04.27.2017

New York, NY – A new campaign led by immigrants and workers launched today seeks to expose the companies benefiting from Trump’s agenda. The “Corporate Backers of Hate” campaign, organized by the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), Make The Road New York (MRNY), and a broad coalition of community and advocacy groups, will target nine companies – JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Disney, Boeing, BlackRock, Uber, and Blackstone,

Many of these companies have cultivated ties to the Trump administration, and all are positioned to profit in different ways from the administration’s signature policies: the criminalization of immigrants, mass incarceration, the construction of an unnecessary and expensive border wall, and the undoing of longstanding protections for workers and the environment.

The campaign names and shame these companies on a new website, the “Corporate Backers of Hate,” which allows users to send personal emails to company CEOs and board members. The website outlines the connections each company has with the Trump administration, the refusal of many of their leaders to disavow the most offensive Trump policies, and the ways in which they are positioned to gain financially from the Trump agenda.

The website will be coupled with an extensive digital and social media strategy to amplify the information to a broad audience, a growing wave of direct actions targeting these companies, and a national appeal to cities and states to limit their business dealings with these corporations.

Other groups involved in the campaign include the Fair Immigration Reform Movement network, New York Communities for Change (NYCC), Partnership for Working Families, Presente, and more than 20 community organizing groups across the country. The research behind the project was conducted by CPD, MRNY, NYCC, and Little Sis, a free online database tracking the intersections between corporations and politics.

Ana Maria Archila, Co-Executive Director of Center for Popular Democracy, released the following statement: “Some of America’s most well-known companies are cashing in on the exploitation of immigrants and workers. They can’t be allowed to operate under the radar any longer. We are drawing back the curtain on this corporate boondoggle and showing exactly how it will hurt the immigrants and workers that are the very foundation of this country.”

Deborah Axt, Co-Executive Director of Make The Road New York, also released the following statement: “Corporate America must pick a side: either you stand with our communities, or you stand with Trump’s politics of hate. Immigrants and people of integrity will not stand idly by as major American corporations position themselves to profit from an administration that attacks immigrants and working people. To those companies who choose to stand on the wrong side of history—especially those seeking to profit from Trump’s anti-immigrant crusade—we say: you are on notice, and our communities will hold you accountable.”

Sulma Arias, Immigration Field Director at the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, also released the following statement: “These companies have been profiting from the pain of immigrant families by financing detention centers and other facilities. This campaign will hit companies’ bottom line, which is what they care most about.”

Nikki Fortunato Bas, Executive Director of the Partnership for Working Families, also released the following statement: "Across the country, people are finding creative ways to resist the Trump agenda, including the border wall that would keep families apart. People are demanding that companies take a moral stand and refuse to profit off of hate and xenophobia. As more people speak out, companies are listening. And our cities and states are listening too. They are proposing legislation that would keep local funds from going to companies that support construction of the border wall." 

Rachel Rivera, a community member from New York Communities for Change, also released the following statement: “Goldman Sachs has not only infiltrated our government, it has infiltrated our homes and our neighborhoods. They are entering our neighborhoods, buying our homes and apartments, raising rents, and evicting our families. And they are funding detention centers and breaking our families apart. We need to defend our communities and confront Government Sachs and their destructive agenda.”

Manuel A., a community member from Make The Road New Jersey, also released the following statement: “I was detained for nearly two months at a CoreCivic immigration detention center in New Jersey while I was seeking asylum. I couldn't afford a lawyer so I represented myself. Meanwhile JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo have provided millions of dollars in financing to CoreCivic so that it can continue to detain hundreds of immigrants like me, who are fleeing violence or trying to reunite with our families. That's why today I'm joining my community to stand up to JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo and the other Backers of Hate who are standing with Trump and his agenda."

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www.populardemocracy.org

The Center for Popular Democracy promotes equity, opportunity, and a dynamic democracy in partnership with innovative base-building organizations, organizing networks and alliances, and progressive unions across the country. CPD builds the strength and capacity of democratic organizations to envision and advance a pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial justice agenda.

www.maketheroadny.org

Make the Road New York (MRNY) builds the power of Latino and working class communities to achieve dignity and justice through organizing, policy innovation, transformative education, and survival services. We have 20,000+ members and operate five community centers in Bushwick, Brooklyn; Jackson Heights, Queens; Port Richmond, Staten Island; and Brentwood, Long Island.

Media Contact: 

Asya Pikovsky, apikovsky@populardemocracy.org, 207-522-2442

Daniel Altschuler, daniel.altschuler@maketheroadny.org, 917-494-5922