A pro-immigration group that has called for "freedom from detention" for illegal aliens and says the immigration system is "intentionally designed" to exploit minorities has hired a Republican lobbyist as it faces potential cuts to its lucrative federal contracts.
The Acacia Center for Justice, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, last month hired Federal Science Partners LLC to lobby the government on discretionary funding from the Department of Justice, particularly its Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), as well as contracts through the Department of Health and Human Services. The account will be led by John Martens, a former aide to several current and former House Republicans, according to lobbying records filed with Congress.
It comes as the Acacia Center aims to fend off spending freezes to organizations that handle immigration issues. The Department of Justice has awarded contracts to the Acacia Center to provide legal services to adults and children facing deportation proceedings. The center is also the lead contractor on a $769 million Health and Human Services contract to provide services to unaccompanied alien children detained at the border.
The Department of Justice under Trump froze funding for some of Acacia's contracts last month, but the organization said Monday the funding had been restored after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on Trump's spending freeze.
But its funding could still be in limbo because of the Trump administration's plans to use its "Department of Government Efficiency" to cut government waste. The Acacia Center's criticism of U.S. immigration policy and of Trump's immigration proposals could also put it in the administration's crosshairs.
The Acacia Center, which formed in 2022, argues that "no immigrant should be detained" and that electronic surveillance to track illegal aliens "must be abolished," the Washington Free Beacon reported. According to the center, "the use of local law enforcement for immigration purposes" must be "dismantled."
The group says the immigration and deportation system is "intentionally designed to exploit, exclude, criminalize, detain, and deport" people deemed to be "undeserving of inclusion in our national fabric, particularly Black and brown people."
The Acacia Center has also called for stiff penalties against attorneys and judges who "misgender" illegal aliens during immigration proceedings held by the EOIR.
The center, which has received around $45 million in contracts from the EOIR, asserted in a report last year that repeated failures to "affirm gender identity for noncitizens" constitutes a violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.
The group said immigration judges should be allowed to discipline attorneys for their "deliberate failure to use a respondent's or counsel's correct name and pronouns" by rejecting their court filings or referring them for investigation by the Justice Department's Attorney Discipline Program.
Numerous other liberal groups have hired Republican lobbyists to help navigate the Trump administration. Harvard University hired Ballard Partners, the former lobbying firm of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Columbia University hired Trump-linked lobbyists at BGR Government Affairs. Trump has threatened to hike tax rates on university endowments, and congressional Republicans have aggressively investigated the Ivy League schools and other universities for allowing anti-Semitic activity to run rampant on their campuses.
The Acacia Center for Justice and Federal Science Partners did not respond to requests for comment.