The open-border crowd is very well-funded and quite large, as illustrated by a recent anti-Secure Communities effort. Though the media and amnesty advocates often portray those of us promoting sane immigration policies as part of some enormous, far-reaching conspiracy, the reality is we make up a very small portion of the interests involved in the immigration debate. The reason we are influential is because our ideas and arguments are sound and backed with good research. Here at the Center for Immigration Studies, we’re elated when we receive an unsolicited check for $20 from an individual who received one of our reports or heard us on the radio. (We are a true non-profit and, if you’re interested, all donations to CIS are tax-deductible.)
By contrast, amnesty groups proliferate due to the significant amount of funding thrown at them by Big Business and Big Labor, not to mention Congress: earlier this year Judicial Watch found that taxpayer dollars flowing to La Raza more than doubled the year La Raza’s senior vice president, Cecilia Munoz, joined the Obama Administration – the funding went from $4.1 million to $11 million. The investigation found similar increases in funding going to other amnesty groups following Munoz’ appointment, such as Chicanos Por La Causa which saw its federal funding nearly double to $18.3 million.
Listed below are the groups that signed a letter addressed to ICE Director John Morton, demanding that ICE “immediately halt” Secure Communities, calling it “dangerous” and “misguided” despite the fact that the program has lead to the removal of more than 77,000 criminal aliens, including more than 28,000 convicted of aggravated felony offenses like murder, rape, and the sexual abuse of children since 2008.
Even though this list is far from exhaustive, it’s a good reminder of what those of us concerned about unregulated immigration are up against:
ADC Michigan
ADC National
African Services Committee
Albany Park Neighborhood Council
Alliance for a Just Society
Alliance for Immigrants Rights and Reform
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
American Muslim Voice Foundation
Amnesty International USA
Arab American Association of New York (AAANY)
ARISE Chicago
Asian American Institute
Asian American Justice Center, Member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice (AAJC)
Asian Immigrant Women Advocates
Asian Law Alliance
Asian Law Caucus
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
ASISTA Immigration Assistance
The Audre Lorde Project
Bay Area DREAM Act Coalition
Berkshire Immigrant Center
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Black Alliance for Just Immigration
Black Law Enforcement in America
Brandworkers International
Brazilian Immigrant Center Inc.
Brazilian Women's Group
Breakthrough
California Immigrant Policy Center
Cambridge/San Jose las Flores Sister City Project
Cambridge United for Justice with Peace
Campaign for Community Change
Canal Alliance, Marin Co.
Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition
CARECEN Central American Resource Center Los Angeles
CASA de Maryland
Casa Esperanza
Casa Freehold
Causa Justa :: Just Cause
CAUSA Oregon
Center for Constitutional Rights
Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), Ventura Co., CA
Central American Legal Assistance
Central Florida Jobs with Justice
Centro Legal de la Raza – Oakland
Chief Chris Burbank, Salt Lake City Police Department
Chinese for Affirmative Action
Chinese Progressive Association
CITA, Albion, NY
Coalicion de Derechos Humanos – Tucson Arizona
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)
COFEM – the Council of Mexican Federations
Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC)
Committee for Immigrant Rights of Sonoma County (California) [CIRSC]
Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES)
Council on American Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Area (CAIR-LA)
Council on American Islamic Relations, San Francisco Bay Area
D.C. Bill of Rights Coalition
D.C. Jobs with Justice
De Comunidad a Comunidad / Community to Community Development
Defending Dissent Foundation
Detention Watch Network
Disciples Justice Action Network
Dolores Street Community Services
Dominican Sisters of San Rafael (California)
El CENTRO de Igualdad y Derechos
Empire Justice Center
Enlace Chicago
Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM)
Families for Freedom
Farmworker Legal Services of NY, Inc.
Fr. Jim Barnett, O.P., Adrian MI
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Florida Immigration Coalition
Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center
Frey Law Office, Minnesota
Gainesville’s Interfaith Alliance for Immigrant Justice
Georgia Detention Watch
Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights
Grassroots Leadership
HarborCOV
Hayward Day Labor Center
Hudson Valley Community Coalition, Cross River, NY
Human Rights Initiative of North Texas, Inc
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR)
Immigrant Defense Project
Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Immigrant Solidarity Committee
inMotion
Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center - Cincinnati
Interfaith Coalition on Immigration, MN (ICOM)
Interfaith Leadership Project of Cicero, Berwyn, and Stickney (IL)
Interfaith Worker Justice
IRATE & First Friends
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs
Jobs with Justice, National
JUNTOS
Just Neighbors
Justice Coordinating Committee of Dominican Sisters-Grand Rapids (Michigan)
Justice for Our Neighbors – NE
Kentucky Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (KCIRR)
Korean Resource Center (KRC), Los Angeles
Korean American Resource & Cultural Center, Chicago
La Fuente: NYCPP & LICPP
La Raza Centro Legal / San Francisco Day Labor Program / Women's Collective
La Union
Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center
Latino and Latina Roundtable of the San Gabriel Valley and Pomona Valley
Latino Organization of the Southwest - Chicago
Latino Youth for Higher Education Program
LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Latinos United for Change and Advancement (LUChA)
Law Offices of Mark E. Nerenberg, P.C.- New York
Legal Aid Justice Center -- Immigrant Advocacy Program
Legal Services Staff Association, Unit of UAW Local 2320
The Legal Aid Society – New York
Logan Square Neighborhood Association
Long Island Immigrant Alliance
Long Island Teachers for Human Rights
LULAC-Syracuse Chapter
Lutheran Social Services of New York Immigration Legal Project
Make the Road New York
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA)
Massachusetts Jobs with Justice
Matahari: Eye of the Day
Mi Vida Family Services, Inc.
Migrant Support Services of Wayne County, New York
Migrantes Unidos sin Fronteras, San Antonio, TX
Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc)
MinKwon Center for Community Action (formerly YKASEC)
Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA)
Monmouth County Coalition for Immigrant Rights (NJ)
Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition
Mountain View Day Laborer Center
Mujeres Unidas y Activas
Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA)
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON)
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National Immigration Law Center
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
National Lawyers Guild
National Lawyers Guild Anti-Racism Committee
National Lawyers Guild National Immigration Project
National Lawyers Guild New York City Anti-Racism Committee
National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC)
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
NC Immigrant Rights Project
Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest
Neighbors United for a Better East Boston (NUBE)
New Hampshire Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees
New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE)
New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia
New York Annual Conference Task Force on Immigration
New York Faith & Justice
New York State Immigrant Action Fund
New York Immigration Coalition
New York State Working Group Against Deportation
New Sanctuary Coalition of New York
North Fork Spanish Apostolate
Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
NYC Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
NYS Interfaith Network for Immigration Reform
Olneyville Neighborhood Association – Providence, RI
Oregon New Sanctuary Movement
PASO (West Suburban Action Program) (Melrose Park IL)
Pax Christi NJ
Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center (PIRC)
PICO National Network
Political Research Associates
Pomona Economic Opportunity Center
Presente.org
Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
Public Counsel
PUEBLO-Santa Barbara County
Redlands Christian Migrant Association
The Restoration Project
Rev. José M. Santiago, O.P., MSW, D. Min., Aquinas Institute of Theology (St. Louis MO)
Rights Working Group
Rural Organizing Project – Oregon
Rural Women’s Health Project
San Bernardino Community Service Center, Inc.
SEIU 32BJ
Services, Immigrants Rights and Education Network (SIREN)
Sheriff Mark C. Curran - Lake County, Illinois
Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF)
Silicon Valley Alliance for Immigration Reform (SVAIR)
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Justice Team – Nebraska
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
Southern California Immigration Coalition (SCIC)
Southern Coalition for Social Justice
Southwest Workers Union
St Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America
St. Pius V Catholic Church
Students Working for Equal Rights (SWER), Florida
Tenants and Workers United
Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights (TIRRC)
Tierra Y Libertad Organization - TYLO - Tucson, AZ
UAW Local 2325- Association of Legal Aid Attorneys
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
United We Dream Network
Vermont Immigration and Asylum Advocates
Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO)
VOZ Workers Rights Education Project
Washington Defender Association’s Immigration Project, Seattle, WA
Wayne Action for Racial Equality
We Are One America
WeCount
Western Dominican Province (Oakland CA)
Wind of the Spirit, Immigrant Resource Center - Morristown, NJ
Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Women Encouraging Empowerment Inc.
Workers Defense Project
Workplace Project NY
