Citizens Against Government Waste often criticizes nonprofit organizations that use tax dollars for political advocacy. The practice forces taxpayers to support political movements that they may disagree with. Recently, CAGW took a look at some of the groups involved in one of today’s most controversial issues, illegal immigration. There is no question that illegal immigrants are a burden on the taxpayer. Illegal immigrants and their children use government services like Medicaid, food stamps, and public schools. Estimates of the net fiscal cost of illegal immigration range from $22 billion to $70 billion annually.
Some organizations that receive government funding advocate for illegal aliens and even helped to coordinate the massive protests against immigration reform, such as the “Day Without Immigrants” held on May 1. The following information was obtained from looking at groups’ 990 tax forms.
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, which helped to organize a huge March 25 rally in Los Angeles, received $495,627 in government funds between July 2003 and June 2004. Tax dollars represent 32 percent of the organization’s $1.56 million budget. The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which participated in the 400,000-plus rally in Chicago and calls for “legalization for everyone,” received $1.5 million from the government in 2004. The amount represents 56 percent of the group’s total revenue.
The New York Immigration Coalition helped to coordinate “human chains” in immigrant commercial districts and calls for extending the right to vote to “lawful permanent residents.” That organization received $341,543 from government sources, 25 percent of their entire revenue of almost $1.4 million. The Latin American Integration Center in Woodside, New York, participated in the May 1 demonstrations and the May 17 “National Lobby Day” for immigration reform. They received $233,817 from taxpayers, 71 percent of their total budget. The Center for Community Change, which helps to fund and organize activities for illegal immigrants, also got help from taxpayers, a total of $621,935 in 2001 and 2002. Casa of Maryland, which actively opposes House immigration bill H.R. 4437 and runs day-laborer centers for illegal aliens, received more than $1 million in government funds, constituting 53 percent of its revenue.
The National Council of La Raza, one of the largest organizations engaged in current immigration reform issues, received $4.2 million from taxpayers. The Farmworker Justice Fund, a subsidiary of La Raza, received $692,665 in government funding almost 60 percent of its total revenue.
Instead of funding groups that encourage illegal activity, the government should be shoring up its effort to secure the border. Federal authorities recently detained, but then released, eight illegal aliens who were acting suspiciously near the Baltimore-Washington International/Thurgood Marshall Airport. The U.S. Border Patrol is notifying the Mexican government where civilian border patrol groups, such as the Minuteman Project, are located.
Most illegal aliens enter the U.S. to seek a better life. But their actions create security and financial problems and undermine the efforts of immigrants who follow proper procedures to become American citizens. The activity calls into question the basic tenet that the U.S. is a “nation of laws.”
Polls indicate that a majority of Americans want an end to illegal immigration. Where Americans split on immigration is how to deal with the illegal aliens that are already in the country. At a minimum, tax dollars should not be used to support political advocacy of illegal activity, no matter what side of the immigration debate ultimately prevails.