When we read the news these days, it’s easy to not only get mad, but want to get even. The many stories of family separation and dehumanizing violence on the border motivated Candide Group to do exactly that, using the three things we know best: the power of money, the power of celebrity, and the power of social movements. Here's how we’ve been taking action on family detention, and how you can get involved:
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The power of money. The unfortunate truth is that the majority of immigrants detained are held in privately-owned facilities, who have a clear incentive to lock up as many people as possible. Private prisons companies like GEO Group and CoreCivic receive over $1B a year in contracts from ICE — almost $5.5M a day of taxpayer money — and have spent $25M on lobbying over the past three decades to push for harsher criminal justice and immigration laws. Who is helping fund these private prison companies? The big-name banks, such as Wells Fargo and Chase, that many of us use personally or within our institutions.
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From DAPL to fossil fuels to family detention, this is not the first time that big-name banks have been in hot water—we saw this as yet another opportunity to educate the public on the virtues of community banks and think more comprehensively about social investing. To help individuals align their money with their values, we created informational social media videos to help people not only get their money out of fossil fuels, sweatshops labor, and private prisons, but then also into community banks, affordable housing, and clean energy.
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The power of celebrity. We recently launched Real Money Moves, a community of athletes, actors, artists, and activists who publicly committed to keeping their money out of the private prisons behind family detention, including NFL players and Orange is The New Black cast members. This drew the attention of outlets like People Magazine (an interesting cultural moment for the world of impact investing!) and mobilized celebrities across social media to spread the message. Select actors and athletes also collectively committed $10M to social investing, once again highlighting that beyond just taking action on family detention, social investing is a viable option for people excited to align their money and values.
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The power of social movements. Candide Group is a proud member of the #FamiliesBelongTogether Corporate Accountability Coalition, where we’ve been working with 80+ activist groups to raise awareness and demand change from corporations profiting from family detention. With the help of partner organizations like Presente.org, Make the Road, and MomsRising/MamasConPoder, we’re gearing up for our next action—seven million people are getting asked to sign a petition letting banks know they need to break up with private prisons, before we break up with them! The petitions will be delivered on Valentine’s Day at Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase bank locations across the US (and in some instances, include a mariachi band).
If you’d like to join the fight against family detention—especially if you bank with Wells or Chase--feel free to write me at morgan@candidegroup.com or follow this work on social media.
-Morgan Simon, Founding Partner, Candide Group
