CARSON CITY (AP) – Two white supremacist groups have stepped up recruitment efforts in Nevada, starting chapters following the National Alliance’s battle last year over an anti-immigration billboard near the Las Vegas Strip.

Emergence of the pro-Nazi National Socialist Movement and a group called the Southern Nevada Skinheads is tied to the billboard that read, “Stop Immigration – Join the National Alliance,” critics believe. The sign included the group’s Web site and phone number.

“That billboard has become an icon in the white power movement,” said Cynthia Luria, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

The Southern Nevada Skinheads, which formed last fall, has organized a few events in Las Vegas, including passing out fliers on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, according to the group’s Web site.

It’s unclear how many people make up either the Southern Nevada Skinheads or the National Socialist Movement’s chapter.

Anti-immigration fliers purportedly from the National Socialist Movement were spread in Fallon, about 60 miles southeast of Reno, last month, prompting complaints from more than a dozen residents.

The fliers decried Mexican immigrants and advocated rounding them up and sending them back to Mexico.

The National Socialist Movement’s Web site states that it recently joined forces with the White People’s Party. The party headed by Michael O’Sullivan who opposes affirmative action and illegal immigration, needs 7,914 signatures by Aug. 11 to become a recognized political party in this state.

Paperwork for the political party was filed with the secretary of state’s office last year by the National Vanguard, which is linked to the National Alliance.