Alianza Americas

Alianza is funded by several large, left-of-center donors including Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,  Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Open Society Foundations, ² Tides Center, New Venture Fund, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. ³ It also received roughly $8.5 million in federal grants from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ⁴

Background

Alianza Americas, formerly National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities, is a network of Latin American migrant-led organizations that advocate for expanded immigration into the United States. It was founded in 2004. ⁵

As of July 2024, Alianza Americas is made up of 57 members in the United States, including Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Centro Presente, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Heartland Workers Center, Red Mexicana de Líderes y Organizaciones Migrantes,  and United for a Fair Economy. ⁶

Advocacy

Alianza Americas advocates for an expansion of access to Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allows migrants from certain countries to remain in the United States if their country is undergoing a disaster or war. In January 2021 Alianza Americas and other liberal groups including the Center for American Progress met with U.S. Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) to discuss expanding TPS. ^{7 8}

In 2022 Alianza Americas filed a lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) for transporting illegal migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. ¹

In September 2022 it met with Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) “to remind her that we must #DefundHate,” meaning defunding the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB). It met with representatives from Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) office about defunding ICE and CPB. ^{9 10}

In May 2024, Alianza joined with League of United Latin American Citizens and Central American Resource Center in New York City to hold a press conference, calling for federal actions and funding to support “recently arrived and long-term immigrants.” ¹¹

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

Alianza Americas co-signed an April 2021 letter to President Joe Biden that asked the administration to promote weather dependent wind and solar power systems and “end the fossil fuel era.” The letter also advised the president to “phase out nuclear energy as an inherently dirty, dangerous and costly energy source.” ¹²

Funding

Alianza Americas’ 2023 Annual Report reported 2023 revenues of $3,287,444. Just under 60% of revenues are attributed to grants and almost 40% are attributed to government contracts. The report contains a list of its funders, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Hispanics in Philanthropy, 11th Hour Project, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, CS Fund, and Open Society Foundations. ²

Additional 2022 and 2023 donors include Texas Organizing Project, Hispanic Federation, Tides Center, New Venture Fund, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. ³

As of November 2022, Alianza received roughly $8.5 million in federal grants from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ⁴

Leadership

Oscar Chacon is co-founder and executive director of Alianza Americas. Prior to launching Alianza, Chacon held leadership positions at several immigrant advocacy organizations, including Centro Presente. ¹³

Board directors include Abel Nunez, Guadalupe de la Cruz, Lariza Dugan Cuadra, and Yareliz Mendez-Zamora. Nunez is executive director of left-wing immigrant advocacy group Central American Resource Center. De la Cruz is a program director for American Friends Service Committee. Cuadra is executive director of the Central American Resource Center, and Mendez-Zamora is TPS program coordinator at the Florida Immigrant Coalition. ¹⁴

Controversies

In October 2022, the National Legal and Policy Center filed a complaint with the IRS against Alianza Americas claiming that its 2019 and 2020 tax returns failed to disclose “extensive lobbying activities” and it incorrectly claimed it had not conducted lobbying within that time period. On the same tax forms, Alianza states it had advocated for expanding Temporary Protected Status for immigrants, claiming it had “visited Congress over 200 times,” “brought TPS holders “to policymakers in Congress,” and held “two congressional briefings” in Washington, D.C. to discuss immigration issues including TPS. Laurie Styron, the executive director of watchdog group CharityWatch, commented to the Washington Examiner, “Public charities are not supposed to be engaging in substantial lobbying activities, and they risk their tax-exempt status when they don’t follow the rules.” ¹⁵

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), and former chief of staff to Trump administration Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar Brian E. Harrison have requested the Biden Administration Department of Health and Human Services inspector general to conduct an audit to see if the money donated had been used in lobbying. ¹⁶ Harrison further commented to the Washington Examiner, “the American people deserve to know if the Biden administration knowingly gave their hard-earned money to an organization to illegally promote disastrous open border policies.” ¹⁵

According to Washington Examiner, Alianza Americas continued to declare that it was not involved in lobbying in its 2021 tax returns, despite its 2021 meetings with Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) to discuss expanding TPS. ¹⁷