March 20, 2007

Ford Foundation money helped create Jupiter Florida day laborer center (Philip Williams, Manuel Vasquez)

The Ford Foundation knew that its money was used to help create a day laborer center where many of the workers were illegal aliens. Not only that, they've doubled down and given another grant to two University of Florida professors who used Ford Foundation money to help start the center. From a press release:

Building on previous research, two University of Florida professors [Philip Williams, professor of political science, and Manuel Vasquez, professor of religion] will use a $450,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to study social interaction between Latino immigrants and the established Atlanta community, as well as the multiple roles religion plays in shaping immigrant acceptance and incorporation.

...Vasquez [says:] "Immigration is not just a national issue. It's a global issue."

[..."research and outreach programs"... "Focus groups and workshops"... ..."academic publications... pamphlets, media articles and a Web site"...]

...Williams and Vasquez studied the experiences of newly immigrated Latinos in Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach and Jupiter, Fla. for a previous project also funded by the Ford Foundation.

...The researchers worked with the [Jupiter] community to create a labor center that would address the problem, but even that solution was problematic. Many of the day laborers were undocumented immigrants, so the use of local government funds for the project generated controversy.

The professors knew the foundation was pleased with their previous work, and they were encouraged to apply for this second grant, Vasquez said.

Previously:
St. Peter Catholic Church, Jupiter Florida, supports illegal immigration
Jupiter Florida's illegal alien hiring hall coming soon
Jupiter Florida's seamy, corrupt, "liberal" underbelly
The Palm Beach Post goes off the deep end

Posted to Immigration2007a at March 20, 2007 12:33 PM