U.S. Inc., a white nationalist group that advocates for curtailing immigration, on Monday donated $3,000 to the campaign arm of Oregonians for Immigration Reform, a group financing a ballot measure effort to repeal Oregon's sanctuary state law.

The Oregonians for Immigration Reform campaign committee has donated $7,500 to the Repeal Oregon Sanctuary Law Committee this year, records show. That group is run by three Republican state representatives: Greg Barreto of Cove; Mike Nearman of Independence; and Sal Esquivel of Medford. They're the sponsors of Initiative Petition 22, which would repeal Oregon's sanctuary state law if it gets on the ballot and voters agree.

The initiative calls for repealing in entirety a statute that prevents Oregon law enforcement agencies from enforcing immigration laws if a person's only crime is being in the country illegally.

Jim Ludwick of Oregonians for Immigration Reform.

Cynthia Kendoll, president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform, did not respond to requests for comment. Jim Ludwick, a co-founder and board member, defended taking the donation from U.S. Inc. and criticized groups that label its founders as racists, chiefly the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Accepting money from U.S. Inc. may hurt the Oregon group's efforts to pass the sanctuary state repeal measure, said Jim Moore, a Pacific University professor who studies Oregon politics.

The donation "opens up the signature-gathering group to charges that they are allied with racists," Moore said. "That's going to poison their message."

Ludwick said his group will continue accepting donations to aid in funding the lawmakers' initiative campaign. He said that by persuading voters to overturn the sanctuary state provision, they hope to "force law enforcement agencies to honor the concept of the rule of law."

That campaign is getting a head start on signature gathering due to a new petition rule from Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, also a Republican, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.

The new rule scraps a limit on signature-gathering before an initiative has an official ballot title. Kendoll told OPB that the old rule kept the sanctuary repeal measure off the ballot in previous years.

Reps. Greg Baretto, Sal Esquivel and Mike Nearman are sponsors of an initiative that would repeal Oregon's sanctuary state law.

Under the new rule, groups that lack big-name donors who pay for signature gatherers may have a better shot at putting their initiative on the ballot. That's because they can start gathering signatures while a ballot title is being drafted and finalized by state officials.

U.S. Inc., based in Petosky, Michigan, was founded by John Tanton. A retired ophthalmologist, he is described as "the racist architect of the modern anti-immigrant movement" by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit that monitors hate groups.

"He very much is the puppet master behind America's anti-immigrant movement," said Heidi Beirich, a researcher for the hate group monitor who has studied Tanton's writings. Those works range from discussions of genetic differences between the races to entertaining the use of eugenics to breed people of higher intelligence.

Tanton has denied that he maintains a racial bias and said he donated his papers to the University of Michigan to show he and his followers are "not the unsavory types sometimes alleged," according to The New York Times.

Ludwick, the leader at Oregonians for Immigration Reform, dismissed the hate group watchdog center's research, saying it's a "phony organization." He said that in his view, the center labels conservative activists as racists while turning a blind eye to intolerance among liberals.

A person who answered the phone at U.S. Inc. said the group's executive director, KC McAlpin, was not available for comment. The person also said Tanton, who is featured prominently on the U.S. Inc. web site, is no longer affiliated with the group.

As part of his role leading U.S. Inc., McAlpin also runs ProEnglish, a group founded by Tanton and described on its website as "the nation's leading advocate" of making English the official language of American governments.

Oregonians for Immigration Reform and the lawmakers pushing Initiative Petition 22 have until July of next year to gather the more than 88,000 signatures required to put their measure on the November 2018 ballot.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman