Anti-immigration group organized Northwest Montana lawmakers' trip to southern border

Two Northwest Montana lawmakers toured the southern border in March with NumbersUSA, a self-described immigration reform group that organizations who track extremists say is tied to the racist founder of the modern anti-immigration movement. 

State Reps. Steve Gunderson, R-Libby, and Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, were among a small group of Montana legislators to visit the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a trip organized by NumbersUSA. Both said they were unaware of NumbersUSA’s history or reputation.

NumbersUSA has often been described as an anti-immigrant group whose primary goal is pressuring elected officials to reject pro-immigration legislation and immigration reform, according to Stephen Piggot, a researcher and program director at the Western States Center, a Portland, Oregon-based group that tracks extremists.