Siembra

The nonprofit considers itself to be part of a movement to push North Carolina away from becoming “a laboratory for right-wing policy ideas.” ¹ Siembra opposes federal immigration law enforcement and collaboration between local law enforcement and immigration agencies. ²

Siembra, as of 2024, has engaged in voter registration and published material claiming that police in the U.S. have a racist origin and defend racism and white violence. ^{3 4}

The nonprofit is a regional affiliate of Mijente, an Arizona-based left-of-center pro-immigration activist group. ¹

Founding and Activities

Siembra traces its origins to 2017 when then-President Donald Trump implemented immigration enforcement policies that the nonprofit considered to be part of a “war on immigrants.” ¹

In addition to rallying support for undocumented migrants, especially those of Hispanic heritage, the group also works to consolidate the Latin American population of North Carolina as a viable left-leaning political bloc. ¹

Siembra primarily operated in the state’s Alamance, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Orange, Wake, Randolph, and Rockingham counties, as of 2024. ¹

The nonprofit’s activities, as of 2024, fell under four main categories: advocacy against U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE); voter registration and electorate mobilization; labor advocacy; and political education. ⁵

Siembra has published material claiming that police in the U.S. have a racist origin, ³ that U.S. cops defend racism and white violence, ⁴ and that immigration law is equivalent to tax law. ⁶

As of July 2024, the organization registered approximately 3,200 Latino voters ahead of the 2024 presidential elections. ⁷

During the 2022 midterm election and the 2024 presidential election seasons, the organization targeted 287(g) counties—counties part of the 287(g) program where local law enforcement can act as immigration enforcement agents—for voter registrations. ⁸

The group, as of 2024, maintained its own PAC, Siembra PAC, which in 2022 raised $190,308 for former North Carolina state Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley’s (D) failed U.S. Senatorial bid. ⁹

Leadership

Nicole Marin and Kelly Morales are co-executive directors of Siembra, as of 2024. Marin was one of the co-founders of Siembra. Prior to her work with the group, Marin worked as Mijente,s director of finance and economic development between April 2018 and August 2021, and as the director of loans and business development of the left-of-center Southern Reparations Loan Fund between January 2015 and December 2017. ^{10 11}

In addition to her role as co-director of Siembra, Kelly Morales, as of 2024, is a board member at the left-of-center advocacy group Down Home North Carolina’s charitable wing. Down Home North Carolina was known for advocating for an expansion of Medicaid in North Carolina, critical race theory-inspired curricula in education, and increases in minimum wage. ¹²

Morales also served as the North Carolina Immigrant Rights program director for the American Friends Service Committee, a left-of-center Quaker-related organization that supports left-of-center policy on immigration, criminal justice, economic, and foreign-policy issues. ¹³

Funding

As of 2022, the organization received $1,039,388 in grants and contributions. The group gave $150,000 in grants that year, all of which went to its PAC. ¹⁴