Trump donor to cut off GOP contributions over DACA

CHICAGO — A Chicago-area businessman who has donated more than $1 million to President Donald Trump is threatening to deny contributions to Republican candidates unless they act on an immigration bill before Congress.

David MacNeil, who employs more than 1,100 people through his Bolingbrook-based WeatherTech automotive company, told POLITICO in an interview that the issue has grown deeply personal, given that a top employee in his company could face deportation if a deal isn’t reached for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

MacNeil is the second prominent Chicago-area businessman and GOP donor in a week to cut off or threaten to withhold campaign contributions over the immigration debate. On Wednesday, former Exelon CEO John Rowe told POLITICO he would cut off resources to Republicans who refuse to sign onto a discharge petition that would force a vote on legislation related to so-called “Dreamers,” while rewarding those who did with contributions and fundraising events. Both Rowe and MacNeil belong to the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition, which is calling on GOP lawmakers to sign the DACA discharge petition.

“I’m saying this as a political donor who’s donated seven figures in the last couple of years: I will not donate any more money to anyone who doesn’t support DACA, period,” MacNeil said in a phone call while traveling in Italy. “I’m putting my money where my mouth is.”

MacNeil is among the CEOs who backed Trump before the 2016 election, inspired by the campaign’s “Make America Great Again,” mantra. A Canadian emigrant who is now a U.S. citizen, MacNeil has long touted that his own products are made in America.

He underwrote a Trump fundraiser in Bolingbrook just before the 2016 election, then gave $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee.

MacNeil said that a top-performing employee who has been with him since he started his company will represent the WeatherTech at the Governor’s Export Awards reception Thursday night, in which the company is a finalist. The employee was brought to the country as a toddler.

“She is a critically important employee and it would be a disaster if I were not able to legally employ her,” MacNeil said. “They should not be playing political football, political blackmail with people’s lives. If you think about how people feel: they wake up at 3 in the morning, wondering: am I going to be deported?”

On Thursday, MacNeil said he sent emails to multiple staff members in GOP Rep. Peter Roskam’s office, urging him to sign onto a discharge petition before Congress. Roskam, who is locked in a competitive reelection race, represents the largest number of Dreamers of any Illinois congressional district. The state of Illinois has the fourth largest DACA population in the country.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/24/trump-donor-daca-gop-david-macneili-607973