Waste of the Day: California Fueled Immigration Advocacy

Topline: Los Angeles has dominated the news cycle as residents protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants, but the California state government has been funding the same cause for years.

California gave taxpayers’ funds to immigration advocates

California gave $73.6 million to five nonprofits in 2023 and 2024 that are involved in immigration advocacy and deportation defense, OpenTheBooks found in a new report.

Key facts: The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, received $35.2 million from California. Local attorney Laura Powell says the group leads the Los Angeles Rapid Response Network, a hotline where members of the public send in tips about the location of ICE agents so activists can respond. Powell also claims the group has a “close relationship with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.”

CHIRLA also runs the “Wise Up!” program, an “initiative to organize high school students — both undocumented and allies — around immigrant rights.” CHIRLA’s CEO Angelica Salas accepted a salary of over $201,000 in 2023.

The Immigration Legal Resource Center received just under $30 million from California. Its website states the group has “expertise” in helping “immigrants with criminal convictions” avoid deportation, and its advocacy focuses on “dismantling the arrest to deportation pipeline and disrupting racial disparities in the immigration and criminal legal systems.” Three of the nonprofit’s top employees earn more than $260,000.

The Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network received $772,800 of funding from the state’s Department of Social Services. Its website explains that one of the group’s goals is to “shift the political landscape in Northern California and the Central Valley by mobilizing immigrant and youth vote in elections.”

Only a sample of questionable spending

Two similar nonprofits, the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area and the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, received $7.1 million and $631,600 of taxpayer funding, respectively. 

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com. 

Background: The five nonprofits are just a sampling of what is listed in the California checkbook, a line-by-line list of state expenditures. California concealed its checkbook from taxpayers for years until OpenTheBooks sued the State Controller in 2020.

Summary: With California and Los Angeles facing huge budget deficits, it may be time for the state to focus less on nonprofits that encourage violating immigration law and more on services that directly benefit taxpayers.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.