Protecting Immigrant Rights

Immigrants have long been an integral part of America’s social fabric, bringing their cultural traditions, perspectives, talents, and entrepreneurial spirit to build vibrant communities and local economies. Despite their many contributions, immigrants also have been the subject of fearmongering and discrimination, particularly in the last few years as seismic shifts in federal policies and outright hostility have threatened the fundamental rights and wellbeing of immigrant families and the communities where they live. Efforts to demonize and criminalize immigrants and refugees have sparked a crisis response, including an unprecedented surge of rapid response grantmaking to support organizations working on the front lines to defend and protect immigrant rights.

To better understand the effect of rapid response grantmaking and the current landscape for immigrant integration in California, The James Irvine Foundation commissioned this practice brief to explore the various ways California foundations are contributing to a pro-immigrant movement. It is based on a developmental evaluation of The Foundation’s Protecting Immigrant Rights efforts and interviews with 12 foundations and immigrant rights organizations. It seeks to provide actionable insights for funders and immigrant-serving organizations as they pivot from crisis-response to more
proactive and longer-term strategy for immigrant integration.