The Santa Fe Dreamers Project (SFDP) is a left-of-center nonprofit organization that provides free legal services to immigrants, with a focus on illegal immigrant youth and families in New Mexico and West Texas, especially Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) cases. In addition to its pro-bono legal work, the group also advocates for left-of-center immigration policies, notably the full abolition of the illegal immigrant detention system. ^{1 2 3}

Founding and History

The Santa Fe Dreamers Project was founded in 2014 by attorney Allegra Love in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to provide pro bono immigration-related legal services, with a focus on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. It originally operated as a fiscally sponsored organization for three years before becoming a registered nonprofit in 2017. The group eventually expanded its area of operation to more of New Mexico as well as Texas with an office in El Paso. ⁴

Financials

For 2023, Santa Fe Dreamers Project reported $1,339,642 in revenue, of which $1,293,448 stemmed from contributions and grants and $46,194 from program service revenue. It reported $813,933 in expenses, of which $646,345 was spent on salaries and compensation. It ended the year with $525,709 in net revenue, and $468,080 in net assets. ⁵

The group received $1,287,771 in government funding, amounting to over 96 percent of total funding, with its website noting that it has received funding from the City of Santa Fe and the City of Albuquerque Office of Equity and Inclusion. ^{6 7}

Other notable donors include the American Immigration Council, Ark Foundation, the Tides Foundation, and the Westphal Family Foundation. ⁷

Organization Philosophy

The Santa Fe Dreamers Project espouses left-of-center views, including a declaration that the entire immigration detention system must be abolished and that the alleged injustices of the immigration system are rooted in racism and misogyny. The group also identifies itself as being an “antiracist” organization. ¹

Projects and Initiatives

Based on numbers of cases, filing for or filing extensions for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is the main legal work that the Santa Fe Dreamers Project undertakes, numbering 2,980 according to the group’s website as of June 2025. All other legal services (such as naturalization, family-based immigration, and humanitarian protections) number below 500, with only asylum-related services as the exception, with 525 cases. ⁸

Leadership

Miles Tokunow was the executive director of the Santa Fe Dreamers Project as of 2025, a position he had held since July of 2024. He previously worked for over 8 years with Organizers in the Land of Enchantment (OLE), a left-of-center activist group based in New Mexico. ⁹

Allegra Love is the founder and former director of the Santa Fe Dreamers Project. Love directed the project until stepping down in 2020, citing burnout and a desire to no longer work in the spotlight, explaining that she did not want to be viewed as the main representative of a project that involved numerous people, rather than just herself. ¹⁰

1. “Our Mission.” Santa Fe Dreamers Project. Accessed June 9, 2025. https://www.santafedreamersproject.org/our-mission/
2. “Our Strategies.” Santa Fe Dreamers Project. Accessed June 9, 2025. https://www.santafedreamersproject.org/our-strategies/
3. “Santa Fe Dreamers Project.” Santa Fe Dreamers Project. Accessed June 9, 2025. https://www.santafedreamersproject.org.
4. “Our History.” Santa Fe Dreamers Project. Accessed June 9, 2025. https://www.santafedreamersproject.org/our-history
5.  Santa Fe Dreamers Project, Return of organization exempt from income tax (Form 990), 2023, Part I.
6. Santa Fe Dreamers Project, Return of organization exempt from income tax (Form 990), 2023, Part I, IX.
7. “Our Funders.” Santa Fe Dreamers Project. Accessed June 9, 2025. https://www.santafedreamersproject.org/our-funders-1.
8. “Our Impact by the Numbers.” Santa Fe Dreamers Project. Accessed June 9, 2025. https://www.santafedreamersproject.org/our-impact-by-the-numbers.
9. “Miles Tokunow.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 9, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/miles-tokunow-37870b307/.
10. Mullan, Dillon. “Dreamers Project Founder Stepping down as Executive Director.” Santa Fe New Mexican, July 12, 2020. https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/dreamers-project-founder-stepping-down-as-executive-director/article_a98507ac-c47b-11ea-bd7b-83b09d3e7459.html.