RACINE - After barnstorming through southeastern Wisconsin talking about health care reform before returning to Washington D.C., U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is now at the center of the immigration debate back home.

His appearance last month, along with several other members of Congress, at an event in Washington, D.C. has angered members of a local immigrant rights group.

The Milwaukee-based group Voces de la Frontera is organizing local high school students to march outside Ryan's Racine office Tuesday to protest his appearance at the "Hold Their Feet to the Fire" event in September sponsored by the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Organizers said the event was intended "to remind Congress and the new administration that rampant illegal immigration, efforts to grant amnesty, and taxpayer-subsidized health care benefits to millions of law-breakers are hot button issues for the American public.

FAIR has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its position on immigration issues and its founder's views on a wide variety of issues.

Dr. John Tanton, M.D., FAIR's founder and now a member of its board of directors, is the organization's intellectual leader, according to Heidi Beirich, research director for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"He's a central player in the organization. He's not some ancillary guy. He's got this terrible legacy," Beirich said of Tanton, who ran the organization for a few decades and now serves on its board. "Frankly he's an extremist. He's funded white supremacist groups. He's hung out with white supremacists."

Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for FAIR, said the group has a 30-year record working for immigration reform. Mehlman disputed the claims made by the Southern Poverty Law Center that FAIR could be considered a hate group.

"We draw a distinction between immigration policy and immigrants. You have to be able to separate the policy and the people. Even people who are here illegally need to be treated with dignity, but we still need to enforce laws," Mehlman said.

"People are free to disagree, but I don't think it can be legitimately characterized as hateful toward any group of people," Mehlman said.

The members of Voces de la Frontera are upset that Ryan granted an interview to FAIR during the organization's two-day event, which featured talk radio show hosts from around the country who broadcast live from the event, including CNN's Lou Dobbs.

Ryan could not be reached Monday for comment. Ryan's offices in Racine and Washington, D.C. were closed for the Columbus Day holiday.

Tuesday's protest in Racine is being organized by members of two local student groups - Students United for Immigrant Rights and Students United in the Struggle - based at several Racine-area high schools.

"As a Latino student it is insulting to me that Rep. Paul Ryan would provide an interview to FAIR, a group with known ties to white supremacists," said Christian Pacheco, a junior at St. Catherine's High School and member of Students United for Immigrant Rights. "Racine should not be a home for hate and our politicians shouldn't associate with hate groups."