Number of Hate Groups Up

Hate groups are multiplying according to the latest study by the Southern Poverty Law Center. For the past eight years the number of hate groups has doubled to 926 nationwide. Forty of them are in Georgia.

"The rise over the last seven to eight years has been driven by exploitation of immigration," says Mark Potok with the Southern Poverty Law Center. "Using that issue they’ve been able to recruit and build new roots.”

Potok says that last year the election of President Barack Obama and the tanking economy fueled the creation of more hate groups.

In Georgia, the groups in the report range from the Ku Klux Klan to neo-confederates like the League of the South. Organizations that make the hate list are those who believe a group of people is inferior based on their characteristics.

Immigrant advocate group moves to Georgia

An immigrant rights group is moving to Georgia to become better advocates. By June first, the Immigrant Justice Project will open its new offices in downtown Atlanta. They had been in Montgomery, Alabama. The group provides legal representation for migrant workers in the South. Project Director Mary Bauer says the move will make it easier for them to assist immigrants throughout the region. The project is part of the Southern Poverty Law Center.