For Immediate Release
April 22, 2026
Media Contact: eme@stateinnovation.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the attacks against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), EJ Juárez, Executive Director of State Innovation Exchange (SiX), issued the following response:
"Authoritarians always come for civil rights first.
"The organizations that protect people from hate, discrimination, and violence are increasingly being targeted for doing the very work democracy requires.
"That is what makes this latest escalation against the SPLC so dangerous. For more than 50 years, SPLC has documented hate, exposed violent extremism, and stood up to those who would deny people the right to live, work, vote, learn, love, travel, and simply be themselves free from fear. That work has always mattered. In this moment, it is indispensable.
"This administration understands that in order to consolidate absolute power, it must dismantle civil rights and intimidate the organizations that defend them. That is why it is coming after the civil rights movement. That is why it is targeting groups it sees as adversarial. And that is why SPLC is now the latest target.
"We are watching a deliberate effort to rewrite history in real time. Hate groups are recast as heroes. January 6 insurrectionists are glorified. Longstanding civil rights protections are twisted into claims of discrimination against those who have long held power. The very meaning of terms like “civil rights” and “discrimination” is being inverted to serve an extremist agenda.
"Attacking organizations like SPLC is central to that project. For decades, SPLC has taken on the Klan, white nationalism, bigotry, and anti-democratic extremism, often at enormous risk. Its staff has endured threats and violence because this work threatens those who profit from fear and division. Efforts to criminalize or intimidate civil rights organizations are not about accountability. They are about silencing opposition and clearing the way for deeper attacks on our communities.
"And the harm is not abstract. When the civil rights movement is targeted, people lose real protections in their daily lives. Civil rights advocates train poll workers, defend the right to protest, fight discrimination, staff domestic violence hotlines, support immigrants and workers, and help ensure that vulnerable people can survive and thrive.
"Communities of color, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, women, workers, people with disabilities, and Arab, Muslim, and South Asian communities are already watching hard-won protections be rolled back at every level of government.
"Speaking out is not a crime. Defending people from hate is not a crime. Telling the truth about extremism is not a crime.
"We will not be intimidated, and we will not be silenced. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. The SPLC and the larger civil rights movement exists because people need it, and we are not going anywhere."
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About State Innovation Exchange (SiX)
State Innovation Exchange (SiX) is a national resource and strategy center that supports state legislators in advancing transformative policy and building a more equitable democracy. SiX partners with lawmakers to promote sustainable, people-centered solutions that strengthen communities and improve lives.