- NumbersUSA
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NumbersUSA Founder(s) [2] Founded 1997 Location Arlington County, Virginia Key people Roy Beck, Executive Director;
Rosemary Jenks, Government Relations Director[3]Revenue US$ 4.30 million (2007)[3] Endowment US$ 3.43 million [3] Motto For Lower Immigration Levels Website www.numbersusa.com NumbersUSA is an immigration reduction organization that seeks to reduce US immigration levels to pre-1965 levels without country of origin quotas as established in the Immigration Act of 1924. It advocates for immigration reduction through user-generated fax, email, and direct mail campaigns. NumbersUSA also seeks to educate the public about the environmental, social, and economic impacts of immigration policy.
Contents
History
NumbersUSA was founded in 1997 by Roy Beck while he worked for anti-illegal immigration environmental activist John Tanton.[4] Beck says that he started NumbersUSA after he wrote The Case Against Immigration (ISBN 0393039153). In the course of researching the book he tracked many of the problems in the US to immigration.[5] However, Beck says that NumbersUSA has been independent of Tanton since 2002.
NumbersUSA has grown aggressively since its inception. In 2004, it reported 50,000 members.[6] In 2007, it claimed 1.5 million members.[7]
On June 28, 2007, NumbersUSA claimed a victory after a sweeping immigration bill collapsed in the U.S. Senate. The organization's members used information and tools from NumbersUSA to contact legislators and voice opposition.[4]
Activities
NumbersUSA lobbies the executive and legislative branches of the US government for immigration reduction. It takes a multifaceted approach to immigration reform. First, executive staff at NumbersUSA work directly with congress to inform them about the impacts of immigration.[8] Second, NumbersUSA encourages direct civic outreach from its members who can send customizable faxes with pre-written headers to government officials. Members are also encouraged to call their representatives to voice concerns about the adverse consequences of immigration in response to email alerts. Also, it operates Americans for Better Immigration, which scores U.S. representatives and senators on their immigration-related votes.[9]
NumbersUSA is a member of the Coalition for the Future American Worker.[10] It shares Arlington, VA office space with ProEnglish, an organization advocating English as the official language of government in the U.S.[11][12]
NumbersUSA also disseminates resources to educate the public about the effects of current immigration levels.[13]
NumbersUSA ran an ad during the Fox News Republican presidential candidates debate in 2011 which included some of their minority activists and the statement. "The immigration debate should not be about the color of people's skin, or their country of origin, or their religion, or where their grandparents were born, The debate should be about the numbers."[14]
Policies
NumbersUSA's says it is "pro-immigrant" and favors annual immigration of 200,000. On the group's website, Beck cautions against "immigrant bashing" and says, "Even illegal aliens deserve humane treatment as they are detected, detained and deported".[4]
According to Fox News, NumbersUSA is "an organization that presses for lower immigration levels along with humanitarian treatment of illegal immigrants"[15]
Controversy
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) describes NumbersUSA as part of a network of "anti-immigration" organizations created by Tanton.[16] The Wall Street Journal also identifies NumbersUSA as one of a half dozen groups founded or funded by Tanton in order to stop immigration and promote population control.[17] In February of 2009, NumbersUSA was called a nativist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center's report "The Nativist Lobby"[18] - though the SPLC also conceded that there is no evidence of racism on behalf of Roy Beck or his organization.[19] NumbersUSA firmly denies having any racist or extremist views.[20] The position of NumbersUSA is that SPLC has their own agenda and is not an impartial or disinterested organization.[citation needed]
See also
ALIPAC
References
- ^ Pear, Robert (2007-07-15). "Little-Known Group Claims a Win on Immigration". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/us/politics/15immig.html. Retrieved 2008-08-22. "Numbers USA is one of many organizations fostered by John H. Tanton, an ophthalmologist from Michigan who has also championed efforts to protect the environment, limit population growth and promote English as an official language."
- ^ "NumbersUSA staff comment to News21 description (See Comment below the entry". http://news21blog.org/2008/09/03/immigration-organization-of-the-week-numbersusa/. Retrieved 2009-04-10. "After Roy Beck started NumbersUSA with Roy Beck’s own money, John Tanton made some small contributions amounting to less than 0.3% of the total funding of the organization. ... Roy Beck did start NumbersUSA while he worked for John Tanton. But people often start businesses and non-profits while they are working for somebody else. After all, you need to have money coming in while you set things up."
- ^ a b c "NumbersUSA Form 990" (pdf). NumbersUSA. 2007-09-30. http://www.numbersusa.org/forms/irs_form_990.pdf. Retrieved 2009-04-10.[dead link]
- ^ a b c Pear, Robert (2007-07-15). "Little-Known Group Claims a Win on Immigration". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/us/politics/15immig.html. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
- ^ "Roy Beck", Joseph A D'Agostino. Human Events. Washington: Aug 25, 2003. Vol. 59, Iss. 29; pg. 16
- ^ ["http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/us/politics/15immig.html"]
- ^ ["http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2007/12/05/4435261-more-oh-eight-rise-of-the-non-profits"]
- ^ [1]
- ^ Whois lookup for betterimmigration.com
- ^ "Activist calls amnesty a 'slap in the face' to blacks" Lesley Clark. Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. Washington: Apr 27, 2007. pg. 1
- ^ Address of NumbersUSA
- ^ Address of ProEnglish
- ^ ["http://www.numbersusa.com/content/publications/fact-sheets.html-0"]
- ^ North County Times REGION: Groups' TV ad campaigns advocate reducing legal immigration http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_abd27527-9d58-5efb-9fbf-6732b1ca9246.html
- ^ http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/23/lawmakers-warn-administration-plan-unilaterally-grant-blanket-amnesty/#ixzz1aezCU3un
- ^ SPLC's overview of John Tanton's Fundraising Network
- ^ "Borderline Republicans", Wall Street Journal.New York, N.Y.: Jun 17, 2004.
- ^ http://www.splcenter.org/intel/nativist_lobby.jsp
- ^ http://www.splcenter.org/intel/nativist_numbersusa.jsp
- ^ "‘The Nativist Lobby'". The New York Times. 2009-02-04. http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/the-nativist-lobby/. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
External links
- NumbersUSA Education & Research Foundation
- NumbersUSA Action
- NumbersUSA Facebook
- NumbersUSA Twitter
- Americans for Better Immigration
- Change the Numbers
- NumbersUSA YouTune channel
Categories:- Immigration political advocacy groups in the United States
- Non-profit organizations based in the United States
- Sustainability organisations
- Organizations established in 1997
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