From The Center Square
A watchdog director questioned the government funding of a Florida nonprofit focused on helping “immigrant workers” over its lack of transparency in finances as well as the political advocacy it engages in with tax dollars.
Director of watchdog group the Center to Advance Security in America James Fitzpatrick told The Center Square: “Given the amount of government money that WeCount! receives from Miami-Dade County, it is troubling that they are not being transparent about their finances.”
WeCount! is a Florida-based nonprofit that ”advocates for better living and working conditions for immigrant workers and families” in the Sunshine State and has “organized and mobilized thousands of immigrant workers and families and led powerful campaigns for labor, immigrant, and climate justice,” according to its website.
Fitzpatrick told The Center Square that WeCount! is not only “being subsidized by the American taxpayer but they are also receiving large sums of local government funding.
“With that, they need to be accountable to both the American people and more specifically the taxpayers of Miami-Dade County,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick said that “all non-profits need to be compliant with IRS rules and regulations” whether that is “related to transparency of finances or engaging in potentially illegal conduct.
“Illegal conduct may include organizations such as WeCount! obstructing federal immigration enforcement activities, such as when they aided the ACLU in the creation and implementation of a hotline to provide advice to illegal immigrants to evade arrest,” Fitzpatrick said.