Judicial Watch: Soros funding backs phone app designed to protect illegal immigrants from ICE

Billionaire leftist George Soros is helping to fund a phone app that protects illegal immigrants in the U.S., according to Judicial Watch.

How does it work?

The app — called Notifica — works by giving illegal immigrants a way to notify loved ones, attorneys and others if they or someone they care about encounters U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The app allows users to prepare a set of automatic messages to alert people with just one click. It was developed last year and distributed on a small scale. The app is now publicly available on Google and Apple app stores, the Laredo Morning Times reported. The primary target audience are states with high levels of migrant populations.

"Smartphone applications to deal with arrests by immigration agents are evolving in an era of increased enforcement on the southern border, as well as inside the country," the Times noted.

The app also comes during a time of heated debates over migrant "caravans" seeking entry into the U.S. and so-called sanctuary cities that also work to protect illegal immigrants.

Who is behind the app?

The group behind the app is called United We Dream, which bills itself as the country’s largest immigrant youth-led community. The nonprofit has more than 400,000 members nationwide and claims to “embrace the common struggle of all people of color and stand up against racism, colonialism, colorism, and xenophobia.”

According to the group, its key projects are winning protections and rights for illegal immigrants, defending against deportation, obtaining education for illegal immigrants, and acquiring “justice and liberation” for undocumented LGBT “immigrants and allies.”

Where does its funding come from?

Research by Judicial Watch shows where the funding comes from and how it is used.

Judicial Watch obtained records that show United We Dream is a project of the National Immigration Law Center. The group's goal is the “full integration of all immigrants into U.S. society,” according to its website.

Between 2008 and 2010, NILC received $206,453 in U.S. government grants, Judicial Watch reported. Based in Los Angeles, NILC was established in 1979 and is focused on “defending and advancing the rights of immigrants with low income.”

According to Judicial Watch both NILC and United We Dream "get big bucks from Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF)." The report continues:

"In fact, both nonprofits list OSF as a key financial backer. In the United States Soros groups have pushed a radical agenda that includes promoting an open border with Mexico and fighting immigration enforcement efforts, fomenting racial disharmony by funding anti-capitalist black separationist organizations, financing the Black Lives Matter movement and other groups involved in the Ferguson Missouri riots, weakening the integrity of the nation’s electoral systems, opposing U.S. counterterrorism efforts and eroding 2nd Amendment protections."