Left-Wing Legal Org Guts Staff To Allow Greater ‘Focus’ On Racial Justice, Union Says

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.

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