The Innovation Law Lab is a legal activist group that litigates against deportations and other efforts by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) and other arms of the United States government to control its borders. It works on behalf of refugee groups and similar advocates. ¹

Background and Activities

Innovation Law Lab is a legal activist group that litigates against deportation, U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement, and other efforts by the United States government to control its borders. It works on behalf of refugee groups and similar advocates. ¹ It is located in Portland, Oregon. ² It was founded in 2014.  ³

Innovation Law Lab characterizes itself as “radical and inspiring.” ⁴ It describes the United States’ “vast detention and deportation machine” as an “industry of misery” that works to “grind down the spirit of the immigrant,” separate families, and strip refugees of their rights to “inclusion and safety.”  ¹

Partnerships

The Innovation Law Lab is a member of Evacuate Our Allies, a coalition of refugee organizations and related groups that work with veterans to resettle “as many at-risk Afghans as possible.” ⁵

Financials

In 2022, the Innovation Law Lab reported revenues of $9,458,378, total expenses of $4,699,646, and net assets of $7,208,202. ⁶

Funding

In 2018, the Innovation Law Lab received an $8,000 “endowment” from the Glencoe Family Foundation. ⁷

In 2022, the Innovation Law Lab reported receiving $864,916 in government grants on its tax return. ⁸

In 2022, the Innovation Law Lab received $136,000 to aid its “immigrant rights attorney” from Causa of Oregon, an organization that has since gone defunct. ⁹

In 2022, the Innovation Law Lab received $20,000 from Impact Fund, a left-of-center legal activist organization. ¹⁰

Grantmaking

In 2022, the Innovation Law Lab granted $60,000 to the Santa Fe Dreamers Project for “program assistance.” ¹¹

Leadership

Innovation Law Lab founder Stephen Manning works as its executive director and as a board member. Manning is a founding partner of Immigrant Law Group PC and an adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark Law School. He serves on the boards of ACLU of Oregon and Health Bridges International, and previously served as a commissioner on the City of Portland’s Human Rights Commission. ⁴

1. “Home.” Innovation Law Lab. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://innovationlawlab.org/.
2. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Innovation Law Lab. 2022. Box C.
3. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Innovation Law Lab. 2022. Box  L.
4. “Who.” Innovation Law Lab. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://innovationlawlab.org/who/.
5. “Home.” Evacuate Our Allies. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://www.evacuateourallies.org/home
6. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Innovation Law Lab. 2022. Part I, lines 12, 18, 22.
7. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Glencoe Family Foundation. 2019. Part XV. 3 – Grants and Contributions Paid During the Year.
8. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Innovation Law Lab. 2022. Part VII – Statement of Revenue, line f.
9. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Causa of Oregon. 2022. Schedule I, Part II – Grants and Other Assistance to Domestic Organizations and Domestic Governments.
10. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Impact Fund. 2022. Schedule I, Part II – Grants and Other Assistance to Domestic Organizations and Domestic Governments.
11. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Innovation Law Lab. 2022. Schedule I, Part II – Grants and Other Assistance to Domestic Organizations and Domestic Governments.