First Data Immigration Reform panel in Denver, July 22, 2004

First Data Corporation, based in the Denver area, hosted a public "immigration reform" forum in Denver on July 22, 2004. This was the fourth such event held in major cities across the country. Although superficially billed as an "immigration reform" panel, the events appear to be targeted marketing events to sell banking and wire transfer services the Hispanic and illegal alien community and to promote open borders legislation.

First Data prevented anyone but open-borders fanatics from formally participating on the forum. Several immigration-reduction advocates and experts contacted First Data and asked to be included on the forum's panel, but they were coldly refused. This so-called "immigration reform" panel was limited exclusively to the usual open-borders immigration radicals and extremists. Fred Elbel, director of Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform stated that in his opinion, "It was nothing but a racist, open-borders sham, conducted in the name of corporate greed."

Finally, honest contempt! As a concerned citizen wrote to the Denver post: "Finally, a corporate leader has come out in the open with his contempt for our nation and its immigration laws. With chief executives such as Charlie Fote and corporations such as First Data Corp. promoting and abetting illegal immigration, we will not have a cohesive nation for long."

The event proceeded with numerous comments from the audience and involved a brutal attack on a citizen by an open borders proponent. Audio of the public event is available upon request. At the end of the attack, about 30 people lined up to ask questions of the panelists. Three questions were allowed, but when the moderator determined that these were not open borders-friendly questions, the forum was shut down and no further questions were allowed.

First Data Corporation is the world's largest provider of money transfers. It's estimated that $30 billion annually in remittances are transferred to foreign countries by their nationals, including illegal aliens, living and working in the US. (See economics). First Data recently made news when it announced it had formed a political action committee to support political candidates whose immigration positions are non-restrictive, and directly oppose immigration reform candidate Tom Tancredo. The company's Colorado offices are in U.S. congressman Tom Tancredo's district, and First Data's chief executive Charlie Fote was openly angry that the Republican congressman suggested the remittances be taxed. (See article Border skirmish).

In March, 2004, Charles Fote, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Colorado's First Data Corporation, established the First Data Empowerment Fund. The first three Empowerment advisory board members are Raul Yzaguirre, president, National Council of La Raza; Salvador Gomez, chairman, Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; and Robert de Posada, president, Latino Coalition.

It appears that under the guise of "immigration reform" Fote and First Data are conspiring with open-borders advocates to break up America, while First Data reaps the profits.

In March, at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., Fote announced that First Data would establish a: "…$10 million commitment to the communities we serve here and abroad. By creating the First Data Empowerment Fund, we are announcing our intention to act as a long-term and active participant in the dialogue relating to critical issues such as immigration reform and economic empowerment."

The audience was mostly Hispanic. The high school where the event was held is predominantly Hispanic. One European-American woman was told to her face: "You should leave. This is for us." Mike McGarry, of Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, was told "Go back to Ireland."		Executive Row. Presumably First Data executives. The empty seat in front was taken by Charlie Fote.
Moderator: Former Congressman Esteban E. Torres on the left; First Data's Charlie Fote at the podium.		As the panelists were introduced, someone in the audience asked "Aren't you going to say the Pledge of Allegiance?" The moderator stuttered and hesitantly agreed.
Introducing the panelists, from left to right: Raul Hinojosa, Lisa Duran, Robert de Posada, Roberto Ramirez, Thomas A. Saenz, Juan Salgado.		First Data's Charlie Fote at the podium.
		Thomas A. Saenz: "And we have found such laws - all racial laws - especially [California's] Proposition 187... we challenged that and found it was unconstitutional. (shouting against audience objections) I will not have you or anyone else tear up the Constitution of the United States!"

The panelists

Juan Salgado, President of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Executive Director of the Instituto del Progreso Latino.

Raúl Hinojosa, Director of Research, North American Integration and Development Center, University of California in Los Angeles.

Thomas A. Sáenz, Vice President of Litigation, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

At the end of the forum, a reception with traditional Mexican food was offered by First Data to the community.

Excerpts

Ricardo ?, Executive Director of the Colorado Civil Rights Coalition, in introductory speech: The purpose of this session tonight is to talk about immigration reform and anybody that is beginning to sound like a heckler will be asked to leave. (Announcement in English and Spanish: there are headsets that have the announcements translated into English and Spanish).

First Data speaker Fred Neihouse, in introductory speech: "As a company that is headquartered in Colorado, we believe that this is one of our top priorities - to reform the immigration laws of this country."

Salvador Gomez, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, in introductory speech: "We are especially fortunate to have Charlie Foote leading the charge on immigration reform."

First Data Chief Executive Charlie Fote: "Tonight this panel will discuss immigration reform. Over the past year, this issue has become one of the top issues in our company and in the country. First Data and Western Union are calling upon all our leaders in the public and private sectors to get a vigorous, bipartisan debate on immigration reform that achieves three things: First, it fully realizes America's democratic values. Secondly, it recognizes the interdependence of U.S. and foreign economies. And third, it ensures that we do this in a mode that enforces our national security." (Time from just after presentation began: 7:52)

Raul Hinojosa: "There are 10 million illegal aliens in this country who need to come out... in a way that recognizes their incredible contribution to the economy... [We need] The creation of a new system where we are actually bringing in the amount of workers we need into the future... - all workers that come into this country come here on a level playing field with full rights... as they come into the country, they would have total economic rights, including access to a bank and bank accounts. (22:25)

Lisa Duran: "In short, our current policy is based on our national security framework, defined solely through fear, that defines immigration as an enforcement problem of people overstaying visas or crossing the border without permission... immigration policy that ceded to an enforcement approach that results in the criminalization of fundamentally human activities such as working, driving a car and moving to keep families together. The enforcement of American immigration policy is also tied to racist and nativist sentiments. [referring to Colorado's Matricula Consular ban]... the words immigrant and illegal, a complete and fundamental misnomer." (30:00)

Roberto de Posada: "The system is broken itself, we are not protecting U.S. workers or Latino workers... What we need to focus on is to make sure that our enforcement mechanisms are not looking at people who are crossing the border to find a job and to focus our attention on criminals, smugglers, drug runners... We really need to focus on what is good for the country." (39.20)

Roberto Ramirez: "I was undocumented for 13 years... my mother brought us here - all nine children... I have my own business... and my people are honest workers... just an opportunity, that's all we need... and the business sector has to be involved." (44:05)

Thomas A. Saenz: "And we have found such laws - all racial laws - especially [California's] Proposition 187... we challenged that and found it was unconstitutional. (shouting against audience objections) I will not have you or anyone else tear up the Constitution of the United States!" (55:47)
We need to address the presence of large numbers of people who have people who... live in the shadows and do not share the rights of others. We need to have a legalization program to reflect our values, including the centrality of family unification... We need to have national enforcement priorities for immigration systems. Currently in California, thousands and thousands of people live in fear because of widespread Border Patrol sweeps. I believe this kind of enforcement activity is not consistent with our values... I believe it is critical that comprehensive immigration reform includes a national principle of non-discrimination against people on the basis of immigration status." (59:43)

Juan Saldago, in response to a question from the audience to please define illegal alien: "I was taught that this is God's land and no one is illegal on God's land." (1:13:00)

Mike McGarry of Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform (allowed to speak for two minutes): "I think this panel is racially and ethnically cleansed, it's one side of the issue... and does not represent the immigration perspective of most Americans! This panel is composed along ethnic, racial and class lines and this presentation is a sham." (50:00:00)

Articles and more information

It's all about the money. Rest assured that First Data's "immigration reform" panels are an attempt to market Western Union's wire transfer services to the illegal alien community.

First Data has tried to counter the criticism by forming a $10 million "Empowerment Fund" for immigrants and staging immigration "reform" panels around the country. But the sessions have emboldened the company's critics and sparked a melee or two. At the panel in July in Denver, a woman was arrested after pummeling an anti-immigration heckler...

Western Union, a check-cashing store that offers money-wiring services, was fined $8 million by the New York Banking Department in December 2002 for violating federal and state banking laws. The state charged Western Union was deficient in keeping records

The First Data Western Union Foundation (FDWU) announced last week a new program to provide educational and financial assistance to Mexican mothers living alone in the state of Oaxaca.... FDWU will send $250,000 to Fundacion AYU, a Mexican nonprofit organization, to provide assistance to women living alone because their husbands are working in the United States....

Article: Border skirmish - Rep. Tancredo's proposals for immigrant remittances draw First Data Corp. into public policy debate, the Denver Post, June 27, 2004.

1. THE EVENT

The panelists

Excerpts

Articles and more information

More pictures