LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The University of Michigan’s long-running battle to keep portions of the controversial “Tanton Papers” out of public view is now before the Michigan Supreme Court on an application for leave to appeal, where attorneys for immigration lawyer Hassan Ahmad argue the university is trying to carve out its own exemption from Michigan transparency laws.
The case centers on a massive archive housed at U-M’s Bentley Historical Library tied to late Northern Michigan activist Dr. John Tanton, a longtime Petoskey resident whose writings and organizations helped shape the modern anti-immigration movement in America. Ahmad filed a public records request in 2016 seeking access to the papers, arguing they could shed light on how influential immigration groups were built and coordinated behind the scenes.
Attorneys: U-M keeps changing its argument.
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In a newly filed brief, Ahmad’s legal team claims the university has spent nearly nine years shifting legal theories in an effort to block disclosure under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). According to the filing, U-M first leaned on donor agreements, later raised privacy concerns, and is now arguing that constitutional protections tied to the university’s Board of Regents limit how FOIA applies to the institution. Ahmad’s attorneys accuse the university of effectively seeking “institutional immunity from public accountability.”
Lower courts largely sided with Ahmad earlier this year, ordering the release of thousands of records despite an agreement that originally sought to keep the papers sealed until 2035. Judges ruled that public universities cannot sidestep FOIA through private donor arrangements.
Public records or private archive?
Ahmad’s attorneys argue the records qualify as public documents because they are owned, cataloged, stored, and maintained by the university using taxpayer-supported resources. The filing also notes previous court findings stating sampled documents reviewed during litigation were largely “devoid of intimate, embarrassing, private, or confidential information,” undercutting broader privacy claims made by the university.
Supporters of keeping parts of the archive sealed argue the collection contains sensitive correspondence, donor information, and communications involving living individuals who expected confidentiality.
Who was John Tanton?
Tanton, who died in 2019 at age 85 from Parkinson’s disease, was an ophthalmologist, environmentalist, and immigration activist who founded or helped launch organizations including Federation for American Immigration Reform, Center for Immigration Studies, and NumbersUSA. Critics long accused Tanton of promoting racist and nativist ideas, pointing to writings focused on demographics and preserving a “European-American majority.” One of his most frequently cited
remarks came from a 1986 memo asking, “As Whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night? Or will there be an explosion?”
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Supporters, meanwhile, have argued that Tanton’s focus was on immigration levels, environmental sustainability, and population growth – not race.
The case now puts Michigan’s highest court in the middle of a broader question: when controversial ideas are stored inside a taxpayer-funded university archive, do they belong to history – or to a vault with a “do not open until 2035” sticker slapped on the front?
