Politics

Trump Administration Awarded Grants To Illegal Immigrant Advocacy Organization

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Amber Athey Podcast Columnist
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The Trump administration has awarded nearly $1 million in grants to an illegal immigrant advocacy organization that has directly worked to undermine enforcement efforts at the southern border.

Casa De Maryland is a nonprofit organization that assists illegal immigrants in finding employment and mobilizes against restrictionist immigration policies, including the Trump administration’s move to terminate the Flores settlement and forge partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In 2018, Casa De Maryland joined a group of organizations suing the Trump administration for its attempt to add a citizenship question to the U.S. Census.

Despite the fact that Casa De Maryland has consistently tried to undermine the administration’s immigration policies and has arguably flouted federal law by encouraging employers to hire illegal immigrants, the organization has consistently received a significant amount of its funding from local, state, and federal government contracts.

According to a review of Casa De Maryland’s 990 nonprofit forms, it received $3.87 million in government contracts in fiscal year 2014, $3.58 million in FY 2015, and $4.04 million in FY 2016, accounting for approximately half of its yearly revenue.

A decent chunk of the change has made its way to Casa De Maryland from the Trump administration.

The Department of Labor, for example, awarded the organization a $131,720 grant in September 2017 through the “Susan Harwood” program, which provides occupational hazard training to employees and employers. Casa De Maryland has been receiving grants of similar amounts through the same program since 2011, all while running day laborer programs that help employers hire illegal immigrants and presumably undercut legal workers.

Casa De Maryland received $849,939 from the Department of Justice (DOJ) in October 2017 for community crime reduction projects, despite Casa De Maryland’s efforts to cancel local 287(g) programs that train law enforcement officers to detain criminally accused illegal immigrants on behalf of ICE. In Frederick, MD, the program has been responsible for the deportation of 1,500 criminals, including 110 gang members since 2011. (RELATED: How A Maryland Sheriff Deported MS-13 By Cooperating With ICE)

The Department of Labor and the Department of Justice did not return a request for comment on their respective funding of Casa De Maryland.

The Department of Education and Environmental Protection Agency also awarded significant grants that predated the Trump administration, although some of the programs continued into 2017 and 2018.

The EPA issued the following statement to the Daily Caller regarding a September 2016 grant to Casa De Maryland:

“In 2016, Casa De Maryland was selected to receive a financial assistance award totaling $120,000 for a two-year project addressing unhealthy housing conditions in the Langley Park, MD community. Selections were made in compliance with EPA’s Grants Competition process, which was open to eligible non-profit organizations and tribal governments for this competition. The project worked to establish a broad multi-stakeholder coalition of community residents, apartment complex managers, and local County officials dedicated to advancing healthy housing and improving environmental conditions in Langley Park apartment complexes. The project has been completed and is now closed.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.