Public Pensions Finance Immigrant Detention

By SETH SANDRONSKY

The Trump administration’s migrant family separation policy has spurred human rights activism in the US. Emily Claire Goldman is founder and director of ESG Transparency Initiative. Her family history plays a role in that activism. Our email interview below touches on that and more.

Seth Sandronsky: Describe the ESG Transparency Initiative.

Emily Claire Goldman: ESG Transparency Initiative (ESGTI) is a human rights organization and grassroots advocacy movement fighting to improve corporate conduct in support of a more transparent, equitable, and sustainable economic order in which businesses and financial institutions respect human rights and the environment. ESGTI developed as a natural extension of what is now our flagship campaign, Educators for Migrant Justice. The campaign itself emerged from a series of tweets in June 2018 where I sought to raise awareness about the billions of dollars public pension funds have invested in companies aiding and abetting the Trump administration’s zero tolerance immigration policy and ongoing migrant abuse crisis. My motivation was simple: as a human rights lawyer and descendent of Jewish immigrants, the idea of standing idly by as the government commits egregious human rights abuses is nothing short of unconscionable. We must look for leverage wherever it may exist – in the case of Educators for Migrant Justice, the country’s largest pension plans.

SS: What did you learn from how the Educators for Migrant Justice Campaign convinced the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS, the US’ second-biggest pension fund) to divest from CoreCivic and GEO Group, the top two for-profit firms detaining immigrant families?

ECG: The CalSTRS campaign win ultimately speaks to the power of grassroots organizing and co-powering communities to hold financial institutions accountable. In developing the advocacy strategy, CalSTRS members and I really drew from the RedForEd movement that has swept across the country and proven incredibly effective for rallying educators around social issues. This advocacy model – working both within and separate from the unions themselves—was absolutely critical in helping me learn how to navigate internal union politics and harness the power of rank and file activism. One of the most important takeaways from the CalSTRS campaign has been the reminder that lack of transparency is often the biggest obstacle to accountability. CalSTRS members simply were not aware of how their retirement savings were being invested, and this is a common thread amongst investors and consumers across the country; most of us just never think to ask this question. This is even truer for people whose pension systems have a reputation for being leaders in responsible investing, like CalSTRS and its sister pension for public employees, California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). The other main takeaway from the CalSTRS campaign was the importance of countering misconceptions about responsible investing as a whole. Despite significant evidence that human rights abuses are bad for business, i.e., that investing in companies that commit egregious human rights abuses is not a prudent decision from even a purely financial standpoint, there appears to be a lot of confusion even amongst financial professionals about the extent to which legal, moral, and financial risks are connected.

SS: How does Educators for Migrant Justice connect with hunger strikes of detainees, from El Paso, Texas to Yuba City, California?

ECG: Educators for Migrant Justice, like the nationwide hunger strikes, is pushing back against an abusive system that seeks to profit off the pain and suffering of some of the most vulnerable members of society. Migrants have resorted to hunger strikes to protest the horrific conditions in which they are detained, as well as the larger system that has sought to criminalize and dehumanize those who have a legal right to seek refuge from persecution. These protests persist because the for-profit prison system continues to evade conventional approaches to accountability that would otherwise require reform. By raising awareness about how these human rights abuses create significant financial risk, the Educators for Migrant Justice Campaign is making it more difficult for these for-profit prison companies to underwrite debt and access capital needed for their continued operation and expansion, while simultaneously working to ensure pensioners’ retirement security.

SS: What is next for pushing CalPERs, the nation’s largest pension fund, to divest from CoreCivic and GEO Group, and how is the CalPERS campaign progressing?

ECG: Since the CalSTRS campaign win in November, Educators for Migrant Justice has turned its attention to CalPERS, the country’s largest pension system. After making public comments at CalPERS’ board meetings in December and again in February, Educators for Migrant Justice is now looking ahead to CalPERS’ board meeting on April 15th. As we gear up for the April board meetings, Educators for Migrant Justice is working to raise awareness among California public employees and mobilize a more diverse set of stakeholders who are each uniquely impacted by the for-profit prison system. CalPERS members can check out the Educators for Migrant Justice website as well as the CalPERS Action Toolkit to learn more about the campaign and find ways to get involved.

SS: At press time, JP Morgan Chase publicly announced the end of lending to the private prison industry. Can you comment?

ECG: JP Morgan’s decision to stop financing for-profit prisons comes in the wake of growing grassroots demand for financial institutions to address the adverse human rights impacts of their investments and loans, and puts increasing pressure on CalPERS, the country’s largest pension system and leader in responsible investing, to divest from for-profit prison giants CoreCivic and GEO Group.

Seth Sandronsky lives and works in Sacramento. He is a journalist and member of the Pacific Media Workers Guild. Email sethsandronsky@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, April 1, 2019

Populist.com