NILC Immigrant Justice Fund

Founding and History

The Immigrant Justice Fund was founded as an affiliate organization of the National Immigration Law Center in 2013 as a 501(c)(4) organization that engages in direct activism and lobbying to change federal immigration law. ¹ It also works to mobilize low-income immigrants as part of the political process. ³

The fund was very active in the 2020 presidential election. In August 2020, the fund, along with over 170 other organizations, signed onto the 2021 Immigration Action Plan, advocating for changes in the federal immigration system, including “decriminalizing immigration,” ending the use of immigration jails, and “reimagining” federal immigration courts. ⁴

Beginning in September 2020, the fund began releasing digital ads targeting 130,000 voters in Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Arizona. The ads were focused on attacking the Trump administration’s immigration rhetoric and record and highlighting the role that immigrants play in the U.S. economy, especially in the health care industry. ²

After the 2020 presidential election, the fund claimed that its activity had helped to defeat President Trump and “save[] American democracy.” ⁵

Leadership

Marielena Hincapie is the executive director of the Immigrant Justice Fund and its partner organization, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC). She began working for NILC in 2000 as a staff attorney, later becoming the director of programs in 2004 and assuming her current position in 2008. She has been involved in numerous other immigration related advocacy groups and organizations, including as cochair of the Biden-Sanders Unity Taskforce on Immigration, the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration, and as a Practitioner-in-Residence at the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice at the University of California—Berkeley School of Law. ⁶ In fiscal year 2020, Hincapie was compensated a total of $239,250. This amount was paid by the NILC. ⁷ It was announced in September of 2021 that Hincapie will be leaving the NILC in June 2022. ⁸

The board of the Immigrant Justice Fund includes several highly ranked left-of-center activists, including John Bisognano, the executive director of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee; Yasmin Radjy, the national political director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund; and Rico Saenz, the executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). ⁹

Finances

In fiscal year 2019, Immigrant Justice Fund generated $1,461,039 in revenue, of which the entire amount was from contributions and grants received. It had $1,367,586 in expenses, of which $617,777 was allocated towards employee salary and compensation (an increase from $226,565 the previous fiscal year) and $46,500 was paid out in grants. The group ended the year with $825,265 in total assets, up from $447,971 the previous year, but also increased total liabilities from $50,445 to $334,286 ending the year with $490,979 in net assets, up from $397,526 at the end of the previous fiscal year. ¹⁰