Investigative Group

Soros-Backed Immigration Group Suing DeSantis Over Martha’s Vineyard Flights Called To ‘Defund’ Border Patrol, ICE

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A George Soros-backed immigration nonprofit that’s suing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials after the state flew illegal migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, has repeatedly called to “defund” two agencies responsible for protecting the U.S. border.

The group, Alianza Americas, has supported defunding Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The nonprofit, which Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) network donated almost $1.4 million to between 2016 and 2020, notably launched a “Freedom for All” campaign in February that urged the U.S. government to “abolish immigration detention & defund private prisons that hold the majority of detained migrants.”

“@ALIANZAAMERICAS is out on the Capitol with #DefundHate @UNITEDWEDREAM & others to call for cuts in funding for CBP’s massive border enforcement operations, including Border Patrol agents, invasive border surveillance technologies, and physical walls & barriers,” Alianza Americas tweeted Sept. 12. “#FreedomForAll.”

📍@ALIANZAAMERICAS is out on the Capitol with #DefundHate @UNITEDWEDREAM & others to call for cuts in funding for CBP’s massive border enforcement operations, including Border Patrol agents, invasive border surveillance technologies, and physical walls & barriers. #FreedomForAll pic.twitter.com/Hk3UHWwrPd

— ALIANZA AMERICAS (@ALIANZAAMERICAS) September 12, 2022

Alianza Americas and the advocacy law firm Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of “Vineyard migrants and all similarly situated people who are fraudulently induced to travel across state lines by DeSantis and the State of Florida.”

Last Wednesday, DeSantis sent two flights with illegals to Martha’s Vineyard. Democrats as well as liberal activists have called the move “inhumane,” and Alianza Americas’ lawsuit on behalf of the illegal migrants alleges officials in Florida “intentionally targeted only individuals who are non-white and born outside the United States.”

“It is opportunistic that activists would use illegal immigrants for political theater,” a spokeswoman for DeSantis told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

As part of its Freedom for All campaign, Alianza Americas in September met with the office of Democratic Illinois Rep. Dick Durbin “to share about the urgency of defunding” both CBP and ICE, according to Twitter posts.

In 2018, Alianza joined over 200 groups to demand Congress reject additional funding for ICE. The groups sharply criticized the Trump administration for its border wall construction.

Mark Morgan, the former acting CBP commissioner under former President Donald Trump, said “it’s absolutely absurd” that groups such as Alianza Americas want to defund federal agencies responsible for safeguarding the U.S. border from violent crime and drugs.

“It’s pure politics and it’s pure ideology,” he told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The only thing they do is focus on illegal immigration. What these advocacy groups won’t be honest with the American people about is that when you facilitate and you encourage illegal immigration, that drives our borders to be insecure.”

Alianza America in 2019 called on Congress in a roughly two-minute video to “defund ICE and CBP, two agencies who are directly complicit in the abuse and death of thousands.” It criticized the policy of deportations in the video and pointed out examples of individuals dying in ICE detention facilities.

Alianza Americas did not respond to a request for comment nor did OSF.