Wealthy donors fund immigration movement

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ONLINE EXCLUSIVE:

Wealthy philanthropic foundations are helping bankroll the pro-immigration movement, while groups advocating for tighter control of U.S. borders say they take a more grassroots approach to raising money.

The Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation and Democratic activist George Soros, among other liberal funders, have donated millions of dollars to pro-immigration groups, as the Senate continues its debate on a contentious bill that would overhaul the nation's immigration policy.

Three of the nation's biggest and most influential pro-immigration groups -- the National Immigration Forum, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, and the National Council of La Raza, or NCLR -- collectively received more than $3.25 million from Ford Foundation since 2005.

The three advocacy groups generally support the proposed Senate bill -- with some modifications -- that would give the estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the U.S. a path to citizenship. The bill also would allow aliens here to be bring close family members into the county.

But groups supporting stronger immigration policy and tighter border control say they rely more on small donations from individuals than large foundations.

Numbers USA, which says it has 366,000 members, saw its membership grow 50 percent since Jan. 1, and 18 percent in May, spokeswoman Caroline Espinosa said. Two-thirds of the group's financial support comes from private individuals, with the average donation being $40.

"Contrary to what might be popular belief is that the grass-roots aspect is more on our side than the [pro-immmigration] side," Mrs. Espinosa said. "They have more of these organized, established types of groups founding them and driving their activism."

John Tanton, a retired small-town Michigan ophthalmologist who helped organize Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Numbers USA and the Center for Immigration Studies, says money along won't win the immigration debate.

"Money can be a help, but it also can be a hindrance," he said. "If you don't have to go out and meet the public and get shouted at and get direct mail survey rejected, then you won't know about the pulse of the public."