Ford Foundation Funding Groups Against Stricter Border Control

02/18/2003

Fox News: The O'Reilly Factor

O'REILLY: In the "Unresolved Problems" segment tonight, as you may know, a Fox News opinion dynamics poll says 79 percent of Americans favor putting troops along the borders of Mexico and Canada to help the border patrol.

But the Bush Administration, like the Clinton Administration before it, will not move. That's because there's some powerful forces against such an action.

Here to tell us about them is Mr. Dan stein, the executive director of the Federation for American Immigration reform. Mr. Stein is in Washington.

Now, I want to take this methodically so everybody understands. It's pretty complicated.

The Ford Foundation, which is a giant philanthropic group, all right, has given, in the past 30 years, $57 million to five groups that don't want crackdown on the border, is that true?

DAN STEIN, FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM: That's about right.

O'REILLY: I got the stats right here. I got all of the donations. Fifty-seven million dollars. So the Ford Foundation is funding the groups, La Rasa and other groups that I've never heard of.

Tell us about those groups. Who are they? What do they do?

STEIN: All right. The Ford Foundation funds these groups. These groups were effectively created by the Ford Foundation from about 1968 through the 1970s.

The main one is the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. It is a group of grass tops -- lawyers -- radical activist lawyers, who work and litigate to try to intimidate the federal government and state governments using the courts from enforcing immigration laws in the United States. They are the primary litigation arm.

O'REILLY: All right. What...

STEIN: Ford is also...

O'REILLY: What did they want? They want what?

STEIN: What they want is a complete absence of U.S. immigration controls, particularly the U.S./Mexico border. Their strategy has been to create a hollow core strategy where the Border Patrol just becomes this thin line around the U.S. perimeter. But, once people get inside the country, they get full access to public education, benefits, driver's licenses, various documents...

O'REILLY: And are doing this under the humanitarian banner because they feel it's humane to do this?

STEIN: Well, underneath the surface of all these groups is a radical political agenda led by a group called MECHA, which works to re-establish this mythical Chicano state called Aztlan. It -- it's based on the idea that the U.S. is stolen territory.

O'REILLY: But why would the Ford Foundation buy into that kind of radicalism?

STEIN: Well, the last Ford folks from the Ford family stalked off the Ford board, I think, in the 1960s and was taken over by people with radical political agendas. Ford has been pumping hundreds of millions of dollars -- I mean, Ford is so big. They're an $11-billion foundation. They give away like three-million bucks a day, Bill.

So they have built these organizations, La Raza, MALDEF, the National Immigration Forum. They have funded the National Lawyers Guild, which are -- they're a very radical group of attorneys. And they've also funded the Immigration Project...

O'REILLY: All right.

STEIN: ... of the ACLU with the sole and primary objective of destroying U.S. immigration controls.

O'REILLY: All right. So, basically, they want open borders with Mexico. Anybody comes in...

STEIN: Not just Mexico. Anybody from anywhere. They want to make it effectively impossible for the U.S. to smoothly and efficiently control immigration.

O'REILLY: But I don't know...

STEIN: Ford's got...

O'REILLY: I don't know why...

STEIN: Ford's got a lot of money, Bill.

O'REILLY: Yes, I know they do, but I don't...

STEIN: There was...

O'REILLY: ... what -- what good does that do this country?

STEIN: It doesn't...

O'REILLY: It creates chaos and pandemonium.

STEIN: There -- well, there -- through the stream of all of this is a streak of anti-Western bias. MALDEF also works to rewrite American history...

O'REILLY: True.

STEIN: ... challenging Texas's rendition of the Alamo, for example.

O'REILLY: Hey, Mr. Stein, you ought to see how they're coming after me. I mean...

STEIN: Oh, well, you have got to be target number one...

O'REILLY: Yes, I am.

STEIN: ... because you're...

O'REILLY: I'm the biggest target in the world, and they're...

STEIN: You're telling the truth.

O'REILLY: ... because I know what they're up to.

But, anyway -- but I can't figure out what the Ford Foundation wants to accomplish by this. I still don't figure it out.

But, look, how's the -- the ACLU's in with this, too, right?

STEIN: Right. Right. Well...

O'REILLY: Does the American Civil Liberties Union want open borders?

STEIN: The ACLU says that a country like ours has the right to control its borders, but they object to virtually every single proposal of the last 30 years that would improve immigration controls in this country. They have objected, as have all these other organizations, to any effort to reduce immigration, to deport illegal aliens.

LULAC -- see, there were legitimate grassroots Latino and Mexican- American organizations, like LULAC, the League of United Latin-American Citizens, a 1925 patriotic group, promoted the idea of simulation into the American ethic.

O'REILLY: All right.

STEIN: Ford bought them basically in the 1960s, and they were transformed.

O'REILLY: You know, I've got to -- I've got to stop you because we have to take a commercial. I want to bring you back next week.

STEIN: All right.

O'REILLY: We've got to find out why the Ford Foundation is doing this. We have to nail that down.

Mr. Stein, thanks very much. We'll see you next week.

STEIN: My pleasure, Bill.