Caravan-Related Activities Funded by OSF
In late October 2018, Judicial Watch dispatched an investigative team to Guatemala to report on the “caravans” of Hondurans and others streaming north to enter the United States. The popular mainstream media narrative of desperate migrants—many of them women and children—seeking a better life is hardly accurate. The initial caravan consisted of large groups of men, some with criminal histories, aggressively demanding that the U.S. take them in. During a visit to the Guatemalan town of Chiquimula, about 35 miles from the Honduran border, Judicial Watch encountered a rowdy group of about 600 men, ages 17 to about 40, marching north on a narrow two-lane highway. The men sought jobs in America and improved economic opportunities – not political asylum. One man in his 30s contradicted media reports that caravan participants are fleeing violence and fear for their life. “We’re not scared,” he said waving his index finger as others around him nodded in agreement. “We’re going to the United States to get jobs.” Others chanted “vamos para allá Trump!” (We’re coming Trump) as they clenched their fists in the air. “We need money and food,” said a 29-year-old man who made the trek with his 21-year-old brother.
All of the migrants interviewed by Judicial Watch repeated the same rehearsed line when asked who organized the caravan, insisting it was a spontaneous event even though there were clearly organizers shouting instructions in Spanish and putting select persons in front of cameras for interviews. A few claimed they heard about it on local news in Honduras. All of them said the caravan was not about politics but rather poverty. “I just want to get back to the U.S.,” said a 32-year-old man who admitted he has been deported from the U.S. twice. “We are all just looking for work.” The group radiated a sense of empowerment. One marcher, who appeared to be in his late teens, yelled “you go live in
Honduras and see what it’s like!”
Guatemalan intelligence officials confirmed that the caravan that originated in the northern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula includes a multitude of Special Interest Aliens (SIA) from the countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Angola, as well as other criminal elements and gang members. The migrant caravan marching northbound through Central America is an “elaborately planned” movement that’s benefiting human smugglers and bringing disturbing numbers of violent gang members and other criminal elements through Guatemala, according to government sources in the capital city. “MS-13 gang members have been detained and coyotes (human smugglers) are joining the march with clients who pay to get smuggled into the United States,” a Guatemalan official told Judicial Watch.
Guatemalan government officials, to include President Jimmy Morales, pointed to “Leftist organizations” as organizers and supporters of the caravan, seeking to destabilize governments in the region and manipulate the migrants for political purposes. President Morales stated that he wanted the groups behind the caravan investigated criminally for creating the conditions that endanger the migrants on their long, perilous journey, as well as violating immigration, customs and border security laws.
Leftist organizations receiving OSF financing which are reportedly promoting, organizing and supporting the caravan include:
- The Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) is “the largest network of nonprofit immigration legal services programs” in the country.114 CLINIC was one of the founding organizations of the CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project,115 which reportedly helped to coordinate Pueblo Sin Fronteras’ [People Without Borders] previous migrant caravan.116 Alex Mensing,117 an organizer with Pueblo Sin Fronteras who is involved in the current caravan, was previously a coordinator with the CARA project. CLINIC received $150,000 from OSF in 2016. CLINIC has received more than $4.2 million in grants from HHS, DOJ, and DHS since 2006.118
- The American Constitution Society received $2,250,000 from OSF in 2016. It has been highly critical of the President’s immigration policies and has organized teleconference briefings on “the Caravan, the President, and the Constitution.”119
- Centro para la Acción Legal en Derechos Humanos (Center for Legal Action in Human Rights, CALDH) received a $100,191 human rights grant from the Open Society Foundations in 2015. In 2013, it received a $25,000 grant from the OSF. There are many similarly-funded organizations, including those listed in Judicial Watch’s Special Report: “George Soros’ Open Society Foundation Activities in Guatemala.”120
- The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights has received $3.3 million from OSF since 2016. The organization sued the Trump administration over the immigration executive order and the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 census form.
- Amnesty International, which has received more than $300,000 from OSF, was running a fundraising campaign based on its assistance to the migrant caravan at the time of this article (November 30, 2018).
- The National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild is a longtime beneficiary of OSF grants.121 The New York Times, described their legal assistance to caravan migrants:
- “Some clustered around volunteer American lawyers who arrived at the shelter to explain the basics of asylum law.
“People don’t flee their country and go through the arduous trip on foot unless the situation is desperate,” said Gilbert Saucedo, a Los Angeles lawyer who helped organize the volunteers through the National Lawyers Guild. [Emphasis added.] “I have talked to maybe 100 people today,” he said on Saturday, “and maybe 70 percent had credible cases on the surface.” Yet many lack the documents they need to provide evidence.”122
The Center for Constitutional Rights and Al Otro Lado filed a lawsuit against the administration on October 15th challenging the administration’s policy, instituted in response to the caravans, of turning back asylum seekers at the border.123 The CCR received $530,000 from OSF in 2016.
• Human Rights First, which actively opposes the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts,124 has received over $1 million from OSF since 2016. Church World Service, which provides assistance to immigrants and refugees, received $179,600 from OSF in 2017. On October 19th, the organization issued a press release criticizing the administration’s response to the caravan that quote its President and CEO as follows:
- “Some clustered around volunteer American lawyers who arrived at the shelter to explain the basics of asylum law.
“A dark moment in our history as a nation was when we turned away the MS St. Louis carrying 900 Jewish families seeking asylum and returned them to the horrors of the Holocaust. Today, asylum protections offer a last hope for people facing life threatening conditions. CWS and faith communities across the country demand the administration uphold our moral and legal obligations to welcome people seeking protection.”125
Judicial Watch Litigation Uncovers U.S. Government Funding of Soros/OSF Macedonia Judicial Watch reporting uncovered how the U.S. government quietly spent millions of taxpayer dollars to destabilize the democratically elected, center-right government in Macedonia by colluding with Soros organizations, through Barack Obama’s U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia, Jess L. Baily. Ambassador Baily worked behind the scenes with Soros’ Open Society Foundation to funnel large sums of American dollars to their cause.
The cash flowed through the State Department and the famously corrupt U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID)126, which is charged with providing global economic, development and humanitarian assistance. USAID allocated about $5 million to leftwing Soros groups in Macedonia since 2012, documents show, and at least $9.5 million has been earmarked by the agency to intervene in the Balkan nation’s governmental affairs for 2016-2021.127
According to high-level sources in Macedonia and the U.S. that have provided Judicial Watch with records as part of an ongoing investigation. The OSF established and funded dozens of leftwing, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Macedonia to overthrow the conservative government. One Macedonian government official interviewed by Judicial Watch in Washington D.C., called it the “Soros infantry.” The groups organize youth movements, create influential media outlets and organize violent protests to undermine the institutions and policies implemented by the government. One of the Soros’ groups funded the translation and publication of Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” into Macedonian. The book is a tactical manual of subversion, provides direct advice for radical street protests and proclaims Lucifer to be the first radical.
With a population of about 2 million, Macedonia has one of the more conservative governments in Europe. This includes the lowest flat tax in Europe, close ties with Israel and pro-life policies. The country built a border fence to crackdown on an illegal immigration crisis of 2015-16 that overwhelmed law enforcement agencies. Between 10,000 and 12,000 illegal aliens were crossing the Greek-Macedonian border daily at the peak of the European migration crisis, a Macedonian official told Judicial Watch, and the impact was devastating.
In January 2017, Utah Senator Mike Lee sent Ambassador Baily a letter asking questions involving the U.S. Mission to Macedonia’s involvement in the political process and its connections to the Open Society Foundation.128 Specifically, the letter asked:
“Has the US Mission to Macedonia selected the Open Society Foundations as the major implementer of USAID projects in Macedonia? And, is the Open Society Foundations perceived to have political bias by Macedonians? In this regard I would appreciate further information about the process by which projects and needs for Macedonia are assessed by US officials in country before requests for proposals are written and grant recipients or program implementers selected.”
Six United States Senators expressed interest in USAID and State Department funding of Soros/OSF operations.129 In typical fashion, the State Department stonewalled the inquiry. The senators received a non-responsive reply in April 2017 from career State Department official who served as a top aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; worked closely with her in the immediate aftermath of the Benghazi attacks; and, was embroiled in Clinton’s email server crimes – Joseph E. MacManus. MacManus essentially rebuffed the senators’ request for an investigation into whether the State Department and USAID were using taxpayer money to support liberal causes they viewed as having no clear national-security interest. The Washington Free Beacon reported:
“MacManus, in a written response to the senators, defended USAID’s work without responding to their concerns about U.S. tax dollars supporting Soros’s causes and their call for a State Department review into those funding ‘The Department of State’s foreign assistance programs arerigorously designed, implemented and monitored to ensure that they are based on core American values,’ MacManus said in a letter.”130
Ironically, MacManus is now President Trump’s nominee as ambassador to Colombia. Some analysts view this sort of “Deep State” obstruction and protection of Soros/OSF taxpayer financed political activism as the greatest threat to the Trump administration reining-in the State Department and its subsidiary agencies. Likewise, legitimate congressional oversight is thwarted by careerists with impunity.
The fact remains that millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have already been spent on this illicit Macedonian operation (and others around the world), and government agencies must be held accountable.
Albania
Judicial Watch obtained 32 pages of records showing the Obama administration sent U.S. taxpayers’ funds to a group backed by Soros/OSF, which used the money to fund leftwing political activities in Albania, including working with the country’s socialist government to push for highly controversial judicial “reform.” The records also detail how the Soros/OSF operation was involved in “helping” the State Department review and make grant applications from other non-governmental groups for U.S. taxpayer funding.131
The records were obtained in a May 26, 2017, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of State and the USAID after both entities failed to respond to March 31, 2017, FOIA requests (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (No. 1:17-cv-01012)). Judicial Watch agreed to dismiss the lawsuit after it received the documents and payment of attorneys’ fees.
The new documents show USAID funds were funneled through that agency’s Civil Society Project to back OSF political operations in Albania, particularly OSF efforts to give the socialist government greater control of the judiciary. USAID reportedly gave $9 million in 2016 to the “Justice for All” campaign, which is overseen by Soros’s EWMI.
In March 2017, a group of six U.S. Senators led by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) again sent a letter to then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asking that he investigate charges that the U.S. government was using taxpayer funds to assist Soros/OSF in Albania. The letter said, “Foundation Open Society-Albania and its experts, with funding from USAID, have created the controversial Strategy Document for Albanian Judicial Reform. Some leaders believe that these ‘reforms’ are ultimately aimed to give the Prime Minister and left -of-center government full control over the judiciary.”132
In the Albanian parliament, opposition leaders have labeled the Strategy “a Soros sponsored reform.”133 The new records released by Judicial Watch include an April 2016 memo from the U.S. Embassy in Tirana that reveals that the embassy “sponsored” a survey along with
Soros’s Open Society Foundation to measure Albanian citizens’ “knowledge, support, and expectations on justice reform.” The Soros/OSF group survey reported that “91% of respondents either ‘fully support’ or ‘somewhat support’ the need for judicial reform.” The poll did not specify the type of reform the Soros/OSF group was seeking.134
Also, records dated February 2017 show that the State Department used taxpayer funds to co-sponsor a second poll with the OSF on judicial reforms that would essentially solidify the left’s control of the Albanian government. The report notes that the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section and the Open Society Foundation, “each provided funding to a local organization to conduct a public opinion poll on attitudes towards the Judicial Reform effort.”135
The records also reveal that the State Department gave the Soros/OSF organization direct input for its own program funding reviews in Albania. The February 10, 2017, report on “Engagement with the Open Society Foundation for Albania” notes that:
“As one of the major assistance providers in Albania, representatives from the Open Society Foundation are frequently asked to participate in technical reviews of application [sic] that we receive for funding.”136
The former U.S. Ambassador to Albania, Donald Lu, (now assigned as the U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyz Republic) was a holdover from the Obama administration, and closely linked to Soros/OSF and the socialist government in Albania.137 In May 2017, Ambassador Lu helped undermine Albanian opposition party plans to protest the upcoming parliamentary election by declaring that the U.S. would recognize the election results even if opposition parties refused to participate. Ambassador Lu has been described in the U.S. press as “a driving force behind Albania’s judicial reforms.”138
“The Obama administration quietly spent at least $9 million in U.S. taxpayers’ dollars in direct collusion with left-wing billionaire George Soros’ backing of a socialist government in Albania. It is particularly outrageous that the State Department allowed the Soros operation to help direct taxpayer funds to other groups,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “George Soros is a billionaire and he shouldn’t be receiving taxpayer support to advance his radical left agenda to undermine freedom here at home and abroad.”
Related Cases: Romania and Colombia
In related cases, Judicial Watch is seeking information regarding Soros/OSF activities in Romania and Colombia. The Open Society Foundations of Romania lawsuit was filed after State and USAID failed to substantively respond to an October 16, 2017, FOIA request seeking among other records:
- All records relating to any contracts, grants or other allocations/disbursements of funds by the State Department to the Open Society Foundation – Romania and/or its personnel and/or any OSFR subsidiary or affiliate.
- All assessments, evaluations, reports or similar records relating to the work of Open Society Foundation – Romania and/or its subsidiaries or affiliated organizations.
The Soros Open Society Foundations of Colombia lawsuit was filed after State failed to respond to an October 23, 2017, FOIA request seeking among other records:
- All records regarding any contracts, grants or other allocations/disbursements of funds by the State Department to the Open Society Foundation – Colombia and/or any OSF subsidiaries/affiliates, and/or OSF personnel operating in Colombia, as well as the following entities: Fundacion Ideas para la Paz; La Silla Vacia; DeJusticia; Corporacion Nuevo Arco Iris; Paz y Reconciliacion; Global Drug Policy Program; and news portal Las Dos Orillas.
- All records of communication, whether by e-mails, text messages, or instant chats, between any officials, employees or representatives of the State Department in Colombia, including Ambassador Kevin Whitaker and any officials, employees or representatives of the Open Society Foundation, its subsidiaries/affiliates, and/or those entities identified in the first bullet.
As in other parts of the world, a number of Soros-funded entities and projects in Romania are also funded by the United States Government. The Romanian Center for Independent Journalism, which is supported by the Open Society Institute in New York139, received $17,000 from the State Department in 2017.140
In February 2017, Laura Silber, Chief Communications Officer of Open Society Foundations reportedly condemned “illiberal governments” in the Balkans, such as Macedonia, Albania and Romania, for working against the Soros/OSF NGOs.141 In Romania, in March 2017, the leader of the governing party reportedly charged that the Soros foundations “that he has funded since 1990 have financed evil.”142
Soros/OSF NGOs in Colombia are reportedly receiving millions from USAID143:
- Verdad Abierta, a web-based portal created by Teresa Ronderos,144 director of the Open Society Program on Independent Journalism, boasts on its website that it receives support from USAID.145 Verdad Abierta has helped rewrite Colombia’s history, elevating terrorists to the same level as the legitimate police and military forces, and rebranding decades of massacres, kidnappings, child soldiering, and drug trafficking by a criminal syndicate as simply “50 years of armed conflict.”146
- Fundacion Ideas para la Paz,147 once led by peace negotiator Sergio Jaramillo, now a member of the oversight “junta,” is funded by the Open Society Foundations and has received more than $200,000 in U.S. tax dollars.148
- The left-wing news portal La Silla Vacia,149 another Open Society initiative, also boasts of being a USAID grantee. Its columnist, Rodrigo Uprimny,150 whose NGO DeJusticia151 also partners with USAID and Open Society, is considered one of the architects of the peace deal.
- Former National Liberation Army terrorist Leon Valencia152—Open Society collaborator and grantee—has received at least $1,000,000 in USAID funding through his NGOs Corporacion Nuevo Arco Iris and Paz y Reconciliacion, and left-wing news portal Las Dos Orillas153, which he co-founded.
In 2016, Soros’ Open Society Foundations gave more than $3.3 million to organizations operating in Colombia. Several of those organizations have also been financially supported by the United States government, having received more than $5 million from the Department of State, USAID, and the Inter-American Foundation (a federal agency) in recent years. One of the Soros/OSF funded entities, an LGBT advocacy organization, was also selected by the Inter-American Foundation as a partner organization in its Colombia peace project initiative.154
Conclusion
Why are U.S. taxpayers funding billionaire “philanthropist” George Soros and his highly politicized Open Society Foundations?
This report has documented and detailed millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars being spent around the world to support the radical leftist goals of the George Soros “Open Society” networks.
The American public is owed accountability for how its taxes are spent by government agencies. Judicial Watch’s investigations and lawsuits will continue.
Sources:
- https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/open-society-foundations/
- http://www.judicialwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Judicial-Watch-Special-Report-Open-Society-Foundations-2018-1.pdf
- https://www.catholic.org/news/politics/story.php?id=76237
Chronological History of Events Involving the Open Society Foundations
Eight Journalists Investigated And Fired For Reporting On George Soros
Facebook Hires New Google and Soros Funded Fact-Checker, Full Fact, as Newest Arbiter of Truth
Google Partners with Soros-Funded Fact-Checking Service to Fight ‘Fake News’
Hungarian Lawmaker Says The Soros Plan Is a Satanic Assault on Europe
Charlottesville ‘Unite the Right’ Rally Psy-Op and False Flag: 2 Cars, 2 Drivers, 2 Takes = 1 False Flag
The Energy and Environment Legal Institute Releases a Report that Exposes Rockefeller Dynasty’s Role in “Climate” Scam
RussiaGate: After Trump Wins the 2016 Election, a Deep State Coup to Oust Him Begins with a Dirty Fake Dossier Paid for by the Clinton Campaign
Judicial Watch: Documents Show State Department Links to George Soros’ Open Society Foundation – Romania
Leaked Soros Document Calls for Regulating Internet to Favor ‘Open Society’ Supporters
