Non-profit alerting illegal immigrants to ICE activity funded by major US investment banks: OMG

A new investigation by James O’Keefe’s O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) has revealed that major corporations, including Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, Bank of America, and Universal Music Group, have funneled millions of dollars to the Vera Institute for Justice, an organization that tracks federal immigration enforcement and assists illegal immigrants in avoiding deportation.

According to OMG, Goldman Sachs contributed $5 million, Fidelity donated $1.3 million, Bank of America gave $250,000, and Universal Music Group contributed $50,000.

The findings stem from undercover footage of Vera Institute Policy Advisor Santiago Mueckay, who admitted that the nonprofit “tracks ICE movements” and “pushes that information out” to help individuals evade federal agents. Mueckay also revealed that high-profile figures such as Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates have supported the group financially.

Vera’s website states the organization also opposes “over-policing” and “over-enforcing” in black communities and has aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement while pushing for policies that defund the police.

Additional undercover video released by OMG showed Keane Bhatt, a policy advisor for the Congressional Progressive Caucus, saying caucus members have taken steps to block deportations through the courts. 

“In certain cases we’ve been able to win,” Bhatt said, adding that “some of the most egregious instances we’ve [Progressive Caucus] been able to have injunctions that stop deportation flights and other types of things.”

Bhatt further said caucus members work with community initiatives intended to “walk through what community members can do, how they need to demand a warrant, how they shouldn’t open their door, how they should be contacting their local authorities, [and] what the kinds of means are for ensuring greater safety.” 

He also claimed that agencies like ICE and Homeland Security engage in “cruelty” and want “to show that they are this authoritarian police force that is just breaking up immigrant communities.”

OMG reported, “The data shows massive corporate donations funding non-governmental organizations like Vera, which in turn advance policies to obstruct deportations, while insiders within Congress acknowledge securing injunctions and advising communities on how to defy federal agents.”