Immigrants’ Dollars Help Shape American Politics

Michael J. Perik, a software pioneer from Canada who became a U.S. citizen just this summer, is so determined to influence America’s politics that he has donated close to half a million dollars to put Vice President Al Gore in the White House.

Trevor Pearlman, a trial lawyer originally from South Africa, hosted a half-million-dollar fund-raising dinner for Gore at his Dallas home and marvels that an immigrant can gain access to the country’s top government officials.

Bharat Barai, an oncologist who grew up in India, donates regularly to both parties and wonders why his American colleagues refuse to contribute. His political donations and involvement in the Indian emigre community have given him the status of informal diplomat between the governments of his birth nation and his current home, as well as heightened standing in the health care community.

“That’s how the system of democracy works,” he said.

Indeed, political donations from new citizens--and even from green card-holding permanent residents--are perfectly legal. And many immigrants like Perik, Pearlman and Barai have been quick to learn that hefty contributions can buy them instant ranking in an elite fraternity in their chosen land and entree to its decision makers. Large donations and active fund-raising reap invitations to White House dinners and State Department luncheons, seats next to the president at fund-raisers, spots on official delegations when the president visits their homelands and appointments on government panels that further their careers.

Motivations for Contributions

Their reasons for making political contributions resemble the motivations of their native American counterparts--usually some combination of patriotism, ideology and self-interest. However, immigrants sometimes receive relatively higher returns on their large donations, in part because they may have more to gain than other significant donors.

The dean of Republican immigrant donors, Heinz C. Prechter, has so enjoyed his decades as a GOP mover and shaker that this year he set up a network of thousands of immigrant and minority donors called American Dreamers.

“We are all Americans. There are no minorities. That’s what makes it fun,” said the voluble Prechter, the German emigre father of the sunroof. Being a big donor--more than $258,000 to support Bush’s bid--and fund-raiser has been more than fun for Prechter. It also helped him score a valuable appointment as chairman of President Bush’s Export Council, which was an excellent post for networking for his Southgate, Mich.-based business, American Sunroof Co.

American Dreamers are charged with energizing immigrants from their own homelands to contribute money and otherwise support George W. Bush. Participation has flourished.

“It’s like a pyramid structure,” said Amanullah Kahn, a Dallas oncologist originally from Pakistan. “There are all sorts of groups in the American Dreamers. Every nationality. You name it. It’s there.”

Clearly, some immigrants, particularly those doing business with their homeland, make political contributions as “an investment” to help their business interests.

Yah Lin “Charlie” Trie--a Taiwanese immigrant who gained notoriety in the Democrats’ 1996 campaign fund-raising scandal--told Congress in March that the schmoozing afforded contributors can translate into money. He went to fund-raising events to make contacts for his international trading company and to have pictures of himself and Asian business associates taken with President Clinton.

“In the Asian business community, success often depends on who you know,” testified Trie, who ultimately pleaded guilty to using money from a Taiwanese businessman to make donations to the Democratic National Committee.

Other immigrant contributors want to be players in government both here and in their homelands.

Barai, who lives in the Chicago suburb of Munster, Ind., treasures the opportunity to “come into one-on-one contact with elected officials” and exert influence on policy issues.

During a luncheon last month for Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the State Department’s ornate eighth floor, Indian Americans posed for photos with Cabinet members and the vice president, chatted with Indian officials and passed around business cards. Barai sat next to Karl F. Inderfurth, assistant secretary of State for South Asian affairs. The leisurely meal, which started with a gourmet salad with rare duck breast, gave Barai plenty of time to assert his views.

Barai has been invited to the White House several times and has talked with senior aides in the adjoining Old Executive Office Building dozens of times. He was one of a few dozen Indian Americans invited to accompany Clinton during his historic trip to India in March. Barai hosts visiting Indian officials. In his role of “informal ambassador,” he urges Indian officials to buy their airliners from Boeing instead of Airbus, and he lobbies U.S. officials to fight terrorists operating out of Pakistan.

“If I say something to leaders in India, they listen to me,” said Barai, who had small U.S. and Indian flags sticking out of his suit coat pocket. “Both sides trust us. I’m a son of Indian soil, but this is my chosen country.”

Barai, who has donated $46,000 over the last 10 years, clearly enjoys the perks of being a political donor. “It gives me stature,” he said. “To me, it is valuable. But not to my wife. She thinks I’m wasting my time.”

He complained that his American-born colleagues also do not get it. “They say it’s a waste of money. But it’s the only way we communicate with our elected officials.”

The most generous immigrant donors are already wealthy and do not need politics to plump their pockets.

“I don’t need anything from government, and I certainly don’t expect anything,” said Perik, 43, who amassed his fortune when Mattel bought his educational software firm, the Learning Co., for $3.5 billion. But he did relish being in a sky box at the Democratic convention when Gore accepted the nomination, and attending the first presidential debate.

Perik and his wife recently had their first child, and they want him to grow up in an America that reflects their values, he said: “I want a fair society where everybody has an opportunity to achieve their dreams. If you don’t have an environment that promotes that, a lot of people will get left behind.”

By donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the DNC, the Periks hope to underwrite some ads that will persuade voters to choose Gore.

Pearlman, 40, moved to the United States with his parents when he was 20 because South Africa under apartheid was not a “psychologically healthy” environment.

“I grew up in a place where I had an opportunity to have an education and achieve success, but I was surrounded by people who didn’t,” said Pearlman, who is white. “It didn’t make me feel good about my own opportunities.”

It is directly because of his perspective as an American by choice that he makes political donations, he said.

“The chance of being able to get involved and participate is something that I deeply treasure, and I am often somewhat bewildered by the fact that a lot of Americans do not participate or even vote,” he said in a South African accent. “I came from a place where people gave their lives fighting for a chance to vote.”

Pearlman has donated about $150,000 to the DNC because he believes Gore’s policies will offer a broader swath of Americans a chance for success.

“Would I, Trevor Pearlman, be more financially successful--because I would pay less taxes--under [Republican nominee] Bush? Yes. But would this country be more successful? No,” he said.

Because he believes Democrats will use the government’s vast resources to help the underprivileged, Pearlman says his political donations could have more bang for the buck than his contributions to charity.

Pearlman said he doesn’t give for the fringe benefits, but he enjoys them. When the Dallas Stars won hockey’s Stanley Cup last year, he was invited to the White House for their victory party. Pearlman, his wife and their two children attended a White House Christmas party.

Donations to GOP

Like their Democratic counterparts, immigrant donors to the Republican Party say their donations are prompted in part by their native philosophies and their immigrant experiences.

Dr. Raghavendra “Vijay” Vijayanajar started donating to the Republican Party in the late 1980s because Republicans courted him after he performed Florida’s first heart transplant.

“It was the Republicans who recognized me. The Democrats ignored me,” he said.

Vijayanajar, 60, said the GOP credo is closest to his own, a reflection of his hard-won success in America and the teachings of India’s Mohandas K. Gandhi. He believes in small government, entrepreneurship, and that individuals should reap the benefits of their hard work.

“Why shouldn’t I get tax relief?” he asked. “Why should we be punished? But that’s the Democratic philosophy.”

He said he has donated between $50,000 and $70,000 for this election and has energized Indian Americans across the country to give a total of several hundred thousand dollars.

Vijayanajar is known throughout the medical community for having close connections to the Bushes, so his colleagues seek him out to learn about Bush’s health policy. As a $10,000 donor to the Republican Senatorial Committee, Vijayanajar has attended regular sessions with GOP senators and enjoys giving his input on everything from health care to relations with India to women’s rights.

He was appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush to the Florida Board of Medicine.

“As a person who didn’t go to medical school in this country, it’s a great honor and a great responsibility,” he said.