Who are the targets?

Although governments are responsible for creating immigration policy, they are outsourcing the implementation of most of this violence to the private sector. Thus the border regime relies on a vast network of hundreds of companies, many of which are household names. These firms provide and develop the technologies and labour required to make the hostile environment a reality, as well as playing a significant role in promoting these policies and the alarmist, racist, xenophobic narratives which feed into them. Collectively, these firms make up the Border Industry, which is the target of our campaign.

The categorization of the border industry underpinning the People & Planet Border Divestment List (BDL) is mainly based on the Transnational Institute’s Financing Border Wars Report (Akkerman 2021).

We differentiate between 5 categories of reprehensible corporate activities that companies engage in:

1) Border Security and Control - The creation and maintenance of the physical infrastructure of security at borders, as well as the provision of the personnel who staff them.

2) Deportation - The (usually involuntary) removal of people from a country, often by force.

3) Detention - The deprivation of liberty for migration-related reasons and the provision of all infrastructure and services required to undertake this

4) Border Surveillance - The use of newer technologies such as AI, phone hacking and biometric scanners to gather and store the data of migrating people

5) Advisory and Support Services - The provision of support services that enable and encourage the above, including auditing, data hosting and lobbying

We currently recognise a commitment to screen companies involved in the first three categories (Border Security and Control, Detention, Deportation) as a partial divestment from the Border Industry. You can find more information about the violence inherent in each of these sectors within our Divest Borders Action Guide.

Our Action Guide

Which companies?

Our Border Divestment List indicates the companies complicit in border violence from whom all universities must divest.

Full Methodology Update Methodology Download List

Company Name	Country	Border Industry Classification
ACCENTURE	IRELAND	BORDER SURVEILLANCE, ADVISORY AND SUPPORT
AEROVIRONMENT INC	UNITED STATES	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
AIR FRANCE-KLM	FRANCE	DEPORTATION
AIRBUS SE	NETHERLANDS	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL
AIR TRANSPORT SERVICES GROUP	UNITED STATES	DEPORTATION
ALPHABET INC	UNITED STATES	ADVISORY AND SUPPORT
AMAZON	UNITED STATES	ADVISORY AND SUPPORT
ARAMARK	UNITED STATES	DETENTION
ASELSAN ELEKTRONIK SANAYI	TURKEY	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
ASSECCO POLAND SA	POLAND	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
AT&T INC	USA	ADVISORY AND SUPPORT
ATOS	FRANCE	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
AUSTAL	AUSTRALIA	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL
AWARE INC	UNITED STATES	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
BABCOCK INTL GROUP	UNITED KINGDOM	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
BAE SYSTEMS	UNITED KINGDOM	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
BENCHMARK ELECTRONICS INC	UNITED STATES	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON HOLDING	UNITED STATES	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
CACI INTERNATIONAL	UNITED STATES	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
CAE INC	CANADA	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
CAPGEMINI	FRANCE	ADVISORY AND SUPPORT
CELLEBRITE	ISRAEL	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
COGNIZANT TECH SOLUTIONS	UNITED STATES	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
COLT CZ GROUP SE	CZECHIA	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL
CORECIVIC	UNITED STATES	DETENTION
ELBIT SYSTEMS	ISRAEL	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
ENTER AIR SA	POLAND	DEPORTATION
EXPERIAN	IRELAND	ADVISORY AND AUDIT
FINCANTIERI SPA	ITALY	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL
FORD MOTOR CO	UNITED STATES	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL
FUJITSU	JAPAN	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
GB GROUP	UNITED KINGDOM	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
GENERAL DYNAMICS	UNITED STATES	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
GEO GROUP	UNITED STATES	DETENTION
HENSOLDT AG	GERMANY	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL
INDRA SISTEMAS	SPAIN	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
IBM	UNITED STATES	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
INTL CONSOLIDATED AIRLINE DI (PARENT COMPANY OF BRITISH AIRWAYS)	SPAIN	DEPORTATION
L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES	UNITED STATES	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL
LEIDOS HOLDINGS	UNITED STATES	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
LEONARDO	ITALY	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
LOCKHEED MARTIN	UNITED STATES	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL
MAGNET FORENSICS	CANADA	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
MANTECH INTERNATIONAL	UNITED STATES	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
MEARS	UNITED KINGDOM	DETENTION
MICRO SYSTEMATION AB	SWEDEN	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
MICROSOFT	UNITED STATES	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
MITIE GROUP	UNITED KINGDOM	DETENTION, DEPORTATION
MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS	UNITED STATES	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
NEC	JAPAN	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
NORTHROP GRUMMAN	UNITED STATES	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
OSI SYSTEMS	UNITED STATES	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL
PAE INC	UNITED STATES	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES	UNITED STATES	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES	UNITED STATES	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL
RELX	UNITED KINGDOM	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
SAAB	SWEDEN	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL
SCIENCE APPLICATIONS	UNITED STATES	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
SERCO GROUP	UNITED KINGDOM	DETENTION
SMITHS GROUP	UNITED KINGDOM	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
SOPRA STERIA	FRANCE	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
TARGET HOSPITALITY	UNITED STATES	DETENTION
TELEDYNE TECHNOLOGIES	UNITED STATES	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
TEXTRON	UNITED STATES	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL
THALES	FRANCE	BORDER SECURITY AND CONTROL, BORDER SURVEILLANCE
THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC	UNITED STATES	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
THOMSON REUTERS	CANADA	BORDER SURVEILLANCE
TRANSUNION	UNITED STATES	ADVISORY AND SUPPORT
TURK HAVA YOLLARI AO (PARENT COMPANY OF TURKISH AIRLINES)	TURKEY	DEPORTATION

Methodology

Company identification

To identify companies with links to the border industry, we mainly consulted existing reports and research output about different segments or geographies of the border industry. Those included the reports of the Transnational Institute (TNI), the AFSC Investigate Border Research database and Divest For Immigrant Justice List, and a report from Privacy International. We also did desk research to identify additional companies mostly with links to the UK and EU border regimes.

The geographical focus of the BDL is on the UK, US-Mexican border (mainly based on research by AFSC and TNI) and Europe (incl. the Mediterranean Sea).

Company assessment

While there are fossil fuel companies that can relatively easy be identified (and included on the fossil fuel divestment list) by looking at how much the business model relies on the production and sales of crude oil, natural gas, and thermal coal (or the size of yet unproduced fossil fuel reserves), there are no ‘border companies’.

That is why the decision over a company's inclusion in the People & Planet Border Divestment List (BDL) was made based on an evaluation of six quantitative and qualitative criteria (below) that seek to capture the extent to which a company is involved in the border industry. Our aim is to identify publicly listed companies which engage in corporate activities that play a significant role in the construction and/or operation of border infrastructures (physical and digital).

We evaluate companies based on all criteria for which information is publicly available. Our two key criteria are if there is quantitative or qualitative evidence that the company in question engages in corporate activities that characterize the border industry. We used the other four criteria to evaluate

a) the extent to which the corporate activities related to the border industry are important (that is, financially material or strategic) to the company itself

b) the extent to which the corporate activities related to the border industry are important for the public authority purchasing goods/services.

By taking this lens, we included companies on the BDL for which corporate activities related to the border industry only account for a small share of their operations (or revenues) but whose services are vital for the construction and/or operation of border infrastructures.

Company inclusion criteria

We made the final decision which companies to include in the BDL on a company-by-company basis after carefully considering the assessments of all six criteria outlined below.

Quantitative criteria
1. Financial materiality: is the reprehensible corporate activity financially material for the company in question? (>10% of total annual revenues)
2. Is it possible to quantify monetary contract values related to the reprehensible corporate activity?

Qualitative criteria
3. Is there qualitative evidence of reprehensible corporate activities?
4. Is the corporate activity part of a separate business unit, product group, and/or of strategic importance for the company in question?
5. Is the company in question directly or indirectly involved in active lobbying efforts to influence policy making in favor of the border industry in general and/or the specific reprehensible corporate activity in question?
6. To what extent are government authorities dependent on purchasing the corporative activity from the company in question?

Limitations

We acknowledge that the resulting list of companies is not comprehensive and do not claim that it captures all companies engaged in activities related to the border industry in the geographies outlined above. Firstly, our BDL doesn’t include any companies which are not publicly traded, as these companies cannot be invested in. While there are a number of these companies who are key players in the industry, they are not within reach of this campaign. Additionally, this version of the BDL does not include all airline companies who are complicit in deportation, but currently only those who are the most active in this area. Further, the list also does not include banks and institutional investors that provide debt finance (e.g., loans or bonds) to companies listed on the BDL and thus provide the latter with crucial financial sources to advance border infrastructure projects. We aim to include both groups of companies in the next iteration of the list.

Full Methodology Update Methodology Download List