Research & Analysis

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20 Results

Diverse and Complex Narratives Cultivate Empathy and Action

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Image of a protest from NBC's Superstore TV show.

November 10, 2020 How people are portrayed on television – matters. Increasingly diverse storylines, characters and content creators are widely seen as positive, but how is this trend affecting the prevalence of stereotypes in our culture? Is it increasing our ability to empathize and act? In a recent study, Define American and USC’s Norman Lear Center examined depictions of immigrants on television and the impact of those portrayals. The study examined depictions of 129 unique…

November 10, 2020

Supporting #AllOfUS Means Supporting Immigrants During COVID-19

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Immigration -- President Obama's Executive Order

April 29, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has us all scared. This has fueled the spread of misinformation, racism, and antisemitism. The resulting vitriol and scapegoating has targeted immigrants as well. We must not allow the spread of the virus and necessary physical separation to sow philosophical division among us and lead to policies that harm those most vulnerable, including immigrants. It is going to take all of us banding together to come out the other side of this. That’s why…

April 29, 2020

The History and Impact of Child-Family Separations

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Hidden Children of the Holocaust open up about border situation – say policy separating migrant children from parents is unconscionable.

August 14, 2019 It happened again. As the nation watched, children were separated from their families—this time in Mississippi. ICE Raid at Mississippi Worksites It was the first day of school in several small towns in Mississippi. While children met their new teachers and went about their day, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted the largest single-state workplace raid in history. ICE officers targeted seven Mississippi chicken processing…

August 14, 2019

White Supremacist’s Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Echoes Comments from Public Figures

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August 08, 2019 Patrick Crusius, the white supremacist allegedly behind the August 3 massacre in El Paso, Texas, was very clear about his rationale for committing this act of violence. In an online screed titled, “The Inconvenient Truth,” he wrote, “This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas… I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion.” These words echo what we’ve heard in recent…

August 08, 2019

White Supremacists Increase Efforts to Recruit on College Campuses

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June 28, 2019 Edition: June 27, 2019 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 White supremacists increased college campus recruiting efforts with more propaganda distributions for the third straight year. ADL and partners are teaming up in an initiative to help redirect those seeking extremist content on the internet to material that exposes the falsehoods of these hateful movements. In a victory for immigration advocates, the Supreme Court ruled the Trump Administration cannot, for now, include the…

June 28, 2019

A Nation of Immigrants: The Timeless Words of President John F. Kennedy serve as a message for today

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A Nation of Immigrants: The Timeless Words of President Kennedy are a Message for Today

May 29, 2019 President John F. Kennedy was born 102 years ago today. His dedication to upholding the American ideal of a “nation of immigrants” catalyzed the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which eliminated the national origin quota system. ADL and Harper Perennial released the 60th Anniversary edition of President Kennedy’s book, A Nation of Immigrants, last year. His words are evergreen and remind us how a diversity of faiths, nationalities and…

May 29, 2019

Arrest of United Constitutional Patriots Leader Renews Concerns Over Border Vigilantes

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April 25, 2019 On April 20, FBI agents arrested a New Mexico border vigilante leader, Larry Mitchell Hopkins (aka “Johnny Horton, Jr.”) on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The arrest occurred just days after members of Hopkins’ group, the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP), attracted considerable attention and condemnation for detaining at gunpoint several hundred asylum-seeking migrants and families crossing the border near El Paso, Texas. The two…

April 25, 2019

"Remain in Mexico" Policy Must End.

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March 26, 2019 In January, the Trump Administration announced a new and unprecedented attack on asylum seekers and migrants. On the heels of its effort to institute an asylum ban -- denying asylum protections for those seeking entry to the U.S. outside regular processing at ports of entry, the administration implemented “Migrant Protection Protocols.” Also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, this new approach sends migrants seeking asylum back to Mexico to…

March 26, 2019

White Supremacists to Hold "Build the Wall" Rally in Greenville, SC

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October 11, 2018 The neo-Confederate South Carolina Conservative Action Council (SCCAC) will hold a “Build the Wall” rally on Saturday, October 13 at the Federal Building in Greenville, South Carolina. They will be joined by members of the Nationalist Liberty Union, a small, relatively new, white supremacist group based in Georgia. SCCAC is a neo-Confederate organization led by William G. Carter III, who also acts as the editor of the group’s newspaper, The…

October 11, 2018

Contrarrestando la Ola de Odio Contra la Comunidad Latina

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July 03, 2018 La comunidad latina en Estados Unidos está lidiando con una ola anti-inmigrante. Este odio se manifiesta de diversas maneras incluyendo el acoso que sufren alumnos cuando les gritan “construye el muro” durante juegos deportivos, cuando estudiantes juegan un juego que llaman “La Migra” donde pretenden ser agentes de ICE y deportar a otros que actúan a ser migrantes, en fiestas universitarias de disfraces donde estudiantes se visten como…

July 03, 2018

How We're Countering the Wave of Hate Against Latinos

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June 21, 2018 The Latino community in the United States has increasingly been on the receiving end of anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric fueled by hate. Hate rears its ugly head in many ways, including bullying in schools where students chant “build the wall” at sporting events, play a game called “La Migra,” where students pretend to be ICE agents and deport students acting as immigrants, and in college costume parties where students dress like maids and gardeners,…

June 21, 2018

Brigitte Gabriel Continues Years-Long Campaign of Islamophobia

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June 15, 2018 In May 2018, Brigitte Gabriel, the founder and head of ACT for America, the country’s largest anti-Muslim organization, continued her years-long campaign of Islamophobia when she accused “Islamic immigrants” of being rapists and pedophiles. Gabriel was speaking to Newsmax’s Brett Winterble about Tommy Robinson, a founder of the far-right English Defense League and a major anti-Muslim bigot, who was sentenced to thirteen months in jail after filming…

June 15, 2018

Far Right Trolls Recast “No Means No” and “My Body My Choice” as Anti-Immigrant Memes

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January 30, 2018 At a time when women have become increasingly vocal in addressing critical issues like sexual harassment and sexual violence, reproductive rights, workplace opportunity and equal pay, a group of far right trolls have deliberately appropriated slogans from the women’s movement in service of their own xenophobic cause. The far right campaign appropriates “No Means No” and recasts “My Body My Choice” as “My Borders My Choice.” …

January 30, 2018

White Supremacists Praise Trump's Inflammatory Immigration Remarks

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Richard Spencer Norway, Trump Immigration

January 12, 2018 White supremacists expressed delight online after President Trump’s reported remarks about “shithole” majority black countries. Mr. Trump made the comments Thursday afternoon during a White House meeting about immigration, asking the assembled group of Senators and Representatives why he would want “all these people from shithole countries,” referring to African nations and Haiti, adding that the United States should admit more people from…

January 12, 2018

Extreme Anti-Immigrant Groups Oppose Mass. Bill to Protect Immigrant Rights

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June 16, 2017 A recent hearing on a legislative proposal in Massachusetts that would ensure that state and local resources are not used for federal immigration enforcement attracted hundreds of activists and community members, packing two hearing rooms. Immigrants and advocates in support of the Massachusetts Safe Communities Act spoke to the fear and distrust of local law enforcement that resonates in immigrant communities particularly with current federal immigration policies, deterring…

June 16, 2017

Listen to the Voices of Immigrant and Muslim Youth

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April 04, 2017 The past two years have been challenging for certain groups of people, especially those targeted during the 2016 presidential election campaign with taunts, verbal attacks, name-calling and threats. Now that the election is over, those threats have resulted in proposed policy, legislation and executive orders affecting those very same people. This has left many—especially immigrants and Muslim people—feeling fearful, on edge, marginalized and worried about their…

April 04, 2017

Teachable Moments Abound in Khizr Khan’s Convention Speech

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by: Jinnie Spiegler August 04, 2016 On the final night at the Democratic National Convention, a Muslim American couple named Khizr and Ghazala Khan came to the stage and delivered a patriotic speech about their son, a U.S. Army Captain who died in 2004 in Iraq serving his country. Khizr Khan, as his wife looked on, spoke for a mere six minutes. The speech was so riveting that the discussion about it continued into the next day and beyond, many people calling it was one of the…

August 04, 2016

Turning Current Events Instruction Into Social Justice Teaching

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by: David Robbins March 11, 2016 Jinnie Spiegler Director of Curriculum, Anti-Defamation League This blog originally appeared on Edutopia Marriage equality, refugees seeking safety in Europe, the Confederate flag, police shootings of black and Latino men, the presidential election, Caitlyn Jenner, ISIS, and immigration are just a few of the news stories that inhabited the headlines this year on our phones, laptops, and newspapers. Unlike 20 years ago when…

March 11, 2016

Bring Malala, Ferguson, Unaccompanied Minors and Ebola into the Classroom

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by: Oren Segal December 17, 2014 Malala. Ferguson. Immigration. Ebola. Voter ID Laws. Climate Change. These are just a few of the topics teachers are regularly and actively bringing into their classrooms. Whether they teach English, Social Studies, Advisory or another subject and whether they have five minutes or decide to do a week- long study, teachers know that topics in the news will engage and interest students in a deep and meaningful way. Research…

December 17, 2014

Challenging Anti-Immigrant Bias with Education

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by: Mark Onofrio February 07, 2014 Criticism of immigrant policy is not an excuse to undermine the humanity of others with the kind of vitriol that dominated the internet, especially Twitter, after the Atlanta-based Coca Cola Company aired a commercial with “America the Beautiful,” sung in different languages and featuring a diversity of people during the Super Bowl. The term immigrant is a descriptor, not a slur. However, it is often used in a pejorative way. For those who are…

February 07, 2014