BOSTON (Reuters) - A labor union representing American teachers on Friday urged pension funds to cut their exposure to investment firms that have funneled millions of dollars into private prisons, saying the companies are getting rich on the U.S. government’s practice of separating migrant families.

The American Federation of Teachers, which influences over $1 trillion in public-teacher pension plans, published a report identifying more than two dozen firms that bet on jail operators CoreCivic Inc and GEO Group Inc and defense contractor General Dynamics Corp, which has contracts with migrant shelters. It sent the report to pensions around the country, warning such investments could be hazardous.

Shares of CoreCivic, formerly Corrections Corporation of America, and GEO Group began climbing after Donald Trump was elected U.S. president in November 2016. They have risen more in the last months as the Trump administration began prosecuting people who crossed the border illegally. Many were put into facilities run by these companies, and thousands of children were separated from their parents.

In an attachment to the report, the teachers federation names the biggest investors in private prisons, including investment firms Hotchkis & Wiley and Geode Capital Management, as well as hedge funds D.E. Shaw, Millennium Management and Renaissance Technologies. Some of these firms make trading decisions mainly using computer models instead of conducting fundamental research on companies.

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