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Republicans Call for Investigation Into Soros-Backed Group Over
Misusing Federal Money

By Rita Li
October 23, 2022 Updated: October 26, 2022

A former Trump administration official is leading a call that demands
an immediate investigation from the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) over an advocacy group’s use of $8.5 million taxpayer
dollars.

Alianza Americas, a pro-mass immigration group funded by liberal
billionaire George Soros, may have unlawfully used funds granted by
agencies under HHS, according to Friday letters by Texas state
representative Brian Harrison, who initiated the call, and Reps. Chip
Roy (R-Texas) and Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas).

Harrison, who is the former chief of staff of the HHS, wrote in his
letter to the department dated Oct. 21, saying he is “deeply
concerned” that taxpayer dollars may have encouraged illegal
immigration to the United States, both at home and in foreign
jurisdictions, “in the guise of federal grants.” Federal grants are
banned under U.S. law from being leveraged, either directly or
indirectly, to weigh on government positions on legislation or
policies, including lobbying.

In a statement provided to The Epoch Times, the ex-Trump
administration official said his “constituents’ hard earned money
should never be used to illegally promote Biden’s disastrous open
border policies that are harming countless Texans.”

“Despite statutory and regulatory restrictions on lobbying for
recipients of federal funding from all federal agencies, forms
submitted to the Internal Revenue Service by Alianza Americas appear
to show activity in direct violation of the law and federal
regulations,” Roy and Van Duyne wrote in an joint letter sent to HHS
Deputy Inspector General Christi Grimm, calling for “a review of all
grants received by Alianza Americas as well as the publicly disclosed
actions” taken by the group.

Besides calling to defund U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Alianza
Americas launched in September a lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron
DeSantis after the state flew illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard,
Massachusetts under the governor’s order. Official records show
Soros’s Open Society Foundations website awarded nearly $1.4 million
to Alianza Americas between 2016 and 2020.

Yet lawmakers said official grants from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA) totals $8.5 million over the past two years. CDC
granted Alianza in February 2021 $7.5 million in funding, which will
terminate in September 2025, “to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and
mitigate impacts among Latinx and Latin American immigrants.” Since
last July, the group had also received a total of $1 million from HRSA
to “increase COVID-19 vaccine access” among local communities.

“I believe an immediate and thorough audit of that entity’s use of the
funds from CDC and HRSA grants is warranted to ensure the federal
funds are not being used for political advocacy, as appears to be the
case here,” Harrison said in his Friday letter.

The Republican also cited the group’s 2019 tax documents, indicating
Alianza Americas held “two congressional briefings” on
immigration-related issues in Washington and made over 200 “visits to
Congress” between June 2017 and September 2019.

“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.”

HHS and Alianza Americas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.