Immigrant Rights Fund

Advocates from Make the Road New York at the 2017 Ban the Wall Protest

Brooklyn Community Foundation established the Immigrant Rights Fund in late 2016 in response to mounting uncertainty and fear within Brooklyn’s immigrant communities, combined with reports of xenophobic and racist attacks nationwide, and the creation of dangerous and exclusionary government policies. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the Fund has distributed over $2 million in grants to frontline nonprofits and advocacy organizations.

Our Immigrant Communities

Brooklyn is home to nearly 950,000 foreign-born residents—nearly 40% of the borough’s population. Immigrants are also significant contributors to Brooklyn’s economic strength—nearly 50% of all Brooklyn businesses are immigrant-owned.

It is estimated that 164,000 immigrants in Brooklyn are undocumented—accounting for 7% of Brooklyn’s total population—and upwards of 22,000 Brooklyn youth are DACA-eligible. Among U.S. counties, Brooklyn ranks 9th in total undocumented residents. Over a quarter of undocumented immigrants in the borough live with a child who was born in the United States, highlighting the potential impact deportations may have on separating parents from their children.

Fund Strategy

Immigrant Rights Fund supports organizations that are working on the frontlines of change to ensure that immigrants in our borough have the opportunity and agency to achieve social and economic success. We prioritize support for Black-led and other people of color-led organizations, knowing that those who are closest to the challenges faced by our communities are closest to the solutions for our communities.

Many of our grantees are unlikely to attract the kind of resources large national nonprofits do. While we do make strategic investments in larger organizations especially those that can advocate for systems level change, it is our local giving that is so effective: We know our community well and the organizations that keep it safe and strong.

As of February 2021, the Immigrant Rights Fund follows a participatory grantmaking model, led by the Immigrant Rights Fund Advisory Council.

Recent Grants

In July 2021, we announced a commitment of at least $1.2 million over the next three years to support grassroots organizations expanding legal rights for immigrants, expanding benefits and entitlements for immigrants, and providing direct services and navigation support for immigrants whose primary language is not one of the 10 designated citywide languages. This is the first round of grants made in partnership with our Immigrant Rights Fund Advisory Council, whose members bring to the table their diverse experiences of being immigrants in Brooklyn — including their unique knowledge of the immigration system — as they review and select grant recipients together.

Caribbean Women’s Health Association*
Carroll Gardens Association*
Documented
Freedom to Thrive
Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees
Mexican Coalition for the Empowerment of Youth & Families*
Mixteca
The New York Immigration Coalition
Queer Detainee Empowerment Project
Sakhi for South Asian Women*
Sauti Yetu*
Street Vendor Project
Surveillance Technology Oversight Project
Workers Justice Project

*One-year grants made possible with support from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation

Prior Grantmaking

From 2016-2020, the Fund deployed grants through three funding streams:

Immediate Response Grants

29 grants totaling $380,000 were approved within a week to support organizations that are defending the liberties of immigrant individuals and families as well as promoting the safety and strength of our communities in response to orders from the Trump Administration. Grants were awarded in response to:

ICE Raids

In advance of the ICE Raids announced for Sunday, July 14th donors responded quickly and stepped up to defend our immigrant friends and neighbors, raising $35,000.

With those crucial funds, we were able to issue two Immediate Response grants:

$20,000 to New Sanctuary Coalition: Led by Ravi Ragbir, the New Sanctuary Coalition works with over 500 volunteers to provide person-to-person support to hundreds of immigrants facing detention and deportation. This includes staffing a pro se legal clinic; maintaining a bond fund to free immigrants being held in in private, for-profit, overcrowded detention centers; and expanding its community-based, citywide “Sanctuary Hood” program to organize safe spaces for immigrants at more than 100 churches, and countless businesses and homes.

$15,000 to Families for Freedom: This New York-based multi-ethnic human rights organization is led by and for families facing deportation. Familes for Freedom seeks to repeal the laws that tear apart homes and neighborhoods. Specifically, they have been fighting against laws that made misdemeanors "aggravated felonies" and introduced mandatory detention and deportation.

Public Charge

$50,000 to directly address the effects of the Trump Administration’s proposed changes to “public charge” rule. New regulations announced in September by the Department of Homeland Security will dramatically expand the criteria that the government will consider as reasons for denying visa and green card applications—meaning that many immigrant families may decide to withdraw from programs like SNAP and other critical social safety net programs fearing of consequences to their immigration status. Immediate Response grants of $25,000 were awarded to Make the Road New York and the New York Immigration Coalition to support advocacy and organizing across New York City’s immigrant populations to challenge the proposed public charge changes.

Family Separation Crisis

In early August 2018 we deployed $50,000 to address the ongoing national emergency of immigrant families separated and detained at the U.S.-Mexico border. Five organizations are each receiving $10,000 Immediate Response grants to help provide critical legal representation and support services for the nearly 250 separated children relocated to New York City. Funding will advance the reunification process, which includes tracking down parents who have been detained, deported to their country of origin, or are out on bond. As families are reunified, funding will provide legal defense, social services, and wraparound case management support.

Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York
Central American Legal Assistance
KIND
Safe Passage Project
The Door

Termination of TPS

In November 2017, the Trump Administration announced that it would end Temporary Protected Status for 60,000 Haitians nationwide in 2019; Brooklyn has the largest concentration Haitians second to Miami. In April 2018, the Trump Administration announced its plan to end TPS for 9,000 Nepalese immigrants.

Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees
Adhikaar

DACA

On September 5, 2017, the Trump Administration announced its decision to end the DACA program, which has given more than 800,000 young people nationwide the freedom to work, advance their education, and build a future in the country they’ve long called home—especially here in Brooklyn where more than 22,000 youth are estimated to be DACA eligible. In response, we deployed $50,000 to enable advocates here in Brooklyn to fight back and protect our Dreamers. Funds will help provide urgent legal aid for 2-year DACA renewals before the October 5th deadline, which require a $465 filing fee per reauthorization request, as well as legislative advocacy around the DREAM Act and the American Hope Act:

Make the Road New York
New York Immigration Coalition
Atlas: DIY

Executive Order on Immigration

In January 2017, the Foundation announced nearly $100,000 in grants to support the critical response of 8 local nonprofits to challenges triggered by the Trump Administration’s Executive Order on immigration. These Immediate Response grants support the following organizations that are defending the liberties of immigrant individuals and families as well as promoting the safety and strength of our communities:

New York Immigration Coalition
Arab American Association of New York
Arab American Family Support Center
Black Alliance for Just Immigration
Brooklyn Defender Services
DRUM, Desis Rising up and Moving
Make the Road New York
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice

Read about each of these grants

Sustained Response Grants

We awarded 70 grants totaling $1,255,000 to address long-term challenges, including increased threats of deportations that would separate parents and children, as well as continued funding for advocacy and organizing. Funding supported legal consultations, coalition building and community organizing, mental and physical health services, political education, workforce development efforts, and community safety for immigrant communities across Brooklyn. Grant amounts ranged from $10,000 to $45,000.

Arab American Family Support Center
Arab American Association of New York*
Asian American Writer's Workshop
AsylumConnect*
Atlas:DIY*
Bangladeshi American Community Development and Youth Services (BACDYS)*
Black Alliance for Just Immigration*
Brandworkers*
Brooklyn Community Bail Fund
Brooklyn Defender Services*
Center for Family Life*
Chinese-American Planning Council*
Chinese Staff and Workers’ Association
Churches United for Fair Housing*
Community Healthcare Network
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY)
Documented*
DRUM - Desis Rising Up and Moving*
Emma’s Torch*
Equality for Flatbush*
Faith in New York*
Families for Freedom*
Freedom to Thrive*
Galapagos Center for New Americans
Laundry Workers Center
Legal Aid Society of New York
Mixteca Organization*
Muslim Community Network*
New Sanctuary Coalition*
Nurun Foundation
Qualitas of Life Foundation
Queer Detainee Empowerment Project*
RIF Asylum Support*
Safe Horizon’s Immigration Law Project*
Sakhi for South Asian Women*
Street Vendor Project*
Surveillance Technology Oversight Project*
Unlocal, Inc.*
Volunteers of Legal Service
Womankind
Yemeni American Merchants' Association

*Indicates Renewed Funding

Read about each of these grants

Action Fund Grants

The Action Fund of the Immigrant Rights Fund was designed to support ongoing civil resistance and organizing efforts—including community-building, public education, action planning, and event logistics—with grants up to $5,000. We awarded 14 grants totaling $39,800.