On the 2 yr anniversary of the @Edu4MigrJustice campaign launch, @ESGtransparency is sharing the groundbreaking report that led CalPERS, the US’ largest pension, to divest from for-profit prison giants CoreCivic & GEO Group.

👉🏻 Check out the report at esg-transparency.org I'll be adding to this 🧵throughout the day to highlight some of the most shocking & important details from the report (and help break them down into English).

From a reporter friend on the ground: family of the student who tested positive for #COVID2019 in 1 of St. Louis’ most affluent neighborhoods (after traveling to Italy) are defying quarantine. Father & sister went to a school dance, mom went grocery shopping & got her nails done. While student’s family were supposed to be in quarantine while daughter was tested for #COVID2019, the mom went to Gourmet to Go, the @SchnuckMarkets in Clayton/Ladue, Lifetime Fitness, & got her nails done.

.@annikaalford Well MERRY FUCKING CHRISMUKKAH to me. Senior VP has a Twitter account. Pardon me while I link my many threads on #Dexcom

P.S. Thanks for the fact that "all calls are recorded for quality & training purposes." It's amazing what y'all will admit on those calls.

https://twitter.com/mle_goldman/status/1202549387836166145?s=20

As the administration continues forcibly separating migrant children from their families, the administration is looking to build a new facility to detain 450 unaccompanied children in San Antonio, Texas. #CloseTheCamps #NeverAgainIsNow fbo.gov/index?s=opport… Folks, YOUR VOICE MATTERS HERE!

When I sounded the alarm about a similar attempt to build another #ConcentrationCamp for kids in CA's Inland Empire, the mobilization effort & huge push back prompted a public statement from a state rep & forced the gov't to ABANDON ITS PLAN.

Woah, weird. I've just learned that I actually had nothing to do with CalPERS divesting. Apparently this was all the work of @CFA_News (according to them). Can someone help me figure out what I've been spending my time doing these past 15 months? My memory is suddenly fuzzy. @CFA_News Would it be bad form to do a quick side-by-side comparison of the resolution CFA passed vs the ones that were introduced at other unions? (hint: they were all drafted by the same person). Or maybe those call logs where I had to convince them why they should support the campaign?

Divestment simply refers to the sale of assets in a company. CalPERS made the decision to sell its holdings in CoreCivic and GEO Group. Ergo, CalPERS divested. I'll go ahead and @CalPERS and their chief of public affairs, @WayneBDavis, on this one.

💥#BREAKING: @CalPERS has quietly divested from for-profit prison giants CoreCivic and GEO Group over their systemic human rights abuses of migrants and other detainees‼️@Edu4MigrJustice @CalPERS @Edu4MigrJustice This is a huge victory for social justice advocates and the result of more than a year's worth of advocacy by the @Edu4MigrJustice campaign & activism by rank and file union members who have been standing up & speaking out at CalPERS board meetings since last December.

It's been more than a year since I began working quietly behind the scenes with the Oregon Treasury Department to address the Oregon state pension's investments in #MigrantAbuseCos like CoreCivic & GEO Group. @Edu4MigrJustice @BadassTeachersA @OregonBATs @Indivisible_OR In that time, they've:
-responded to a members' public records request with a statement that staff admitted was "demonstrably false"
-insisted they have policies on responsible investing which they haven't provided despite multiple requests (and that can't be found online)

Cali public employees! Ur voices r making a difference!!

Thanks 2 the @Edu4MigrJustice campaign & passionate CalPERS members, we’re starting 2 see some movement 2 end the largest US pension’s complicity in the migrant abuse crisis!

KEEP UP THE PRESSURE! #E4MJ #StandUp4Migrants Responding 2 public comments from @Edu4MigrJustice & dozens of CalPERS members, CalPERS board member, Rob Feckner, stated that the Board takes concerns abt CalPERS’ investments in #MigrantAbuseCos as srsly as their stakeholders & that the Board is addressing their concerns. #E4MJ

This is reallyyy big (and good!) news‼️

Vanguard just dropped for-profit prison company GEO Group from its #ESG funds.

Vanguard is GEO's largest investor, owning a nearly 15% stake in the company (as of March 2019).
ft.com/content/5b6caa… While this won't affect the entirety of Vanguard's $340 million worth of holdings in GEO Group, it's nonetheless a huge blow to GEO and marks an important milestone in the global movement for socially & environmentally responsible investing. #ESG #SRI

Inst’l investor: it’s imp 2 have a seat @ the table w/ 4-profit prisons 2 drive change
Me: engagement hasn’t led 2 pos developments
Inv: not true; GEO passed a shareholder res on #HumanRights
Me: & days later they denied lawyers access 2 detainees
Inv: oh, we didn’t know that
🤦🏼‍♀️ U can’t insist on engaging w/ these cos if you aren’t even doing this VERY BASIC level of due diligence. The shareholder res @ GEO passed but was strongly opposed by GEO’s board, & their objection 2 a dif shareholder res on family detention meant that res wasn’t even put 2 a vote

Sooo I flagged concerns abt this unlicensed co for @reveal investigative journos MONTHS ago based on a database of unaccompanied child contractors I compiled ages ago didn’t release due 2 pushback

Pardon me while I continue screaming into the black void

wral.com/unlicensed-nc-… Did I also reach out to the guy who ultimately published the list to note that I thought I had more info that could/should be included in his list? Yep!

Did I ever get a response? Nope.

Let’s all take a moment to congratulate @Airbnb for achieving something no one thought possible: making health insurance companies’ customer service look gooooood.

Great job, @AirbnbHelp! @Airbnb you. hang. up. on. your. own. employees?!?

And despite repeated assurance that my calls will be returned, not a single one of my TEN+ calls has.

What the FUCK type of company are you running?!? @AirbnbHelp @bchesky @jgebbia @nathanblec

More than a year after I published the list of pension funds that are complicit in the migrant abuse crisis, highly regarded investor publication, @barronsonline, highlights @NYSTRS’ investments in #MigrantAbuseCos CoreCivic & GEO Group.

barrons.com/articles/new-y… From June 2018 on @NYSTRS’ investments in GEO Group:

https://twitter.com/mle_goldman/status/1009342491294879744?s=21

In a Dec ‘18 interview, CA State Controller & CalSTRS/CalPERS board member @BettyYeeforCA argued against divestment from for-profit prisons [CoreCivic & GEO Group] b/c “none of the facilities that [the pensions] are involved in are in the practice of detaining migrants.” Yes, you read that correctly. @BettyYeeforCA actually tried to claim that CoreCivic & GEO Group “aren’t involved in the practice of detaining migrants.” The two companies are, in fact, responsible for detaining nearly 70% of all migrants in US custody. institutional-allocator.com/cal-states-con…

The thread of all threads on #MigrantAbuseCos CoreCivic, GEO Group, General Dynamics, & United Rentals. @Edu4MigrJustice #BizHumanRights

https://twitter.com/mle_goldman/status/1009305857044041729

The earlier tweet about MVM's contracts for holding migrants at GITMO has been deleted because it was apparently causing confusion.

So, to summarize, MVM has a contract with DHS to provide unarmed guards for the migrant operations center at #GITMO. usaspending.gov/#/award/689995… According to the Q&A attached to the solicitation for that award, the contractor specifically inquired about holding migrant children at that facility and was told that several migrant children have in fact been held there within the past few years. fbo.gov/index?s=opport…

So while Comprehensive Health Services runs Florida Homestead's child concentration camp (& first for-profit child detention facility), DoD contractor General Dynamics has had numerous government contracts for the Homestead facility. Contract for General Dynamics Information Technology (IT)

"Provision of training & technical assistance services at temporary shelters in Homestead, FL for unaccompanied children"

-contract period: 3/09/18 (zero tolerance immigration policy) - 10/21/18

usaspending.gov/#/award/626606…

so the DoD contractor providing services & support 2 the FL child concentration camp apparently employs multiple former employees of [Devos'] Bethany Christian Services, the org that's selling separated children & placing them exclusively w/ white, Christian, cisgender couples

https://twitter.com/mle_goldman/status/1097373119914930176

💝 Happy Valentine's Day, @CalPERS! ❤️

My prezzie to you: a response to your argument that divesting from for-profit prison company CoreCivic is a threat to your bottom line (part 1) 👇🏻👇🏻 *screenshot from BuySellSignal's CoreCivic report Dec. 31, 2018 #ESG #SRI #bizhumanrights 💝 Let's play a game of "would you rather," @CalPERS

1. Would u rather have your💰invested in a co. whose share price has ⬇️ by nearly 50% over the past 4 years? 📉

ORRRRR

2. Would u rather have your 💰 invested in a co. that performed abt as well as the S&P 500 ⬆️ by 20% 📈

GEO Group, a private prison company that runs detention facilities where several migrants have died due to lack of medical care (the subject of a 2016 Human Rights Watch report), can count public state funds among its investors. GEO Group - whose migrant transportation has been described as "a prison bus just for babies" - currently runs the largest ICE detention facility & is profiting heavily on Trump's family separation policy.