EDMONTON—University of Alberta professors are claiming victory after learning a crown corporation that partly manages their pensions pulled its money out of controversial U.S. border detention centres.

Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo), a crown corporation established by the Alberta government, confirmed Thursday it has divested its shares from The Geo Group and CoreCivic. The two private American prison companies hold most of the contracts to manage Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border known for separating migrant families.

News of the divestment came after professors contacted AIMCo with concerns that their Universities Academic Pension Plan (UAPP) was tied to the companies. According to filings from March 31, AIMCo had publicly traded shares in the two companies totalling about $4.8 million.

Jaymie Heilman, a professor in Latin American History at the U of A, launched a petition in late July demanding to find out whether the pension plan in fact was still indirectly supporting Geo Group and CoreCivic, saying she was “deeply alarmed” by the possibility.

Several professors contacted AIMCo to express their concerns.

On July 29, Heilman updated the online petition with the headline “Victory! AIMCo Divested!”

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“The idea that my pension payments were supporting this just blew my mind in the most upsetting way,” Heilman said in an interview Thursday, adding she was “very relieved” to find out AIMCo had divested.

AIMCO confirmed to Star Edmonton Thursday that it has divested all holdings in The Geo Group and CoreCivic, but spokesperson Denes Nemeth said the decision was made before professors raised their concerns.

He did not give a specific date or reason for the divestment.

“As the organization generally does not discuss specific holdings in our public portfolios, I am unable to provide any further comment,” Nemeth said.

UAPP chair Linda Dalgetty said she heard concerns from three or four faculty members last month and told them to bring those concerns to AIMCo directly.

She said AIMCo informed them on July 26 that it had divested from both companies.

“I believe AIMCo to be a very reputable and a very diligent investment manager and I respect any decision that they make,” Dalgetty said.

The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board has also divested its holdings in the Geo Group and CoreCivic, after the Guardian reported last fall that the board owned more than $10 million in total shares in the two companies.

Critics of the detention centres have referred to them as “concentration camps,” citing overcrowding and poor living conditions as they fill up under U.S. President Donald Trump’s border policies. In Heilman’s view, the detention centres amount to “a grave human rights abuse” and are “just absolutely unconscionable.”

But the companies that manage the facilities defended their work in emailed statements to Star Edmonton, saying the divestments are based on an unfair perception of their centres.

“The divestment efforts against our company are based on a false narrative and a deliberate mischaracterization of our role as a long-standing government services provider,” Geo Group spokesperson Pablo Paez said in an email. Paez said the facilities “are not overcrowded and have never housed unaccompanied minors.”

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CoreCivic spokesperson Brandon Bissell said in an email that the company runs numerous programs and plays a small role in the country’s immigration system.

“It is disappointing that decisions like this are being based on false information spread by politically motivated special interests, who completely mischaracterize our company and the meaningful role we play in solving some of our country’s biggest challenges,” Bissell said.

with files from Nadine Yousif

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