The suit says that after Brimelow complained about the description of him, the Times performed a “stealth edit” on the online version of the story, removing the word “open” but still branding him as a white nationalist.

Brimelow rejects that label, preferring to be called a “civic nationalist.”

The Times never printed a correction or clarification in the online or print version of the paper, and refused to publish his letters challenging the original description, according to the suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

“We stand by the story and will vigorously defend,” Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said.

Brimelow’s court complaint also contends that the Times aggravated the impact of its initial statement by adding a link to what he calls a “smear piece” in which the Southern Poverty Law Center described him as a “white nationalist” and suggested he harbors white supremacist views.

The Alabama-based watchdog group is not named as a defendant in the suit, but much of Brimelow’s complaint is devoted to complaints — common in conservative circles — that the center’s research is unreliable, politically biased and a thinly disguised fundraising ploy.

Brimelow, a British-born naturalized U.S. citizen who lives in Connecticut, runs the anti-immigration website VDare.com and formerly worked as an editor for Forbes magazine and a columnist for National Review. He acknowledged in his letter to the Times that his VDare website published articles written by “those who aim to defend the interests of whites,” but he said the site has carried a wide range of authors who favor immigration restrictions.

Brimelow’s 1995 book about the dangers of unchecked immigration, “Alien Nation,” served as rallying cry for those who support a crackdown on immigration and prompted reviews in such outlets as the Times. His writings also appear to have had some influence among White House officials devising President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.