“Carlos Curbelo’s troubling immigration record should make Miami families think twice. From creating a sham immigration PAC that gives money to House Republicans that don’t support immigration reform to now speaking at an event sponsored by a company that profits on the deportation of immigrants, Carlos Curbelo can’t be trusted,” said Javier Gamboa of the DCCC.
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Curbelo Hosting Immigration Forum Sponsored by Company That Profits Off Deportation
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/carlos-curbelo-hosts-immigration-forum-with-immigration-bail-company-libre-by-nexus-9549257
The Miami New Times
The Virgina-based company Libre by Nexus has an obvious financial incentive to make sure the United States continues deporting increasing numbers of immigrants: It offers steeply priced bail bonds to people trapped in immigration court. Over the past few years, Libre by Nexus has been accused of exploiting immigrants trapped in the nation’s kangaroo-court deportation system, sending broke and defenseless immigrants into debt, and “preying” on undocumented people to make a quick buck.
Tomorrow, […] Miami-area Rep. Carlos Curbelo will host an immigration panel discussion sponsored by the company.
[…] This is far from the first time the congressman has aligned himself with extremely shady businesses: His campaign-donation record includes hundreds of thousands of dollars from all sorts of predatory capitalists, including Koch Industries ($15,000), Comcast, ExxonMobil, and FPL parent company Nextera Energy ($12,500 in donations apiece), the Florida private-prison giant GEO Group ($11,000), and at least $10,200 from Big Sugar kingpin Jose “Pepe” Fanjul.
[…] The company has long been called a leech on defenseless people that exists thanks to the nation’s sprawling, broken immigration-court system. According to the Washington Post, Libre had bailed more than 12,500 people out of immigration courts as of March — for a price.
[…] Nexus Services also runs a nonprofit charity arm, Nexus Caridades (“caridades” is Spanish for “charities”), that offers pro bono representation in immigration court. But critics who spoke to BuzzFeed say they worry Nexus attorneys might be incentivized to stretch out immigration cases longer so that Libre by Nexus can suck more money from customers. (Nexus says the two companies work independently from each other.)
[…] All of this raises big questions about the sort of people who have Curbelo’s ear. The congressman paints himself as a centrist — he openly believes in human-caused climate change, a rarity for a GOP lawmaker — and sits on multiple bipartisan legislative groups aimed at tackling sea-level rise, health care, and other controversial topics. But just because something is labeled “bipartisan” or “centrist” doesn’t make it inherently moral, and Curbelo needs to answer whether he thinks it’s OK to prop up an extremely shady bail-bond company that preys on America’s most defenseless people.