The Daily — "Bankrolling the Anti-Immigration Movement"

Date: August 19, 2019
Host: The New York Times
Reporter: Nick Kulish
Guest Host: Natalie Kitroeff
Episode Focus: How Cordelia Scaife May, a reclusive heiress with environmentalist and population control concerns, became a central funder of the contemporary anti-immigration movement in the U.S.—and how her money and ideology continue to shape public policy.

Overview

This episode investigates the pivotal but largely hidden role Cordelia Scaife May, heiress to the Mellon family fortune, played in financing the American anti-immigration movement. Through newly surfaced documents and interviews, reporter Nick Kulish traces May’s evolution from a passionate environmentalist and population control advocate to a central funder whose wealth shaped the movement's organizations and, ultimately, national policy.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Cordelia Scaife May: Upbringing and Early Influences

[02:00]

• Background: Born in 1928 in Pittsburgh into the wealthy Mellon family.
• Raised in luxury (the family mansion Penguin Court) but described an unhappy, lonely childhood.
  • Quote (Kulish): “There was no laughter, you know, in her household growing up.” [03:40]
• Fascination with nature and animals; mother obsessed with breeding penguins.
• Early influence: Margaret Sanger (founder of Planned Parenthood and friend of May’s grandmother).
  • May admired Sanger’s rebelliousness; later influenced by her advocacy for family planning.
• Transition to Activism: May’s passion for the natural environment dovetailed with her support for population control as a way to preserve habitats.

2. Shift from Family Planning to Population Control

[06:10] - [11:00]

• Deep involvement with organizations like the Population Council (founded by John D. Rockefeller III), advocating for global birth rate reductions. Donated $11.4 million in the 1960s (a huge sum).
• Originally driven by feminist and environmental concerns, but by the 1970s, becomes more radical.
  • Pushed for the Population Council to adopt universal access to abortion.
• Personal Tragedy:
  • Married Robert W. Duggan, Pittsburgh’s district attorney, in secret as he faced corruption charges.
  • Duggan died by suicide the day of his indictment (1974), which radicalized May further.

3. From Population Control to Anti-Immigration

[13:30] - [19:45]

• As the U.S. birthrate dropped in the 1970s, immigration became the focus among population control activists.

• May’s letters reveal her growing frustration and advocacy for sealing the U.S.-Mexico border.

  • Memorable Quote: “Why can’t we just imagine putting paper bags over the heads of the immigrants so we’re only counting their deleterious numbers?” [17:45]

• Race and Immigration:

  • Although she denied being racist, her writings reveal ethnic focus: mentions “Filipinos in Hawaii, ‘Orientals’ sneaking across the Canadian border, Latin Americans into Florida, [and] that Cuban refugees ‘breed like hamsters.’” [18:50]
  • Kulish: “She says it's not about race. ... But it's not Norwegian immigrants she's worried about."

4. Meeting John Tanton and Building the Anti-Immigration Ecosystem

[22:15] - [29:40]

• In 1978, May meets Dr. John Tanton, an ophthalmologist and seasoned activist in population and environmental issues.
  • Tanton seeks “seed money” to launch the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR); May provides $50,000 under the condition of anonymity.
  • Continues to funnel money, enabling Tanton to create other key organizations: Center for Immigration Studies and Immigration Reform Law Institute.
  • Insight: These groups form a closed ecosystem, citing each other’s research and largely funded by May.
  • Tanton memo: “Mrs. May has been our single biggest supporter. She just gave us another $400,000.” [26:30]

5. Family Pushback and May’s Core Beliefs

[31:25]

• Some Mellon family members supported her, others questioned her motives—particularly allegations of racism and elitism.
  • May wrote a five-page defense (never public before), blaming immigration for “unemployment, inflation, urban sprawl, congestion, shortages... environmental deterioration and civil unrest.” [32:30]
  • Compared medical advances prolonging human life to keeping “useless cattle” alive. [33:20]
  • Noted, uncomfortably, that war and famine “do not make much dent” in population growth.

6. May’s Outsized and Lasting Influence

[36:00+]

• The three most influential anti-immigration groups—FAIR, Center for Immigration Studies, and NumbersUSA—all trace their origins and funding directly to May and her collaboration with Tanton.
• These organizations influenced major U.S. policies:
  • English-only laws, Prop. 187 (California), stricter local ordinances, federal debates over immigration reform.
  • Congressional lobbying: “Millions of calls and faxes and letters to Congresspeople.” [38:40]
  • Helped derail President George W. Bush’s immigration reform efforts.
• Kulish: “It feels like a groundswell... but when you look back at their roots and at where their money is coming from, Mrs. May and Dr. Tanton are always behind it.” [42:10]

7. Direct Link to Trump Administration Policy

[43:00+]

• Staffers from these groups, including NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies, became key officials and advisers in the Trump White House.
  • Notable Names: Jeff Sessions (Attorney General), Stephen Miller (White House adviser), and Kellyanne Conway (pollster for these groups).
  • Miller: "Thank you... especially at the Center for Immigration Studies for everything they do to illuminate a debate that far too often operates like illegal immigrants in the shadows." [44:10]
• Policy Outcomes: Enforcement policies, border militarization, capping legal immigration, reducing public benefit access for migrants—all echo the agenda May originally financed.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On May’s motivations:
  “[She] cared about women’s issues. Women should have a right to plan their smaller families. And the birds and the bees and the bunny rabbits should have as much room to roam as possible.” — Nick Kulish [06:00]

• On linking population control and immigration:
  "If your concern is how many people are there in the United States, then your focus starts to shift toward immigrants." — Nick Kulish [16:30]

• Revealing May’s language and focus:
  "Cuban refugees, quote, ‘breed like hamsters.’” — Nick Kulish [19:15]

• On grassroots power being manufactured:
  “It feels like a groundswell. But then, when you look back at their roots... Mrs. May and Dr. Tanton are always behind it.” — Nick Kulish [42:10]

• On lasting impact:
  “Now we know these are folks who have brought their hardline immigration policies and beliefs with them to the White House... It feels like they wrote the playbook and now Miller is calling the plays.” — Nick Kulish [44:45]

Important Timestamps

| Time | Segment Description | |----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:00 | Cordelia Scaife May’s childhood and family background | | 05:00 | Early admiration for Margaret Sanger & birth control advocacy | | 09:00 | Heavy funding of the Population Council and growing militancy | | 13:30 | Husband’s suicide and intensified radicalism | | 16:30 | Shift from population control to immigration restriction | | 19:00 | Racial undertones in May’s anti-immigration rhetoric | | 22:15 | First meeting with John Tanton; funding of FAIR | | 26:30 | Creation of key anti-immigration organizations | | 32:30 | May’s defensive letter on immigration and overpopulation | | 36:00 | Influence on local, state, and federal anti-immigration policies | | 43:00 | Trump administration links and adoption of May’s agenda |

Conclusion

Cordelia Scaife May’s deep pockets and radical vision for environmental preservation, filtered through fears of overpopulation, fueled and fundamentally shaped the contemporary U.S. anti-immigration movement. Groups she bankrolled form the backbone of legislative campaigns, policy debates, and now, executive actions—proving that one isolated individual’s philosophy, if combined with wealth and activism, can profoundly alter a nation’s trajectory.