“I think pressuring your local government to not cooperate at all with any of these federal agents.”
According to O’Keefe Media Group’s (OMG) latest investigation, major corporations including Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, Bank of America, and Universal Music Group have funneled millions of dollars to the Vera Institute of Justice, an organization that monitors federal immigration enforcement and circulates that information to help illegal immigrants evade deportation, according to documents reviewed by OMG and multiple sources familiar with the matter. Goldman Sachs contributed $5 million, Fidelity donated $1.3 million, and Bank of America gave $250,000, and Universal Music Group has contributed $50,000.
These revelations follow undercover footage of Santiago Mueckay, a Vera Institute Policy Advisor, who described how the nonprofit “tracks ICE movements” and “pushes that information out” so individuals can avoid federal agents. Mueckay also named high-profile contributors, saying that “Jeff Bezos” and “Bill Gates” were among Vera’s financial backers.
A review of Vera’s public-facing materials shows the group is not solely focused on immigration. On its website, Vera declares that America is “over-policing” and “over-enforcing” in Black communities, openly aligning with movements like Black Lives Matter and demanded to “defund police and shift power to communities.” The organization has also supported “Know Your Rights” campaigns that instruct immigrants on how to resist enforcement actions, advising them to demand warrants, refuse to open their doors, and rely on local governments to block ICE.
The influence extends into Congress itself. In undercover recordings obtained by OMG, Keane Bhatt, a Policy Advisor for the Congressional Progressive Caucus, acknowledged that caucus members have worked to block federal deportations through the courts. Bhatt explained that “in certain cases we’ve been able to win,” noting 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 also described grassroots strategies. He said many caucus members are involved in community-level initiatives designed 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 added that a “big step is just trying to educate people about what their constitutional rights are and how to exercise that in these interactions with these people.” Beyond grassroots education, Bhatt emphasized the importance of pressuring local leaders. He added that activists should push “your local government to not cooperate at all with any of these federal agents, and [work on] getting your mayors and your local governments to enshrine the status of being sanctuary cities and protecting the residents there.”
Bhatt also offered criticism of federal authorities. He said he believes “cruelty is the point,” alleging that ICE and Homeland Security want “to show that they are this authoritarian police force that is just breaking up immigrant communities.” According to Bhatt, the intention is to prove toughness to “a racist, right-winged base that they mean business” and to generate fear in immigrant communities. He further suggested that officials “want to basically harass and intimidate and violate the rights of blue and democratic and diverse communities,” describing these actions as a political tool for “their MAGA movement in terms of animating them and building their support.”
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.
OMG has reached out to Keane Bhatt and the Vera Institute of Justice regarding these revelations.
