Multimillionaire Helps Undocumented Workers Post Bail
New America Media, News Report, Wendy Sefsaf Posted: May 23, 2008
Editor's Note: Robert Hildreth is a multimillionaire immigration advocate who has helped bail out undocumented immigrants who have been arrested in ICE raids. Now he wants to create a national fund for the purpose. NAM contributor Wendy Sefsaf reports from Washington, D.C.
Traducción al español
WASHINGTON -- Robert Hildreth, a self-made multimillionaire who built his fortune trading in Latin American bonds, wants to create a national fund that would help post bail for undocumented workers seized by immigration authorities.
Hildreth began posting bail out of his own pocket after seeing what he considered to be "un-American" images on TV of shackled workers being deported. Hildreth , the son of high school teachers, called the Greater Boston Legal Services and told them to contact him if they needed help posting bonds for undocumented workers.
After doing this a few times, in a few different states, Hildreth decided his program should go national. His idea is to create a non-profit bond fund that would match 50 percent of bail funds in most cases, and provide 100 percent bail only in extreme cases. Advocates say this is crucial for workers who are coerced into signing deportation orders before talking to a lawyer or having their day in court. Helping them post bond enables them to get out of detention, contact a lawyer and regroup with their families.
By matching the funds, Hildreth is helping legal service groups and others get the ball rolling. But having the other half matched by the families themselves, Hildreth says, forces them to have a stake in the outcome and makes an individual less likely to “jump bail.”
“Immigrants are the greatest savers in this country. If I put up half of the funds, the families can usually come up with the rest,” Hildreth observes. “For example, I paid $130,000 to bail out the immigrants rounded up in the New Bedford raids -- and within three weeks they came up with $130,000 of their own. I know the money is there and there is an extended family structure that is able to pool the necessary funds.”
He also thinks that his approach appeals to our innate love of a bargain. “Everybody loves a deal,” Hildreth says. “If I went into Best Buy and shouted, 'I will pay for half of everything you buy,' that store would be cleared out in no time.”
Angelica Salas of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles affirms the need for a bond fund. “This is about poor people having their day in court,” she says. “People have to understand that these workers are not appointed lawyers, not read their Miranda rights. They are swept up, usually taken to another state, interrogated and then later told they can hire a lawyer if they can find one.” She adds, “What Bob Hildreth has done is an amazing example of what people of conscience need to do in these horrible times; he is giving people their liberty and a reason to hope.”
The national bond fund has more than $150,000 in pledges so far from previous bonds that have been returned to Hildreth with interest. These funds will be used to post future bonds and he is now hoping to build a significant fund. “When you pay for a bond, it is not a contribution. You get your money back with interest which returns back to the fund for the next person who needs it.” So far, no one helped by Hildreth has jumped bail.
Setting up a bond fund is not a new concept. The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund provided bail money and legal assistance for civil rights demonstrators throughout the 1960s, including during the 1961 freedom rides led by the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Hildreth also sees the bail money as a lifeline. “We have families whose loved ones were arrested in Massachusetts and then sent to detention centers in Texas. The communication is cut off," he explains. "What we are finding in raids is that people don’t know their rights. They are forgoing their due process in the first 48 hours out of fear, and agree to be deported without having consulted an attorney. It would be wonderful if the word caught like wild fire that immigrants do have rights and furthermore you might find some help from me.”
He thinks of immigration much like an economist would. “In America we should always be finding ways to match immigrant money,” he says. “Their propensity is to save. Immigrants sent home $60 billion last year in the form of remittances. My feeling is that we have a group of immigrants floating on a sea of money, how can we get them to invest more of it here?”
He has tried creative ways to do just that even before his recent foray into immigrant rights, by supporting immigrant education initiatives. “This summer, 15 of the brightest Hispanic high school sophomores in Lynn, Massachusetts will be creating educational accounts. They will put up $250 and I will put up $500 and we will build up from there.” Why do we need to match their funds? “Because otherwise there is such a pull from Latin America to send every extra dollar down there. We know the highest drops outs are Hispanics, so creating these accounts early is going to get them going to college.”
One might wonder why a descendant of Irish immigrants and Puritans who settled in Boston more than three centuries ago worries about immigrants coming to America today. “I am very pro-immigrant and it comes more from an American ideal than from being a Mother Theresa type. I think immigration is the only model America has ever known. We have never known a day, a minute, where we haven’t accepted immigrants. They provide huge economic benefits to us. The 12 million undocumented workers in this country spend billions of dollars every year in supermarkets, on rent and in taxes, etc. I have no idea what it would be like to yank them out by the root, and I wouldn’t want to take that risk.”
However, the economist also has a philosophical bent on what it means to be an American. “I have a different view of what makes up the border of the U.S. It’s not dirt but ideas. So if you have a native-born American who hates capitalism or freedom of people to move and find work, I think that is less 'American' than the guys born in Latin American who have taken on our American ideals hook, line and sinker.”
Aside from running his financial company and planning the bond fund, Hildreth is busy calling the supermarkets that allegedly benefit from undocumented workers in the Boston area. He is asking them to support a local immigration group that is holding their annual gala and contacting other groups in Iowa that are working with immigrants recently detained during a raid at a meat-packing plant. “I want them to know there is help here, if they need it,” says Hildreth.
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User Comments
John Martinez on May 29, 2008 at 15:52:13 said:
Its obvious this doesnt live in an area of high immigration then I think he would reconsider how he uses his money does he send his children to the schools that overcrowded and gang infested this guy is only looking out for the interest of business he should that money to help pay for Americans who want to send there kids to the best schools idiot
Cali Girl on May 28, 2008 at 09:06:40 said:
It's easy to have $130K to spend when you don't pay for most of anything - like taxes, healthcare, school lunches AND you continuously nurse at the teat of a welfare government. Not exactly poor, are they? Yet they sure cry out that they are and game the system to get theirs. What is completely lost on Robert Hildreth is that those swept up in ICE enforcements are identity thieves, fraudsters, molesters, gang-bangers and other criminal types. To offer them a helping hand by helping them to bypass our legal system is traitorous and injurious to our society. Many have ALREADY had their day in court and now must leave the country. They may not have "jumped bail" yet - but, rest assured, they will at some point.
ailicec on May 28, 2008 at 08:01:31 said:
Correction:
Sorry, I misread the article. He is posting half, the detainee is posting the other half.
Still, my first argument stands. Mr. Hildreth is helping detainees access due process.
As far as previous comments regarding criminal immigrants, immigrants are far less likely commit crimes than native born.
www.ailf.org/ipc/special_report/sr_feb07_resources.shtml
ailicec on May 28, 2008 at 07:51:22 said:
Mr. Hildreth is helping people post bond quickly so that they can go before an immigration judge before they are moved out of the state they live in. Some undocumented immigrants have valid asylum and status claims that should be investigated before they are far away from their families and communities. Another important point is that even though he isn't really expecting the money back, he IS getting paid back by the people he is serving. It isn't a donation.
nativessayno on May 27, 2008 at 10:51:05 said:
To: not a hater:
Funny, your post is brimming with hate. If a citizen is against 25MM or more illegals in my country that does not mean you are a narrow-minded bigot etc. It means you care about the US.
I do not live in Mexico, Latin or Central America! I am patriotic and and very liberal...but not on this specific issue.
Again, if you live in a sanctuary city like LA you can easily find new (illegal) immigrants put way ahead of citizens in most hiring sectors. This is no exaggeration! How is this right or fair??? How is this slandering a group?
quote from "not a hater" ......Although I doubt that day will come until you are dead and finally able to see what this life is really about......huh? I have an idea what life is about, and it is not about giving my country away to those that demand it without legal authority or permission. Other countries are responsible for their poor, not us. Hildreth made tons of money in Bolivia....he can send some back and leave us the heck out of this!
not a hater on May 27, 2008 at 02:43:29 said:
It just amazes me everytime I read an immigration story how the racist desguised as patriots come out screaming and throwing around false information all the mexicans are killing us ect. wake up people, its not only the brown ones sneaking in.I applaud Mr.Hildreth and hope he keeps it up! Maybe one day you all will realize why these people come here. Although I doubt that day will come until you are dead and finally able to see what this life is really about. Helping one another not slandering a group of people for trying to have a better life.
Ande on May 26, 2008 at 16:30:41 said:
You sir are a disgrace to all that America stands for. People with your mindset are part of what is wrong in this country. Obviously you have no shame. There are numerous needs for your charitable contributions and you pick to prop up criminals. Way to go slick.
Anonymous14 on May 25, 2008 at 09:51:32 said:
Steve -
There are no \\\"native Americans.\\\" The first people here immigrated from Asia. They are only the \\\"First Immigrants\\\" and they took over the land from the plants and animals.
The rest of your drivel is so worn from overuse, too. It has no foundation, just assertions of moral superiority.
I challenge you to leave open all the doors and windows to your house and let random people \\\"immigrate\\\" inside. See who shows up, and then see if you want to have everyone stay -- or if you\\\'d like to set up a few laws and control the situation so only the best are allowed in. I\\\'m betting that you won\\\'t live out the values you profess and take up this challenge.
Leon on May 23, 2008 at 22:54:38 said:
Senor Hildreth:
How about BP Agents Ramos and Compean. It was one of your illegal alien lying friends that had them put away for 11 and 12 years. Where were you to defend them with the millions that you took out of Central and South America?
You are just another left wing socialist who still does not understand the difference between legal immigrant and ILLEGAL ALIENS.
Brian on May 23, 2008 at 16:33:25 said:
In 1985, we had GDP of $4.2 Trillion.
And a Total Debt of $7.5 Trillion.
In 1990, we had GDP of $5.8 Trillion.
And a Total Debt of $11.8 Trillion.
Between 1985 and 1990 for every $1 Trillion in GDP growth, debt grew $2.7 Trillion.
In 1995, the GDP was $7.4 Trillion.
And Total Debt was $16.4 Trillion.
Between 1990 and 1995, for every $1 trillion in GDP growth, debt grew $2.9 trillion.
In 2000, the GDP was $9.8 Trillion.
And Total Debt was $24.6 Trillion.
Between 1995 and 2000, for every $1 trillion in GDP growth, debt grew $3.4 trillion.
In 2005, GDP was $12.5 Trillion.
And the Total Debt was $36.5 Trillion.
Between 2000 and 2005, for every $1 trillion in GDP growth, debt grew $4.4 Trillion!
By the end of 2006, GDP was $13.2 Trillion.
Total Debt was $44.8 Trillion.
At end of 2007, total debt grew to 48.8 trillion dollars. A debt growth of $4 trillion in one year.
www.federalreserve.gov/RELEASES/z1/current/accessible/l1.htm
Why is almost everyone up to their eyeballs in debt… individuals, businesses, and whole nations?
Why can’t we provide for our daily needs – homes, furnishings, cars, etc., without borrowing - especially when most of us spend the greatest part of our lives producing wealth?
How much could the prices fall and wages increase if businesses did not have to pay huge sums in interest payments which have to be added to the cost of goods and services they supply?
How much could taxes be reduced and spending on public services such as health and education be increased if governments created money themselves instead of borrowing it at interest from private banks?
www.whale.to/m/greaves1.html
THE REPERCUSSIONS OF OUR DEBT BASED MONEY SYSTEM...
1) Goods and services are much more expensive...
The cost of borrowing by producers, manufacturers, transporters, retailers etc. all has to be added to the price of the final product.
2) Consumers’ have much less money to spend...
They are burdened by the cost of mortgages, overdrafts, credit cards, personal loans etc. As a result of 1) and 2) there is...
3) A surplus of goods and services...
...because the population overall can’t afford to buy up all the goods and services being produced. This in turn creates.....
4) Cut throat competition...
Businesses try to cut prices and costs to grab a share of this limited purchasing power in the economy, as illustrated by:
(i) Wages being held down as much as possible.
(ii) Shedding of jobs or importing cheaper 3rd World labor.
(These both reduce people’s spending power even more.)
(iii) Retailers importing cheap products from abroad where wages are much lower.
(iv) Production of cheaper goods that don’t last as long.
(v) Protection of the environment a low priority.
(vi) Mergers and take-overs - corporations get bigger and bigger, driven to search out new markets.
(vii) Big companies shifting production to poorer countries which have cheap non-unionized labor and the least stringent safety and environmental laws or....
(viii) Demanding large government subsidies and tax free incentives as the price for setting up new production or not relocating abroad.
Nick Hughes on May 23, 2008 at 16:21:07 said:
This guy is nuts. "Go to Best Buy and offer to pay half for everyone in the store and it will be empty in no time" Sounds like my bird-feeder when I first fill it up, only word gets around to other birds and it takes them half as long to empty it again.
I Know, lets make everyone a good deal and lower our prices to less than what we paid. We will soon be broke, but look at the volume we can do!
How did he make his millions? By Accident? Oh! Thats' right, he was a bond trader in Latin America, meaning, he robbed the pants off all those people to get his, so now he's just giving them back some of their money.
Ross in WA. on May 23, 2008 at 15:53:22 said:
It is amazing to me that some people simply don't get that illegal is illegal, regardless why someone does something. If anyone actually would research this, and keep an objective mind, they would see how harmful this invasion IS, and has been to the fabric of this great nation. This is not about humanity and civil rights. This is about the survival of the freedoms we have come to take for granted. People that promote illegal behaviour of any kind, are sending the wrong signal to the people that commit the crime. Our citizenship is to be respected, not spat upon by a group of people that believe we "stole" their ancient land. The hateful racist rhetoric that is promoted by La Raza, MECHa, and so many groups is pathetic and panders to the emotions of American citizens that have been called upon to be "guilty" for all the past sins of our ancestors. For what it is worth, along with the sins, there has been much more worthy accomplisments by our ancestors than evil, yet people today do not want to talk about both........just the bad. If you sincerely want to discuss this issue, then visit this website and get back to me. If you want to continue to spout vile and putrid hate at people that simply want our laws enforced and are validly frustrated, then continue down the path that has no end....and you can continue to delude yourself that you are "better" because you are so humane.
www.darksideofillegalimmigration.com
You will be shocked and amazed, but I will give you one small tidit. Since 2003, there have been 10 times the murders of innocent citizens of the United States of America, than there have been casualties in the illegal Iraqi War on Terror. It appears to me that we deserve a few frustrated patriotic Americans when it comes to the loss of life to our families, friends, and co-citizens by illegal invaders. To me and to any one with any common sense, this is a much bigger and much more dangerous war we are in. So, let the Robert Hildreth's assuage themselves of all their "white guilt" by aiding and abetting the enemy. It will come back to haunt them one day, if we don't start fighting the war on all fronts.
Kathryn on May 23, 2008 at 15:24:11 said:
I'd like to see this guy send his kids to California public schools where 75% of the students have no interest speaking English. I don't care about capitalism, I care about the fact I have to spend 20K on private schools for my 3 children because of the illegal immigrant invaders from Mexico.
nativessayno on May 23, 2008 at 12:20:08 said:
Steve- some of us anti-illegal immigrant posters are first americans...(although they have no more citizen's rights that any other legal American).
You may be an employer that benefits from illegal low-wage worker frauds, I, however, DO NOT.
Spend a day with me in Los Angeles. I will point out to you the countless grocery, retail, restaurant fraud workers that abound. This demographic grows exponentially by the month, Steve. Sour grapes, my eye. You too live in a bubble and see this issue from a remote lofty distance. You are blissfully unaffected by the burgeoning unabating problem that if you woke up you might see that it is a PROBLEM; not a dreamy, romantic issue that you can gaze upon when you feel high-minded.
Steve on May 23, 2008 at 11:44:08 said:
Hats off to Mr. Hildreth and his brilliant idea. Here's one fellow American who is grateful.
To all you haters: what is more anti-american that being anti-immigrant? What drives this country's economic engine? Immigrants and the cheap labor they bring, not a bunch of vague whining that masks fear and wrongminded nationalism. That's just sour grapes.
This country needs immigrants to do the work that existing citizens refuse to do and for little compensation, and immigrants need the opportunities that we provide. It's actually pretty symbiotic, not just a wedge issue.
If the USA is the christian nation it sometimes professes, then do unto the least of us as we'd have done to ourselves (and as was done to ancestors.
Only Native Americans have a right to complain about being overrun by immigrants.
nativessayno on May 23, 2008 at 10:50:15 said:
Thanks Hildreth for encouraging more illegals to come here and become worker frauds. We have "barely" enough at the 25MM mark.
Bring a tiny violin too....and barf bags for the more patriotic among us. Seems like the illegal immigrant save their display of gratitude to the mega-wealthy like Hildreth while ignoring or stepping over average folks.... What a misguided twit. Thinking himself a do-gooder whilst taking us down with the ship. He lives in a bubble, one that seems not to have a notion of genuine US concerns.
If he cares so deeply for Latin America; he should send donations there!!
Pree Glenn-Graves on May 23, 2008 at 10:36:55 said:
I just love it! Mikulski and Feinstein wants visa's and this guy wants to help illegal criminals boy, only in America. Want I want is for all of them to go to Mexico with the people they care most about. Perhaps there he can build the schools, help with housing and get control of the military and the police departments. I am sure Calderon would welcome his millions as they already have millioniares there for him to cozy up to while the illegals can continue to cut his grass and work for three dollars an hour cleaning his house. But, at least he nor they will do it here. So quick get Mikulski, Fienstein and Hildreth a visa now!
Stephen on May 23, 2008 at 09:41:43 said:
I agree 100%. Let him pay for the cost of illegal immigration. Too many damn traitors in this country! Hildreth is just one of the multitude of turncoats.
J Cir on May 23, 2008 at 07:47:08 said:
Golly, what a nice guy, this Hildreth. And unequivocally, an anti-American turncoat illegal immigrant zealot, who has more sympathy for foreign nationals then his fellow American citizens.
-->Tell you what, Mr. Hildreth. Since you've got so much money and clout to throw at illegal immigrants who should be deported, why don't you really show your generosity and:
1. pay for their kids education
2. pay for their medical care
3. add a few rooms onto your mansion and let them all live on your property
4. compensate every state and local government as well as the Federal prison system for the incarceration of every illegal immigrant who's murdered, raped, buglarized, robbed, been convicted of drunk driving, committed fraud, etc.
Alternatively, if you want to show that you have even the slightest concern for the well-being of US citizens and the rightful sovereignty of the once great US, which provided you the opportunity for you to acheive your wealthy status, you can pay for the transportation back to the countries of origin of every illegal immigrant in the US. Your fellow American citizens would be grateful.