EXCLUSIVE — A former Trump administration official and two congressional Republicans are demanding that President Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services conduct an “audit” of its grants to a George Soros-funded nonprofit group to ensure the money hasn’t been used illegally.
Alianza Americas, an immigration advocacy group, has received $8.5 million in tax dollars from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the Health Resources and Services Administration — two agencies under HHS.
However, Alianza may have unlawfully used the federal funds for “lobbying,” charged former HHS chief of staff Brian Harrison and Texas GOP Reps. Chip Roy and Beth Van Duyne in Friday letters to the agency’s inspector general that were obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Alianza notably filed a lawsuit in September against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) over him flying illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The 501(c)(3) charity earned roughly $1.4 million from Soros’s Open Society Foundations network between 2016 and 2020, according to OSF’s grant database, and has in the past called to “defund” U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
TOP BIDEN OFFICIAL MET WITH SOROS ACTIVISTS AHEAD OF BORDER CRISIS DISCUSSIONS: REPORT
In February 2021, Alianza was awarded a $7.5 million CDC grant “to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate impacts among Latinx and Latin American immigrants.” The July 2021 HRSA grant to Alianza totals $1 million and was awarded to “increase COVID-19 vaccine status” in certain communities.
The HHS inspector general should investigate whether Alianza used federal grant money for certain lobbying activities outlined in the charity’s fiscal year 2019 federal form 990 documents, wrote Harrison, now a Republican Texas state House representative, and the members of Congress.
Federal law prohibits federal grant money from being used “directly or indirectly” to “pay for any personal service, advertisement, telegram, telephone, letter, printed or written matter, or other device” or influence the government to take a position on law or policy.
Alianza held “two congressional briefings” in Washington, D.C., on immigration-related issues and made over 200 “visits to Congress” between June 2017 and September 2019, the nonprofit group disclosed on its 2019 tax documents. Alianza also disclosed it “activated a nationwide community organizing strategy” after the Trump administration’s “cancellation” of temporary protected status — letting immigrants remain in the United States if their native country is dealing with armed conflict or other extraordinary conditions.
Alianza partnered with other groups “to engage” TPS holders “so they could tell their own stories to policymakers in Congress and advocate for permanent solutions, and for immediate measures to protect TPS holders,” according to its 2019 tax documents.
“I have continued to monitor actions taken by the Department and am deeply concerned that taxpayer dollars, in the guise of federal grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), are being used to fund lobbying activities and contacts in the United States and foreign jurisdictions and to promote illegal immigration into the United States,” Harrison wrote in his letter.
“As members of Congress we take seriously our roles of ensuring taxpayer dollars are used wisely and within the confines of the law, and we are sure you share that goal,” Roy and Van Duyne wrote in their letter. “As such, we are requesting a review of all grants received by Alianza Americas as well as the publicly disclosed actions taken by Alianza Americas that would be in violation of the law and federal regulations.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The CDC grant to Alianza will finish disbursing in September 2025, while the HRSA grant to Alianza finished disbursing in July 2022. It is unclear whether Alianza has engaged in the same political activities in 2022 that it disclosed on its 2019 tax return.
However, the nonprofit group tweeted on Sept. 12 that it “met with representatives” from Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) office “to share about the urgency of defunding” both ICE and CBP. The meeting was part of the group’s “Freedom for All” campaign launched in February.
Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of the conservative ethics watchdog Americans for Public Trust, said a “full audit” of the grants to Alianza is “warranted.”
“The American people should have every assurance that their tax dollars are not advancing a political agenda, and it is deeply troubling that a Soros-backed group was awarded these grants,” she told the Washington Examiner.
The Washington Examiner also found Alianza claimed on its 2019 tax forms that it did not engage in any lobbying. This is a fact that another conservative ethics watchdog says may warrant his group filing a complaint with the IRS.
“It appears that Alianza incorrectly stated on their IRS Form 990 that they do not engage in any lobbying when it appears that they do by getting their supporters to contact Congress to introduce or influence legislation regarding the status of illegal immigrants,” Paul Kamenar, counsel to the National Legal and Policy Center, told the Washington Examiner. “They are also required to file a separate form with the IRS detailing how much they spend on such lobbying activities.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
HHS and Alianza did not respond to requests for comment.
