Scaife of the right-wing Scaife Foundations. FAIR has provided "studies" linking immigration reform to income inequality and crime, and its president, Dan Stein, published an op-ed in Politico in opposition to the immigration bill. However, the evidence Stein cited to support the idea that immigration reform is harmful to the United States was called "wildly misleading, unsubstantiated, or flat-out wrong" by Media Matters for America.

Funding
In 2011, FAIR reported $6,202,879 in total revenue, $6,130,583 in total expenses, and $10,142,838 in net assets.

Funders (from 1986-2007) included:


 * Carthage Foundation: 	$1,954,500
 * F.M. Kirby Foundation: 	$645,000
 * John M. Olin Foundation: 	$30,000
 * Sarah Scaife Foundation: 	$1,075,000
 * Scaife Family Foundation: 	$175,000
 * Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation: 	$25,000
 * Smith Richardson Foundation: 	$65,000
 * William H. Donner Foundation: 	$60,000

Front Groups
Groups that FAIR has created or funded include "You Don't Speak for Me!", Choose Black America, and Coalition for the Future American Worker.

Staff
As of June 2013:


 * Daniel Stein, President
 * Julie Kirchner, Executive Director

Board of Directors
As of June 2013:


 * Roy C. Porter, Chairman
 * Nancy S. Anthony
 * Duane Austin
 * Sharon Barnes
 * Douglas E. Caton
 * William W. Chip
 * Donald Collins, Jr.
 * Sarah G. Epstein
 * Frank Morris
 * Alan N. Weeden

Former directors include:


 * Edith Blodgett
 * Henry M. Buhl, Vice President
 * Pat Choate
 * Stephen B. Swensrud
 * Sidney Swensrud
 * John Tanton

National Board of Advisors
As of June 2013:


 * Hon.Brian Bilbray (Co-Chair)
 * Donald Collins, Sr. (Co-Chair)
 * Hon. Louis Barletta
 * Gwat Bhattacharjie
 * Gerda Bikales
 * J. Bayard Boyle
 * Hugh Brien
 * John Brock
 * Torrey Brown, M.D.
 * Frances Burke, Ph.D.
 * William Collard, Esq
 * Clifford Colwell, M.D.
 * Thomas A. Connolly
 * James R. Dorcy
 * Alfred P. Doyle, M.D.
 * Dino Drudi
 * Paul Egan
 * Bonnie Erb&eacute;
 * Robert Gillespie
 * Otis W. Graham, Jr., Ph.D.
 * Joseph R. Guzzardi
 * Robert E. Hannay
 * Lawrence E. Harrison
 * Marilyn Hempel
 * Dale M. Herder, Ph.D.
 * Diana Hull, Ph.D.
 * Hon. Walter D. Huddleston
 * Diana Hull, Ph.D.
 * Glenn Jackson
 * Mrs. T.N. Jordan
 * Carol Joyal
 * Hon.Richard Lamm
 * Roy C. Lierman
 * Donald Mann
 * K.C. Mcalpin
 * Joel McCleary
 * Scott McConnell
 * James G. McDonald, Esq.
 * Mrs. Carlos G. Morrison
 * Peter Nunez
 * Robert D. Park
 * Fred Pinkham, Ed.D.
 * Bruce S. Reid
 * Teela Roche
 * David M. Schippers, Esq.
 * John Philip Sousa, Iv
 * John Tanton, M.D.
 * Max Thelen, Jr.
 * Hon. Curtin Winsor, Jr.
 * Frosty Wooldridge
 * Robert Zaitlin, M.D.

Former Advisors include:


 * Duke Austin
 * Dorothy R. Blair
 * Cleveland Chandler, Ph.D.
 * William W. Chip, Esq.
 * Jane S. DeLung
 * Carol Dubois
 * Don Feder
 * Frederick W. Guardabassi
 * Edward H. Harte
 * Bonnie Hawley
 * Hon. Fred C. Ikle
 * Alan Kuper, Ph.D.
 * Yeh Ling Ling
 * Henry Luce III
 * Henry Mayer M.D.
 * Helen Milliken
 * Frank Morris, Ph.D.
 * Nita Norman
 * Roy Porter
 * Thor Ramsing
 * Colonel Albert F. Rodriguez, Ret.
 * Charles T. Roth
 * Monica Bell Steensma
 * Joyce Tarnow

Contact Information
Federation for American Immigration Reform 25 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 330 Washington, DC 20001 Phone: 202-328-7004 Fax:   202-387-3447 Web: http://www.fairus.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FAIRImmigration

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * "You Don't Speak for Me!"
 * Choose Black America
 * Coalition for the Future American Worker
 * John Tanton
 * John Tanton Network
 * Center for Immigration Studies
 * NumbersUSA

External Resources

 * RightWeb on FAIR
 * Annon, "Frosty Wooldridge: Nativist, Xenophobe, Fake-Environmentalist, Member of FAIR’s Board of Advisors", Imagine 2050, October 20th, 2011.