In a breaking NPR investigation, the ties of Corrections Corporation of America and the GEO Group to author of Arizona’s SB 1070, Russell Pearce highlight an under-reported aspect of the recent racial profiling debate; profit.
“We have done much to confront the hate within the recent immigration debate,” states Pablo Alvarado, the Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, “but what this report brings to light is that behind the odious rhetoric there are corporations cashing in.”
The report highlights the collaboration of high-profile corporations such as ExxonMobil and Reynolds American, Inc. with conservative politicians via the American Legislative Exchange Council. Both Russell Pearce and Corrections Corporation of American sit on the Exchange Council’s board. Reasons may be obvious then, why 30 of the 36 sponsors of SB 1070 received donations from the private prison firms preceding the introduction of the bill.
“These corporations and the politicians they fund are less concerned with borders than they are profit margins,” Alvarado continued. “We call on Russell Pearce to fully disclose his ties with those who may benefit financially from his initiatives and we ask that a deeper investigation be launched into the private interests gaining from the human rights crisis in Arizona.”
The National Day Laborer Organizing Network and its Arizona member, the Puente Movement, have led the effort to establish human rights and end police/ICE collaboration in the state. The Puente Movement has held daily protest outside another corporate interest in the immigration debate, Wells Fargo, for the past two years. Both groups continue organizing efforts including, the international boycott of the state and companies profiting from the anti-immigrant climate there.
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“We have done much to confront the hate within the recent immigration debate,” states Pablo Alvarado, the Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, “but what this report brings to light is that behind the odious rhetoric there are corporations cashing in.”
The report highlights the collaboration of high-profile corporations such as ExxonMobil and Reynolds American, Inc. with conservative politicians via the American Legislative Exchange Council. Both Russell Pearce and Corrections Corporation of American sit on the Exchange Council’s board. Reasons may be obvious then, why 30 of the 36 sponsors of SB 1070 received donations from the private prison firms preceding the introduction of the bill.
“These corporations and the politicians they fund are less concerned with borders than they are profit margins,” Alvarado continued. “We call on Russell Pearce to fully disclose his ties with those who may benefit financially from his initiatives and we ask that a deeper investigation be launched into the private interests gaining from the human rights crisis in Arizona.”
The National Day Laborer Organizing Network and its Arizona member, the Puente Movement, have led the effort to establish human rights and end police/ICE collaboration in the state. The Puente Movement has held daily protest outside another corporate interest in the immigration debate, Wells Fargo, for the past two years. Both groups continue organizing efforts including, the international boycott of the state and companies profiting from the anti-immigrant climate there.
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