If it wasn’t already apparent, Arizona’s anti-immigrant law (which legalizes and mandates racial profiling), is a civil-rights nightmare that is quickly spilling out into other states.

Last week Seth Freed Wessler wrote a chilling article in Colorlines that detailed the political agenda of a far-right movement seeking to use Arizona Senate Bill 1070 as model for the rest of the country. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and its legislative arm, State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI) are drafting and introducing legislation similar to Arizona SB1070 in at least 11 more states. In addition to Wessler’s reporting, other news sources verify that local and state legislators from around the country are actively promoting legislation comparable to Arizona SB1070.

States which have introduced or are attempting to introduce SB1070-type legislation with the help of FAIR and SLLI are South Carolina, Missouri, Maryland, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, and Texas, and all have legislation co-sponsored by members of SLLI (including Rep. Michael Pitts and Rep. Brian Nieves).

In addition, it has been reported that in Minnesota Rep. Steve Drazkowski has introduced a bill which is very similar to Arizona SB1070. In Michigan Rep. Kim Meltzer intends to introduce a bill similar to SB1070 stating, “…it just makes sense for Michigan, with all of its national boundaries, to enact similar security for our citizens.” In Pennsylvania Rep. Daryl Metcalfe has done the same. In regards to his bill, Rep. Metcalfe was quoted in the Washington Times saying that the legislation would provide, “every illegal alien residing in Pennsylvania two options: Leave immediately or go to jail.”

In the same article, The Washington Times also mentioned that there are some legislators who do not think Arizona SB1070 is severe enough. In Oklahoma, Rep. Randy Terrill stated a desire to pass a similar bill and to “go beyond it.” Mr. Terrill mentioned stronger consequences for those undocumented immigrants who own firearms. The Washington Times reports there are also bills similar to SB1070 being considered in North Carolina, Nebraska, and Idaho. Given the fact that there are SLLI members in 35 states – we could be looking at a massive explosion of SB1070 legislation around the country.

It is of course not a coincidence that this legislation is all happening at the same time. Both FAIR and SLLI are members of the John Tanton Network – a group of anti-immigrant organizations which have been founded or funded by John Tanton and which have been strategically pushing legislation like Arizona SB1070 (along with the Immigration Reform Law Institute, the Center for Immigration Studies, and NumbersUSA) for years. John Tanton has been broadly recognized as the man who developed the modern-day anti-immigrant movement and who has well-established ties to white nationalists.

While groups like FAIR, IRLI, and CIS have denied connections to white nationalists in the past their rhetoric often has fueled this movement. Now their legislation may be as well.

For the uninitiated, there are some members of the white nationalist community who have long-sought to create an all-white nation, state or territory – the ultimate in racial segregation. On a recent episode of the Diane Rehm show Mark Krikorian, of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) said something which stuck out,

“What Arizona’s doing may not actually reduce the nation’s illegal immigrant population much, it probably will some, but not much. What it will do though is reduce Arizona’s illegal alien population so illegal immigrants will move to Los Angeles and Salt Lake City instead. Now from a national perspective that’s not obviously the goal that any of us want but it helps Arizona.”

Krikorian’s words have an eerie, familiar ring to them. If Americans do not stand against legislation like SB1070 which is poised to explode around the country, has powerful financial backers, and is fueled by racial hatred, it is clear that they will wake up in a few short months to a country that has taken several steps backwards – losing many of our personal freedoms and civil rights in the process. Even more frightening we may also wake up to a white nationalist’s fantasy – a country where people of color just do not feel welcome anymore.