This section examines leftwing groups dedicated to weakening, and in many cases eliminating, all regulations and controls on immigration into the United States, and to blurring the distinction between citizens and non-citizens. The Open Borders Lobby (see Guide) is a coalition of radical groups spearheaded by organizations like the National Lawyers Guild, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), and the American Civil Liberties Union -- groups which have also been in the forefront of efforts to repeal or drastically limit the security protections of the Patriot Act (see Civil Liberties Groups and Anti-Patriot Act Groups). The principal funding for these efforts has been provided by the Ford Foundation (see Funders). MALDEF, the chief advocate for unlimited Mexican immigration, was in its first 25 years almost entirely funded and shaped by the Ford Foundation. (See also Civil Liberties Groups and Civil Rights Groups.)