On Monday, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in Texas v. United States. The case is the focal point of significant national mobilization from immigrant rights advocates and anti-immigrant activists alike.
The Center for a New Community’s new report details how leaders within an organized movement of anti-immigrant activists have been closely involved in crafting and mobilizing this legal challenge to President Obama’s initiative to grant deferred action to parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents ever since it was announced.
IRLI Beginnings: The Immigration Reform Law Institute and the Anti-Immigrant Origins of Texas v. United States
This is not a new strategy for the anti-immigrant movement, which has long used the legal system to fight for its twin goals of dramatically reduced immigration levels and policies that support attrition through enforcement or outright deportation—all in support of the long-term goal of preserving the United States’ white majority.
The report describes the anti-immigrant legal strategy that the nativist organization Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) has implemented over the past decade, culminating in Texas v. United States.
Over the years, IRLI’s efforts have cost states and municipalities millions in legal fees and decreased revenue. For instance, Farmers Branch, Texas, spent over $7 million defending anti-immigrant legislation drafted by IRLI, and Arizona lost an estimated $141 million in direct spending in the four months following passage of SB 1070, another piece of legislation drafted with IRLI’s support.