Update: They've divested their shares in GEO Group!
It’s just been revealed that the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan (ONTPP) is investing in one of the largest US private prison companies, responsible for detaining thousands of children and families swept up in Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown.[1]
The situation in these prisons is unimaginable. Children are being denied showers and clean clothes. Reporters have found nooses in cells. On top of that, GEO Group faces “the highest number of allegations of physical and sexual assaults against detainees of any facility of its kind in the nation.”[2,3,4,5]
The ONTPP manages the retirement savings of school teachers across ON who work with children -- it’s unconscionable that it’s cashing in on the detention of children facing serious human rights violations south of the border.
But together we can get them to pull these investments. Just last week, the Leadnow community got another pension fund (the CPP) to divest its shares from the same prison company, using public pressure.[6,7]
Pension plans care about their reputation. A massive public outcry right now, while the story's breaking in the news, will show the ONTPP this investment isn't worth the reputational risk and could force them to divest.
Sign the petition calling on the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to divest its shares from the private prison companies executing Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda.