International Institute of Minnesota (IIMN)

Background

The International Institute of Minnesota was founded in 1919 as a branch of the YWCA of Saint Paul to assist the area’s growing immigrant population following World War I. It offered the first English-language classes in Minnesota along with citizenship support and social services, and the institute became an independent entity in 1938. ⁶

When the federal refugee resettlement program began in 1975, the Institute commenced resettling Lao, Hmong, and Vietnamese refugees displaced by the Vietnamese War. The Institute has remained funded by the program since as of 2026. It is one of five organizations in Minnesota licensed to resettle refugees in the state. ^{6 7}

Activities

The International Institute of Minnesota’s programs span refugee resettlement, immigration and citizenship legal services, English-language instruction, health-care and hospitality workforce training, and anti-human trafficking services. In fiscal year 2025, the organization reported working with 6,017 clients. ⁸

Refugee Resettlement

The Institute has resettled more than 26,000 refugees in Minnesota since 1975 and reported its highest annual resettlement caseload in 17 years in fiscal year 2024. Resettlement is funded through pass-through grants from the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, which channels U.S. State Department appropriations to local affiliate agencies. ^{9 10}

When the second Trump administration suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program by executive order in January 2025, the Institute was required to halt resettlement operations. In early 2025, the Institute’s executive director stated publicly that the Institute had not been reimbursed by the federal government for services since November 2024, forcing the organization to rely on private donations to continue operations. ^{11 12}

Workforce Development

The Institute operates healthcare and hospitality career training pathways and has placed more than 4,000 immigrants in healthcare employment since 1990. The Democratic Party-controlled Minnesota Legislature appropriated $550,000 per year in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 for the Institute’s workforce training, an increase from a prior $350,000 annual appropriation. ^{5 13}

Political Advocacy

The Institute engages in left-of-center immigration advocacy through several channels. Its “Fight Ignorance” campaign distributes yard signs and online messaging framing opposition to immigration enforcement as a campaign against ignorance, asserting that people should “fight ignorance, not immigrants.” ⁵

The Institute also operates a “Stand with Minnesota’s Immigrant and Refugee Community” fundraising page launched in response to 2025 Trump administration enforcement activity, characterizing federal immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota as causing “fear, danger, and unjust treatment.” ¹⁴

Executive director Jane Graupman testified before the Minnesota Legislature’s Legacy Finance Committee in 2026, describing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations targeting the Institute’s clients in detail and urging legislative action. Graupman also characterized the Trump administration’s treatment of refugees as “un-American” in February 2026, in which she described ICE detentions of lawfully admitted refugees. ^{15 16}

Funding

The International Institute of Minnesota is heavily dependent on government funding: in fiscal year 2024, the group reported $11.7 million in revenue, with over 50 percent of that derived from government grants and contracts. ¹

Government funders identified in the organization’s 2025 annual report include the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Minnesota Department of Education, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, the Minnesota Department of Health, the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Minnesota Housing, the Minnesota Board of Civil Legal Aid, MNsure, the City of Minneapolis, the City of Saint Paul, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and the Saint Paul Community Literacy Consortium. ¹⁷

Private and corporate funders of the group include 3M, Asian Americans Advancing Justice of Southern California, the C.H. Robinson Foundation, the F.R. Bigelow Foundation, the Garrett Family Foundation, the United Way Greater Twin Cities, the Hardenbergh Foundation, the Headwaters Foundation for Justice, the HRK Foundation, the Opus Foundation, the Otto Bremer Trust, the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, the Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation, the Target Foundation, Thrivent, and the WCA Foundation. ⁴