Activists on Monday demanded a prominent foundation stop its funding of anti-immigration groups in the U.S.
State House representatives, labor leaders, and pro-immigration activists gathered at the Thomas Merton Center in Bloomfield to denounce the Pittsburgh-based Colcom Foundation.
Though it was a coincidence, their calls coincided with world events. Hours before, the United Nations announced that half a million Ukrainians are fleeing their country to seek refuge with its neighbors amid a brutal war.
“If my great grandparents hadn’t [fled] Russia, Ukraine and Poland at the turn of the last century, I surely would not be standing here today,” said Sara Stock Mayo of Jewish Action Pittsburgh on Monday.
“This is why we must stand united when any group is being singled out and targeted,” she later continued. “The policies that Colcom is funding seek to divide us and pit us against one another. But we know that we are all stronger together.”
According to a New York Times report, the foundation spent over $180 million since 2005 to fund organizations like Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and the Center for Immigration Studies, which Southern Poverty Law Center designates as hate groups for promoting unfair treatment of immigrants and white nationalist rhetoric.
In an email, Colcom Foundation Vice President John Rohe said Colcom Foundation has no tolerance for discrimination.
“First and foremost, immigrants must be treated with dignity and respect.” Mr. Rohe wrote.
Mr. Rohe said people who argue for open borders should be heard. However, he added that it should be considered how this would affect environmental issues, like water shortages.
Started by the banking and industrial heiress Cordelia Scaife May, the Colcom Foundation has been scrutinized publicly for its connection to anti-immigration groups in the past. The foundation is committed to promoting its work with environmental and conservation groups, with little mention of involvement in immigration on its website.
Ms. Scaife May, who died in 2005, was the grandniece of Andrew K. Mellon.
“Colcom Foundation supports national projects acknowledging the impact of human population growth on the environment,” the foundation says under a website section titled “Impact.”
To promote what’s called the Drop Colcom Campaign, Ms. Stock Mayo stood alongside Stat Rep. Sara Innamorato, D-Lawrenceville, Rev. Ross Carmichael of St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Shadyside, and Andy Kang, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, among other activists.
An organizer said groups were busy with COVID-related activities last year. Now, they had time to launch Drop Colcom.
“Pittsburgh stands with our immigrant and refugee siblings, fleeing poverty, war, persecution and violence among many other things,” Ms. Sotck Mayo said. “I am here today to say that we reject Colcom’s claims that they are not funding anti-immigrant policies.. “
Over 70 Pittsburgh groups signed a letter supporting the Drop Colcom Campaign, which encourages elected officials to pressure Colcom to sever its ties to anti-immigration groups.
According to the letter, activists also want Colcom to redirect 100% of its funding to civic and conservation projects.
In addition to Ms. Innamorato, State Reps. Joe Hohenstein, D-Philadelphia, and Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, and state Sen. Tim Kearney, D-Delaware, signed the letter.
Neighborhood groups like Lawrenceville United, the Polish Hill Civic Association, the Bloomfield Development Corporation, and Hello Neighbor also inked their support.
Mr. Kang said he drove in from Philadelphia to represent Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition on Monday.
“If you are immigrant or child of immigrants, or you call yourself a friend or ally of the immigrant community, we ask you to stand with us and sign our petition calling on Colcom to stop their ways,” Mr. Kang said.
In the letter, activists reject Colcom’s view that overpopulation is threatening environmental conservation, as well as Ms. Scaife May’s friendship with John Tanton.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Mr. Tanton is a retired ophthalmologist who founded FAIR and promoted the idea that a “European-American majority” belongs in the United States.
“We reject the ideas promoted by Scaife May and Tanton that immigration is a major cause of ecological degradation and we fundamentally refute that overpopulation is a threat to American society,” activists wrote in the letter.
Instead, activists said overconsumption is the biggest threat to the environment.
*story by The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
