Tax-exempt organizations have invested over $100 million since President Joe Biden assumed office in 2021 to advocate against the federal government’s deportation of illegal immigrants, as per a review of tax filings conducted by the Washington Examiner.
Various organizations, including donor-advised funds that move significant amounts of untraceable funds, philanthropies supported by Soros, and prominent legal groups, dedicated a minimum of $101.9 million to initiatives aimed at assisting undocumented immigrants in evading deportation. Although some of these programs involved advocacy work, the majority focused on equipping immigrants with legal resources to resist deportation.
“They understand that by causing the legal system to come to a standstill, they can achieve victory,” explained Ira Mehlman, Media Director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “The longer the delays in the process, the longer individuals are able to remain in the country before their court date, making it less likely for them to be deported.”
He continued, stating that tying up the courts is clearly a tactic in winning this ideological battle.
According to government statistics, there has been a significant increase in the number of new migrants illegally entering the country, despite the efforts of these charities to provide legal assistance to immigrants facing deportation.
Border Patrol encountered over 5 million individuals attempting to enter the country between fiscal 2021 and 2023. This surge in illegal immigration has put a tremendous strain on immigration authorities, making it challenging to process and handle the growing number of undocumented individuals, especially those seeking asylum.
In November 2023, the number of pending cases in U.S. immigration courts reached a historic high of 3 million. This translates to an average of 4,500 pending cases per judge.
According to Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, while there are migrants who have legitimate claims to asylum, the system can become overwhelmed if every economically motivated illegal immigrant is provided with lawyers and financial resources. This can result in a halt in the system’s functioning.
La Raza Community Resource Center, a nonprofit organization focused on immigration based in San Francisco, emerged as one of the leading contributors among the groups opposing deportation efforts.
They allocated a significant sum of $14.1 million between 2021 and 2023 for a program that offers legal assistance to asylum-seekers and migrants who face deportation. On the other hand, Immigrant Justice Corps, a charity based in New York, dedicated $20.2 million during the same period to a fellowship program that places recent college graduates in nonprofit organizations nationwide, enabling them to provide legal services to undocumented migrants.
Research indicates that nonprofit organizations’ efforts to offer legal services to undocumented immigrants may effectively help prevent deportation. According to a 2014 study carried out by Stanford Law School, migrants who had access to lawyers were three times more likely to succeed in their deportation cases compared to those without legal representation.
It is worth noting that only 30% of individuals in immigration courts have legal representation, as reported by Syracuse University.
Legal Services of New Jersey, a nonprofit organization, played a significant role in the fight against deportation from 2021 to 2022. This organization, which offers free legal representation to low-income residents of the state, allocated a total of $12.5 million in grants during this time to support other organizations in providing legal aid to individuals facing detention or deportation.
Pangea Legal Services, based in San Francisco, dedicated over $5 million to offering legal representation to individuals seeking asylum and those who entered the country unlawfully from 2021 to 2023. According to the organization’s tax forms, their program served nearly 1,500 clients during this period.
According to Hankinson, the Biden administration has three main reasons for wanting to keep illegal immigrants in the country. First, they have a globalist ideology that supports the idea of open borders and unrestricted immigration. Second, they see the presence of illegal immigrants as a political leverage to push for another amnesty program.
And finally, they hope that if these immigrants become citizens, they will vote in favor of the Democratic party. However, these hopes seem less credible after the events of November 5th.
According to him, NGOs are driven by their ideology and the substantial income they receive from government-funded illegal immigration.
Mehlman explained that nonprofit organizations have various reasons for advocating for the rights of undocumented immigrants in the United States.
These motivations can range from ideological beliefs to economic considerations. Many NGOs receive funding from business interests who view undocumented immigrants as a source of affordable labor.
The Immigrant Legal Resource Center received a generous donation of $500,000 in 2021 from the Soros family’s Foundation to Promote Open Society.
The purpose of this donation was to support the center’s “New Way Forward” campaign, which aimed to bring about changes in the legal system. The campaign sought to put an end to the automatic deportation of certain criminal aliens, abolish the mandatory detention of illegal aliens, and decriminalize the act of entering the U.S. without proper documentation.
In addition to this, the Soros family’s foundation also provided a donation of $250,000 to the Transgender Law Center in 2021. The purpose of this donation was to support the center’s efforts in assisting Black LGBTQIA+ migrants through various means such as organizing and base-building, deportation defense, and strategic communications.
Former Sequoia Capital partner Michael Moritz’s family foundation has contributed a substantial $3 million to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, specifically to bolster its activities related to “deportation defense” during the years 2021 and 2022. Notably, Moritz has demonstrated his support for opposing Republican causes by generously donating millions of dollars to various organizations.
The Biden administration’s increase in illegal border crossings has put significant financial pressure on major cities like New York and Chicago. Additionally, some of the migrants who entered the country during this time have been involved in high-profile violent crimes.
A prime example is Jose Ibarra, who was convicted for the murder of Laken Riley. Ibarra had been detained at the border after illegally crossing, but was ultimately released into the country.