maldef

MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund)

Far-left racial power group that strongly supports illegal immigration. Name stands for "Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund" (maldef.org). Has received millions from the Ford Foundation since their founding in 1968 link. Their president Thomas Saenz had been under consideration to join the Barack Obama administration but wasn't selected, perhaps because he was considered too far-left. Their former president John Trasvina was selected for the Obama administration and currently serves as Assistant Secretary of HUD.

According to this, in 2005 this was their board of directors:

  • Joseph Stern: Chair
  • Herlinda Garcia:1st Vice Chair
  • Carlos Montoya:2nd Vice Chair
  • Barbara Aldave:3rd Vice Chair
  • Don Pierce:Secretary/Treasurer & Fundraising Committee Chair
  • [[Thomas B. Reston]]:Program & Planning Committee Chair
  • Gilberto Cardenas:Community Education & Leadership Development Committee Chair
  • Ann Marie Wheelock:Personnel & Nominations Committee Chair
  • Antonia Hermandez:President & General Counsel
  • [[Frank Herrera, Jr.]]:Chair, MALDEF Property Management Corp.

Members:

  • Barbara Aldave
  • [[Edward J. Avila]]
  • Mike Baller
  • Norma Cantu
  • [[Anna C. Carbonell]]
  • Gilberto Cardenas
  • Cecilia Chavez-Protas
  • Roberto Cruz
  • Liz Figueroa
  • Herlinda Garcia
  • [[Frank Herrera, Jr.]]
  • [[Robert M. Herzberg]]
  • Federico Jimenez
  • [[Leslie M. Kantor]]
  • [[Arnold J. Kleiner]]
  • Manuel Martinez
  • [[Carlos X. Montoya]]
  • [[Michael A. Olivas]]
  • Norma Orci
  • Don Pierce
  • [[Frank J. Quevedo]]
  • [[Carlos M. Quinones]]
  • Guadalupe Rangel
  • Jesus Rangel
  • [[Thomas B. Reston]]
  • Mat Rezvani
  • [[Jose R. Rodriguez]]
  • Maria Saldana
  • Andrew Segovia
  • Maritza Soto Keen
  • Luis Stelzner
  • Joseph Stern
  • Peter Villegas
  • Ann Marie Wheelock
  • Sam Zamarripa
Last modified Sep 7, 2014
Discussed in (click each link for the full post):

ACLU, SEIU, SPLC, NILC, MALDEF, PRLDEF sue South Carolina over new immigration law - 10/12/11

Just as they have in other states, a coalition of far-left, illegal immigration-supporting groups have sued South Carolina over that state's new Arizona-style immigration law. The groups involved in this case are:

Dozens of pro-illegal immigration groups were invited to Obama's mini-amnesty rollout and you weren't - 08/25/11

On August 18, Barack Obama's Department of Homeland Security announced an administrative amnesty that could cover 300,000 or more illegal aliens.

Supreme Court upholds 2007 Arizona immigration enforcement law; eVerify; losing: US Chamber, DOJ, Berman, NCLR, ADL, SPLC, AILA, SEIU, LULAC - 05/26/11

In a major victory for states that want to reduce illegal immigration, the US Supreme Court has upheld Arizona's 2007 "Legal Arizona Workers Act" employer enforcement law that requires the use of eVerify and that allows Arizona to pull the business licenses of companies that knowingly hire illegal aliens. Note that the 2007 law and the decision have no relation to Arizona's more recent immigration law. A Los Angeles Times article is here, and links to legal documents are here. Sonia Sotomayor voted in dissent; see her name's link. Those who opposed Arizona's law in court and who lost today...

Illegal aliens can get in-state college tuition, California Supreme Court says (ACLU, MALDEF) - 11/16/10

Yesterday the California Supreme Court ruled [1] that illegal aliens and others can receive the in-state tuition rate at California colleges provided that they've attended California high schools for three or more years. They thus upheld AB 540, also known as the "California DREAM Act". Both of those are anti-American bills that allow illegal aliens to take college educations away from U.S. citizens. They're bad policy for other reasons too: they encourage illegal immigration and braindrain foreign countries. See the last link for the details. All of this could have been prevented if people...

Brown-Whitman 10/02/10 debate: a very disturbing view of California's future - 10/05/10

It's a good thing I didn't watch Saturday's Jerry Brown / Meg Whitman debate in the California governor's race: I might have ended up defenestrating the TV. The debate provides a very disturbing preview of the Quebec-style future of California and ultimately the U.S.

City ordinance on day laborers soliciting work is constitutional: appeals court - 06/10/10

From this: A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld the city of Redondo Beach's ordinance allowing for the arrest of day laborers who approach automobiles soliciting work. A divided three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower-court decision. The appeals court said the city's ordinance, modeled after a Phoenix law upheld by the same court, was a reasonable response to traffic problems that officials said day laborers soliciting work caused at two city intersections. The 2-1 majority noted that Redondo Beach allowed the day laborers an alternative forum to...

ACLU, SEIU, MALDEF, NAACP, UFCW, NILC sue to block Arizona immigration law (two Mexico links) - 05/17/10

A group of far-left illegal immigration supporters - including the American Civil Liberties Union, a group that's directly collaborating with the Mexican government - filed a suit today to block the Arizona immigration law from going into effect.

Alessandra Soler Meetze lies about Arizona immigration law (ACLU of Arizona, +Dolores Huerta) - 04/29/10

Earlier today, the American Civil Liberties Union (national and Arizona branch), MALDEF, the National Immigration Law Center, Dolores Huerta, Richard Chavez (brother of Cesar Chavez), and Linda Ronstadt (?) held a news conference in Phoenix to protest the new Arizona immigration law and to announce that they'll be mounting a legal challenge (full press release here). At the event, Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona lied about the law: "This law will only make the rampant racial profiling of Latinos that is already going on in Arizona much worse... If this law...

Brewer signs Arizona immigration law; far-left begins opposition (MALDEF, America's Voice, Phil Gordon) - 04/23/10

Earlier today, Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed into law the tough immigration bill from Russell Pearce (link).

NILC, ACLU, AILA, NCLR, Schey, hundreds more demand Obama ends 287g program - 08/27/09

Continuing their campaign against the 287g program, the American Civil Liberties Union - a group that is/was directly collaborating with the Mexican government - informs us that they and about 500 other groups have sent a letter to

Napolitano immigration meeting: you weren't represented (vast # of loose borders groups, Obama/Janet anti-287g) - 08/20/09

Earlier today, Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security held a closed-door meeting with a group of what she calls "stakeholders" (dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1250792978709.shtm) but was actually a vast pantheon (see below) of far-left, racial power, corrupt business, and in general loose borders groups all of which want some form of comprehensive immigration reform, aka amnesty. There were at least 98 participants in the meeting, and none of them represent your interests or the interests of the great majority of American citizens. Why exactly they'd hold the meeting isn't clear;...

ACLU sues Sheriff Joe Arpaio for alleged racial profiling (Dan Pochoda) - 08/19/09

The American Civil Liberties Union - an organization that is/was collaborating with the Mexican government in a scheme that would help that government profit from illegal activity inside the U.S. - is suing Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio for alleged racial profiling and related issues (aclu.org/immigrants/workplace/40777prs20090819.html). According to the ACLU, a father and son - the first a long-term legal resident, the second a U.S. citizen - were detained by Arpaio's deputies while they were conducting an immigration raid at a business: The lawsuit charges that the MCSO...

Thomas Saenz: new president of MALDEF (Villaraigosa, Obama's DOJ, support for illegal immigration) - 07/16/09

Thomas Saenz - current chief counsel to Los Angeles City mayor Antonio Villaraigosa - has been selected to be the new president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). He was under consideration to head the civil rights division of the Department of Justice until that was withdrawn due perhaps to him and his affiliations being a bit too on the extreme side. Under his leadership, MALDEF will continue their strong support for illegal immigration. Per Phil Willon of the Los Angeles Times (link): Among his priorities as head of the Latino civil...

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights supports illegal immigration, misleads about hate crimes (SPLC, MALDEF, ADL, NCLR, NHMC...) - 06/19/09

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights has released a new report called "Confronting the New Faces of Hate: Hate Crimes in America 2009" [1]. It's the latest salvo in the attempt by several far-left groups to support massive illegal immigration and to silence their critics. They name-check several of those groups, but their exact involvement in the report isn't clear; the mentions might just be boilerplate. For just one example of how the LCCR is attempting to mislead, see the attached picture. The ominous-looking graph on the top (from the LCCR) shows anti-Hispanic hate crimes from 2003...

Harry Reid says want immigration "reform" this year; NCLR, MALDEF; business-friendly guest worker plan; promotes unrealistic chain migration - 06/04/09

Earlier today, Harry Reid met with MALDEF and the National Council of La Raza, presumably to discuss comprehensive immigration reform. Before or after, speaking to reporters, he said this: "As far as I’m concerned, we have three major issues we have to do this year, if at all possible: No. 1 is healthcare; No 2 is energy, global warming; No. 3 is immigration reform... It’s going to happen this session, but I want it this year, if at all possible... ...We need (a guest workers plan not just in agriculture but) in the food industry; we need it in the tourism [business] Aside from a massive...

DOJ blocks Georgia from checking citizenship of voters; GA has evidence of non-citizen voting - 06/02/09

From this press release from Karen Handel, Secretary of State of Georgia: "The decision by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to deny preclearance of Georgia’s already implemented citizenship verification process shows a shocking disregard for the integrity of our elections. With this decision, DOJ has now barred Georgia from continuing the citizenship verification program that DOJ lawyers helped to craft. DOJ’s decision also nullifies the orders of two federal courts directing Georgia to implement the procedure for the 2008 general election. The decision comes seven months after Georgia...

Mesa Police chief George Gascon to pay for DC trip out of own funds, refunds "immigration reform" group - 04/12/09

Earlier this month, Mesa, Arizona police chief George Gascon testified before Congress about his opposition to the 287g program. His testimony was sought by Rep. John Conyers and arranged through the agency of county supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. Hiis trip to DC was paid for by what he called at the time a "group of nonprofit organizations that are seeking immigration reform". This caused a firestorm of protest, and now Gascon has decided to return the money, pay for the trip out of his own pocket, and count the time he spent in DC against his vacation time (link). Now, here's something...

Jerry Gonzalez of GALEO on Georgia's "anti-immigrant" views - 04/02/09

Jerry Gonzalez - a former MALDEF Legislative Policy Analyst now with the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials takes to the pages of the Atlanta Journal Constitution with "Anti-immigrant view hurts state" (

John Trasvina of MALDEF named to Obama administration (HUD assistant secretary) - 03/29/09

John Trasvina - president of the strongly pro-illegal immigration group MALDEF - has been nominated to the Obama administration. His title is "Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)". This follows the de-appointment of his co-worker Thomas Saenz to another post. There's more on the FHEO office here: hud.gov/offices/fheo/aboutfheo/aboutfheo.cfm Among other things, they: ...manage the Fair Housing Assistance Program, administer the award and management of Fair Housing Initiatives Program grants, and propose fair housing...

Thomas Saenz of MALDEF is new DOJ civil rights division chief (Villaraigosa) - 02/24/09

Per the Los Angeles Daily Journal (reblogged by the WSJ here), the new head of the civil rights division at the Department of Justice is Thomas Saenz. For about a dozen years, Saenz worked as an attorney for the far-left, illegal immigration-supporting Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), and lately he was of counsel to the far-left, illegal immigration-supporting mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa. Needless to say, the ACLU cheered the news: "I don’t think the president or attorney general could make a better selection," said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of...

NDN admits: Census padding with non-citizens to gain race-based power ("Latinos" meet in DC; redistricting) - 01/19/09

Fernanda Santos of the New York Times offers "Immigration Tops Latinos' Wish List at D.C. Meeting" (link), discussing a meeting held today in Washington DC featuring John Trasvina of MALDEF, Rosa Rosales of the League of United Latin American Citizens, and Simon Rosenberg of the New Democratic Network. As could be expected, it falsely assumes that those racial-power-seeking leaders represent all Hispanics ("[MALDEF] hosted the event, the second annual Latino State of the Union, a gathering of advocates, civil rights activists and lawmakers representing the interests of the Latino community...

"Legal Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act" (Lincoln Diaz-Balart, NCLR, SCHIP) - 01/19/09

Rep. Lincoln Diaz Balart has introduced "Legal Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act of 2009" ("LICHIA", HR319, H.R.319, link) which would add coverage for immigrant children and pregnant women to the SCHIP bill. Legal immigrants aren't able to obtain those benefits for five years.

Rights Working Group wants immigration enforcement moratorium and much more (ACLU, NCLR, 248 others) - 01/09/09

The Asian American Justice Center runs the Rights Working Group, a coalition of over 250 leftwing groups, and they have a petition calling on Barack Obama to in effect not do immigration enforcement. They want a "moratorium" while the subject of raids and the like is "studied", but everyone knows what that means.

NCLR, LULAC, MALDEF, SEIU, LNHI: universal healthcare for illegal aliens (Latino Agenda for Healthcare Reform) - 12/23/08

On December 12, the group Latinos for National Health Insurance (LNHI, president Jaime Torres) convened a meeting in Washington DC where they and a host of other groups created a coalition called the Latino Agenda for Healthcare Reform. They called for an end to a supposed disparity in healthcare coverage between Hispanics and other groups. And, they also demanded "access to high quality, culturally and linguistically competent care to every man, woman and child who lives in the United States and its territories". In other words, they want universal healthcare to include illegal aliens....

"Latinos push for Cabinet posts": NCLR, MALDEF, NALEO trying to embed supporters in Obama administration - 11/07/08

"Latinos" want to be named to positions in the Barack Obama administration. Actually, it appears they want a quota system. And, it's not really "Latinos" as a group, but the familiar far-left pressure groups such as the NCLR, MALDEF, and NALEO. The second has an indirect link to the Mexican government, and the last has a direct link. The ethnic boosting "reporter" Gebe Martinez of the Politico offers "Latinos push for Cabinet posts" (link). Here's the quota bit: Weeks before Barack Obama won the presidency, he met privately in Washington with his former Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary...

NCLR, LULAC, MALDEF, NALEO, SVREP send letter to John McCain about immigration - 09/02/08

John McCain is too corrupt to stand up to the far-left and those who support illegal immigration, prefering instead - like Bush - to court those who will never support him.

Ask John McCain about the impacts of amnesty ("comprehensive immigration reform") - 08/30/08

Here's a question you're urged to ask John McCain at one of his public events. Make sure and videotape the question and the answer, and then upload it to Youtube and other sites. If anyone asks this I can provide follow-ups, and of course feel free to adapt it to your speaking style or remove parts of the first paragraph as necessary: Senator McCain: the immigration "reform" you support will give a great deal of political power to groups on the far-left (ACLU, SPLC), racial power groups (NCLR, LULAC, MALDEF), the Democrats, the Mexican government, and others.

John Trasvina of MALDEF lists his demands - 07/20/08

Discussing the National Latino Congreso, Teresa Watanabe of the Los Angeles Times says: John Trasvina, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund [MALDEF], said he wanted to see

Mexico-linked ACLU, MALDEF, Steptoe & Johnson sue Sheriff Joe Arpaio for "profiling" - 07/17/08

As part of an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio takes part in enforcing immigration laws; ICE has given his efforts a clean bill of health.

Rep. Chris Cannon loses in Utah! (Jason Chaffetz) - 06/24/08

Illegal immigration-supporting hack and Republican Congressman from Utah Chris Cannon will lose the primary election to Jason Chaffetz. With over 80% of the votes counted at post time, Chaffetz leads 60% to about 40%, so it's safe to call. There are about forty posts at this site mentioning Cannon; use the search function to see them all.

MALDEF's "Truth in Immigration" misleads about 14th Amendment quote (Lamar Smith) - 06/03/08

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) has at least an indirect link to the Mexican government, and they run a website called "Truth in Immigration" (TII) which, as we'll see, is a misnomer. Their "Fear-mongering in Congress" (truthinimmigration.org/CompleteStory.aspx?sid=55) discusses an attempt by Rep.

Washington Times sinks to supporting John McCain, amnesty - 05/08/08

The Washington Times - last seen imposing new, euphemism-friendly guidelines - offers the editorial "McCain's quest for the Hispanic vote".

ACLU now working with Mexican government - 04/22/08

The San Diego chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is now working with directly with Mexico's Human Rights Commission, a quasi-governmental group that's independent from but funded by the Mexican government. The ACLU is a very strong supporter of illegal immigration but in the past the only known link between them and the Mexican government was indirect. Any future news report on the ACLU's efforts regarding immigration should mention their new direct link, and if it doesn't please contact the news source's editor. They should also be asked about this at public meetings or...

Phoenix mayor Phil Gordon files FBI complaint over Joe Arpaio raids - 04/13/08

In his effort to support illegal immigration and perhaps just gain some fame, Phoenix mayor Phil Gordon now wants the FBI to investigate Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio over whether any civil rights laws were broken civil rights laws during his recent immigration sweeps (link). In the letter, Gordon race baits, does something no one should do and relies on the characterization of an Arizona Republic editorial ("guilty of looking latino", link), and he also apparently included other news reports which may be biased as well. He includes one example of a suit that's already been filed, and...

Barack Obama misleads, smears Middle America - 04/11/08

Speaking in San Francisco at a fundraiser for the wealthy (and in Marin County no less; pictures of his tour here), Barack Obama smeared Pennsylvanians and others by saying:

Otero County, New Mexico capitulates to ACLU, MALDEF - 04/09/08

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund - two groups indirectly linked to the Mexican government - sued New Mexico's Otero County Sheriff's Department over immigration raids that occurred in that county.

James Parks/AFL-CIO, Jennifer Ludden/NPR promote bad, inhumane public policy, illegal immigration - 04/08/08

Jennifer Ludden of National Public Radio (NPR) offers a two-part series about those deported from the U.S. to El Salvador in "Deportee Back Home After Near-Death Trip to U.S." (npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89383189) and "Deportee a Stranger in His Homeland" (npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89431942). To a certain extent they're both cautionary tales illustrating why people shouldn't try to come to the U.S. illegally. And, they're also both largely pointless and shallow character sketches.

MALDEF: Truth in Immigration website - 03/21/08

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), has launched a new website called "Truth in Immigration" (truthinimmigration.org). Per this: John Trasvina, president of Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said Thursday the airwaves are dominated by anti-immigrant sentiment.

Possible Democratic Party immigration "reform" charade: "offer legalization" to become "require" - 02/29/08

A new "confidential" study called "Winning The Immigration Debate" has been released by two groups linked to the Democratic Party: the Center for American Progress (linked to Hillary Clinton and indirectly linked to the Mexican government) and the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (member groups also have indirect links to the Mexican government) [1]. I haven't seen the study, but while some might be fooled, it's clear that it's just a new attempt to get the same old amnesty. And, their recommendations boil down to simply a rhetorical change, from "offering" a "path to...

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