Immigration Reform News 2013: Author of Anti-Immigration Study and Racist Dissertation Resigns from Heritage Foundation

The Heritage Foundation author who'd Ph.D. dissertation claimed Hispanic immigrants have lower IQs than "white natives" has resigned from the organization following an outcry over his previous work.

"Jason Richwine let us know he's decided to resign from his position. He's no longer employed by Heritage. It is our long-standing policy not to discuss internal personnel matters," the conservative think tank said in a statement.

The dissertation came to light after Richwine authored a recent report for the Heritage Foundation overstating the cost of the bipartisan immigration bill currently being debated in the Senate.

Richwine asserted the path to citizenship for many of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country outlined in the bill would cost $6.3 trillion over the next 50 years. Most economists and analysts dismissed the study, saying it projected into the future much farther than was possible with any accuracy while ignoring positive economic contributions from immigration. Again, most experts agree immigration has a net positive effect on the economy.

Heritage disavowed Richwine's earlier dissertation but stood by the conclusion in the immigration report he wrote for them. No word on whether Richwine was forced out at Heritage, but it seems likely considering both Heritage and Richwine's former employer the American Enterprise Institute have been falling over themselves disassociate any of their views from the nationalist, and frankly racist, rhetoric that's come from Richwine over the years.

The abstract to the now famous dissertation:

"The statistical construct known as IQ can reliably estimate general mental ability, or intelligence. The average IQ of immigrants in the United States is substantially lower than that of the white native population, and the difference is likely to persist over several generations. The consequences are a lack of socioeconomic assimilation among low-IQ immigrant groups, more underclass behavior, less social trust, and an increase in the proportion of unskilled workers in the American labor market. Selecting high-IQ immigrants would ameliorate these problems in the U.S., while at the same time benefiting smart potential immigrants who lack educational access in their home countries."

Richwine also wrote several articles for a self-described "nationalist" website. Heritage itself has been undergoing something of a reinvention. Former South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint took over as president at the beginning of the year, and the organization has been more politically involved lately. Perhaps this latest burn will give them pause.