Story highlights Experts who monitor hate groups like the KKK say their ranks are as thin as they've ever been

A Klan member from Texas says there's an effort to increase group membership

The director of an institution that studies hate and extremism says even small groups can be a threat to the U.S.

(CNN) Don't call it a comeback, yet.

But if the Texas Knights, a branch of the Ku Klux Klan based in East Texas, get way their way, you could call it that. One recruiter, who asked to be called Henry, says there is a concerted effort to increase their membership.

"There are flier drives, word of mouth, people meeting each other, we reach out to political meetings, to tea party meetings, conservative organizations, everything," Henry told CNN.

Henry says that in the last few months, he has personally recruited over 40 new members to the Texas Knights.

"Our government considers us domestic terrorists, they consider us right-wing extremists. Because of that ... we wear the robe, the hood, to protect our identities and not to make us a bull's-eye or target from FBI."

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