O'Keefe Media Group (OMG) infiltrated an Arizona-based non-profit organization which appears to engage in human trafficking at the nation's southern border.
The organization, No Más Muertes, which translates in English to No More Deaths, brands itself as a coalition of community and faith groups dedicated to stepping up efforts to stop the deaths of migrants in the desert. No Más Muertes also seeks the enactment of faith-based principles for immigration reform and has been an official ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tuscon since 2008. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Tuscon is tax exempt as it is a registered 501(c)3.
OMG founder James O'Keefe's team infiltrated the organization's Arivaca, Arizona location by posing as donors and land surveyors.
"We posed as surveyors to get an overview, a lay of the land [to] take a look at the property [by] planting flags along the way," O'Keefe said of the investigation.
Upon entering the location, a No Más Muertes worker informed O'Keefe and his group that the location was private property and instructed them to leave. An undercover O'Keefe said his group was laying plumbing line adjacent to the property due to flooding. The worker confirmed the location belonged to No Más Muertes, though when asked if the organization was nonprofit, another worker again instructed O'Keefe and his group to leave.
O'Keefe and his group were approached by another woman who similarly noted the location was private property and instructed the group to leave. O'Keefe said there must have been a "miscommunication" between the supervisor and No Más Muertes, and insisted he was only taking measurements in the area.
"All I'm gonna tell is you should leave the property," the woman told the group.
O'Keefe agreed to leave, though questioned the nature of No Más Muertes, to which the woman said she would not answer any of his questions.
One OMG investigator also posed as a donor to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tuscon in a phone call to church administrator Mary Weise, who confirmed No Más Muerte was the only partnered organization and served as a ministry to the church.
"Most of the money actually goes directly to the migrants," Weise said, referencing the Arivaca camp. No Más Muertes has four to five employees and has a roughly $400,000 annual budget, per Weise.
O'Keefe's organization also employed the help of an illegal immigrant named Caesar who worked undercover for the investigation.
Caesar approached the No Más Muertes location claiming to have been walking for days and said he had been injured. The woman who instructed O'Keefe's group to leave appeared hospitable to Caeser, informing him that No Más Muertes was an "encampment for humanitarian aid" and provided rest, medical treatment and food for illegal immigrants.
Another woman named Alisa, who appeared to lead the organization, said the group was run by volunteers. "Sometimes we have bad people," Alisa told Caesar. "They are hanging out by the dirt road. Sometimes the patrols pass by. Just so you know." Alisa insisted the location was a "safe place" for Caesar, though said the group frequently experiences threats.
No Más Muertes workers also claimed to only wear masks as a means of disguising their identities when military personnel are present.
"I only put it on when the military shows up," said the woman who instructed O'Keefe's group to leave. "Or when those white people show up. So, they won't take my picture."
Another worker asked Caesar if he was with O'Keefe's group, to which Caesar said the OMG group gave him a ride to the location. The worker then referred to O'Keefe's group as "white supremacists" that were "impersonating workers" and "looking to cause trouble."
"There are a lot of people watching us and we are a little paranoid," the woman told Caesar.
"They got here right to our front door. We don't know them. We have heard and seen people are scouting us," Alisa added of O'Keefe's group.
Alisa and another worker, later identified as Nate, drove over to O'Keefe's group, who were observing a distance away, and asked what their business was in the area. O'Keefe again said he was working with OMG out of Phoenix to survey the area and was attempting to contact his supervisor about the miscommunication. The OMG founder told Alisa and Nate that the Universal Unitarian Church gave his company permission to survey the area.
Nate said he was unaware of what No Más Muertes was, despite working for the group.
"We just spoke to this woman," O'Keefe said in reference to the unnamed woman who instructed them to leave. "The woman that we spoke to was with a group called Muerte?"
Upon returning to their camp, Nate and the other workers discussed their meeting with O'Keefe.
Two men with guns wearing military regalia later arrived at No Más Muertes' home base. One of the men spoke with Caesar and said he was from Sonora, Mexico, though declined to provide his name. Caesar told the man he paid $300 to be transported across the border and was planning to request asylum from border patrol.
The woman who instructed O'Keefe's group said she was worried Caesar's arrival was a "trick."
"They have manipulation tactics," she said. "When you got here, we were worried you were another one of their tricks."
The man from Sonora became suspicious of Caesar after seeing his watch, noting it looked expensive and asked if he could make calls or if the watch had a camera on it. The man then offered to take Caesar to Phoenix for $300.
One of O'Keefe's drivers who was scheduled to pick up OMG's informant was scared his cover would be compromised and left Caesar stranded at No Más Muertes home base.
As night approached, Caesar's undercover watch camera died and was prevented from leaving by No Más Muertes workers.
Cade Lamb, who served as a consultant in the operation, expressed concern over a gunfight breaking out between O'Keefe's group and No Más Muertes, though O'Keefe decided to approach the camp while wearing a bulletproof vest reading "PRESS" in an attempt to extract Caesar.
OMG's informant was successfully extracted and said he was held at gunpoint.
"Why are people at a nonprofit pointing guns at people?" O'Keefe asked in an X post. "Why is a humanitarian nonprofit adverse to border patrol? Why does a humanitarian nonprofit have armed cartel-like men offering for-profit smuggling services? How does an organization which routinely violates the law keep its tax-exempt status?"
"OMG’s investigation into No More Deaths reveals the growing abuse of nonprofit laws by organizations hiding under the cloak of religious affiliation and potentially profiting off human trafficking," O'Keefe continued. "One thing is clear – men are armed, secrecy is rampant, and fear is wielded by nonprofit organizations running unfettered."
