Santa Fe Dreamers Project

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

At-A-Glance

Issue Areas: Immigration Policy
Formation:

2014 (tax-exempt in 2017)

Executive Director:

Miles Tokunow

Location: Santa Fe, NM View on map
Tax ID: 82-0839645
Most Recent Filing: 2025
Budget (2025): Assets: $267,952 Revenue: $1,107,955 Expenses: $1,118,383

Contents

    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

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2025 $267,952 $1,107,955 $1,118,383 View
    2024 $341,515 $682,863 $1,114,484 View
    2023 $710,721 $1,339,642 $813,933 View
    2022 $146,010 $757,061 $998,626 View
    2021 $165,058 $1,292,833 $1,393,868 View
    2020 $433,397 $1,157,825 $1,341,544 View

    Prior year filings: 2019, 2018

    Revenue Detail

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    • Number of Employees: 12

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Miles TokunowEXECUTIVE DI$43,269

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $4,140,735
    • Number of Grants: 204
    • Number of Funders: 74

    Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $200,0002024 Arcus FoundationGeneral operating support to provide legal services to LGBTQ+ immigrants and asylum seekers in New Mexico and the El Paso, Texas border region.
    $200,0002022 Arcus FoundationGeneral operating support to provide free legal services to immigrants to promote economic empowerment, community development, family unity, and liberation from detention.
    $157,5002024 Vanguard CharitableFOR RECIPIENT'S EXEMPT PURPOSE
    $150,0002022 Lannan FoundationGENERAL SUPPORT
    $100,5002021 New Mexico FoundationGeneral operating support
    $75,0002023 Vanguard CharitableFOR RECIPIENT'S EXEMPT PURPOSE
    $75,0002022 Vanguard CharitableFor recipient's exempt purpose
    $75,0002021 Lannan FoundationBRIDGE FUNDING
    $75,0002021 Vanguard CharitableFOR RECIPIENT'S EXEM
    $75,0002020 Lannan FoundationLEGAL PROGRAM
    $72,4502021 Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundFor grant recipient's exempt purposes
    $63,8482020 Christus HealthTo provide 120 legal consultations for undocumented immigrants who are victims of violence and file 50 U Visa cases
    $60,0002024 Seattle Foundationto provide general support
    $60,0002023 INNOVATION LAW LABProgram Assistance
    $53,2782021 St Vincent HospitalImmigration advocacy; provides legal services to immigrants to promote economic empowerment, community development, family unity & liberation from detention.
    $50,6852021 INNOVATION LAW LABImmigration Serivces
    $50,0002024 Amalgamated Charitable Foundation IncGeneral operating support
    $50,0002023 Seattle Foundationto provide general support.
    $50,0002023 Amalgamated Charitable Foundation IncGeneral operating support
    $50,0002022 Amalgamated Charitable Foundation IncGENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
    $50,0002022 Seattle Foundationto provide general support.
    $50,0002022 INNOVATION LAW LABProgram Assistance
    $50,0002021 Seattle FoundationTo provide general support.
    $50,0002020 INNOVATION LAW LABImmigration Serivces
    $45,0002024 New Mexico FoundationGENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT FOR LEGAL PROGRAMS BENEFITING ASYLUM-SEEKERS, REFUGEES, AND MIGRANT WORKERS IN NEW MEXICO, INCLUSIVE OF THE HUMANITARIAN VISA PROGRAM

    References

    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.