Immigration is a fraught issue, and in recent years dozens of groups have sprung up to advocate for one position or the other, to lobby Congress, to fund candidates, or to fight it out in the courts. With all the vague or patriotic-sounding names, it can get pretty confusing. You might see spokespeople from these organizations quoted as experts in news articles, but sometimes reporters fail to identify a group’s position. This weekly feature will help you become a savvier consumer of immigration news.

This week’s organization, founded and funded by FAIR, litigates against illegal immigration and provides legal advice to anyone claiming injury by illegal immigrants or government immigration policies.

Name: The Immigration Reform Law Institute, or IRLI.

Type: 501(c)(3), an educational charity. IRLI calls itself a “non-profit public interest law firm.” It is officially non-partisan and focuses on the law rather than politics.

Stance: IRLI believes that illegal immigration hurts American citizens.

Activities: IRLI challenges laws it sees as soft on illegal immigration. Since immigration reform at the federal level has not come to pass, IRLI works at the state and local level and on behalf of individuals.

Funding: IRLI receives funding as an affiliate of FAIR (though nothing on IRLI’s site will tell you that). Its lawyers also donate their time, and the group solicits private donations.

Major Players: Kris Kobach, a popular law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, is a one-man legal army for IRLI. In addition to his duties as chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, Kobach has provided legal council to Hazleton, Pa., Farmer’s Branch, Tex., and Valley Park, Mo., defending their illegal immigration ordinances in federal court. He is currently suing San Francisco on behalf of the family of Tony Bologna, who was murdered in that city by an illegal immigrant. You can listen to a News 21 interview with Kobach here. Michael Hethmon, an outspoken immigration hardliner and failed congressional candidate, is IRLI’s director.

Controversy: IRLI uses local lawsuits to fight over national issues, and some in Farmers Branch and Hazleton have bemoaned the fact that litigation costs can be higher than small cities can afford.