The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is laying off more than a quarter of its staff so it can place a greater “focus” on racial justice issues, the nonprofit’s union announced via X on Wednesday.
More than 60 SPLC employees were fired, functionally eliminating the nonprofit’s Learning for Justice program as well as its operation providing free legal representation to immigrants detained in the southern United States, according to the union. The SPLC, alongside other initiatives, publishes an annual “hate map” which places mainstream conservative organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom and Gun Owners of America alongside groups widely regarded as extremists, like the Ku Klux Klan, hampering their ability to fundraise.
“We announced internally the consolidation of certain programs and activities as well as the elimination of others, resulting in staff reductions,” the SPLC said in statement, according to the Alabama Reflector. “This was a difficult but necessary decision to focus and align our work with our programmatic priorities and goals. We deeply value the contributions of all our staff and their commitment to ensuring the promise of equal justice is a reality for all,” it continued. (RELATED: Legal Org Pegs ‘Gays Against Groomers’ As ‘Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate Group’)
The SPLC “failed to explain how eliminating immigrant justice work and anti-racist education work” would advance its mission of racial justice, according to the union.
Learning for Justice, one of the programs the SPLC union says was eliminated as a result of the cuts, provided classroom resources to students on race, class, immigration, gender identity and activism, alongside other topics. One such resource encourages third, fourth and fifth graders to create “social justice” or “diversity” posters.
The SPLC’s union also said that all 16 staff of the organization’s Southern Immigrant Freedom Initiative were fired. The initiative worked “to provide free legal representation to detained immigrants seeking release from detention centers across Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi,” according to the SPLC’s website.
In addition to providing representation for immigrants facing deportation, the SPLC also trained volunteer attorneys seeking to represent illegal immigrants.
Today, @splcenter – an organization with nearly a billion dollars in reserves, given an F rating by CharityWatch for “hoarding” donations – gutted its staff by a quarter.
— SPLC Union (@SPLCUnion) June 12, 2024
The SPLC union notes that the nonprofit has a massive endowment and that it pays its executives well. The SPLC had $711 million in assets and pays its CEO, Margaret Huang, over $450,000 a year, according to its most recent tax filings.
“An organization with this much money has no excuse,” Hannah Gais, an individual identifying as an SPLC employee, said on X.
“As attacks on immigrant communities [and] public education are at an all-time high, Huang has chosen to abandon those individuals,” the union said.
Media Matters, a liberal nonprofit notable for feuding with Elon Musk over his changes to X, also recently laid off at least a dozen staffers following a federal probe and a lawsuit filed by Musk.
The SPLC did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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