First Data Immigration Reform panel in Denver (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 inhis opinion, "It was nothing but a racist, open-borders sham, conducted in the name of corporate greed." (See the article Remittances - a Massive Transfer of Wealth, by Fred Elbel in the Spring, 2012 Social Contract.)
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."
In the audience, an American woman whose lineage dated back to the Pilgrims was brutally beaten by a woman who proclaimed in a Spanish accent, “You should leave! This is for us.” Mike McGarry, of Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, was told to “Go back to Ireland.” Nevertheless, after vociferously complaining about the forum’s obvious anti-immigration enforcement bias, he was given an impromptu seat on the panel. Not that it changed First Data’s business model.
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. 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.
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."