For the 501(c)(3), see UnidosUS (nonprofit)

UnidosUS Action Fund (UnidosUS Action Fund) is a left-of-center advocacy group that seeks to expand the influence and political power of Hispanic communities in the United States through direct lobbying, field advocacy, media messaging, polling, and coalition building. ¹ UnidosUS Action Fund works to enact the policy positions of its sister organization, UnidosUS (formerly the National Council of La Raza). ²

The Action Fund endorsed Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. ³ It supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the United States, ⁴ COVID-19 payments to illegal immigrants and foreign nationals in the United States, ⁵ a pathway to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants currently in the United States, ⁶ and the DREAM Act, which would provide legal status to certain illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children. ⁷

UnidosUS Action Fund supports the Black Lives Matter movement, ^{8 9} accused the Republican Party of supporting “white nationalism,” ¹⁰ opposed the Trump administration’s environmental policies, ¹¹ and worked with left-progressive UltraViolet Action to run a six-figure advertising campaign in Pennsylvania, Florida, and Arizona urging Hispanic voters to change the course of the country in 2020. ¹²

History and Leadership

UnidosUS Action Fund was given tax-exempt status in 2014 as the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Action Fund, which succeeded Democracia USA. ^{13 14 15} In 2017, National Council of La Raza Action Fund changed its name to UnidosUS Action Fund. ¹⁶

In 2012, NCLR Action Fund was sued by the U.S. Department of Labor for allegedly firing a whistleblower who raised concerns about mold exposure to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). ^{17 18}

Rafael “Ray” Collazo is the executive director of UnidosUS Action Fund. ¹⁹ Collazo previously worked as director of political affairs of the left-of-center National Council of La Raza ^{20 21} and in other roles at Democracia USA and the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute. ²²

Activities and Funding

UnidosUS Action Fund is an organization that works to expand the influence and political power of left-progressive Hispanic communities in the Untied States. The group engages in direct lobbying, field advocacy, media messaging, polling, and coalition building to garner broad support to expand the influence and political power of the Hispanic community. ²³ UnidosUS Action Fund works to enact the policy positions taken by its sister organization, UnidosUS, ²⁴ and engages in both partisan and nonpartisan campaign work on economic, healthcare, immigration, climate-related, ²⁵ education, and civil rights issues. ²⁶ UnidosUS Action Fund is also a member of the pro-Biden advocacy and lobbying group Building Back Together’s Language Justice Committee, which seeks to expand bilingual and non-English voting materials. ²⁷

UnidosUS Action Fund supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the United States ²⁸ and uses advertisements in an effort to make it “politically unpalatable” for moderate Democrats and key Senate Republicans in states including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and Pennsylvania to oppose sweeping immigration legislation and to oppose inclusion of illegal immigrants in COVID-19 related relief packages. ²⁹

UnidosUS Action Fund supports COVID-19 payments to illegal immigrants and foreign nationals in the United States, ³⁰ a pathway to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants currently in the United States ³¹ and the DREAM Act, which would provide legal status to certain illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children. ³² The group also opposes COVID-19-related Title 42 immigration restrictions, ³³ supports expanded federal funding of the Head Start educational program to include migrant and seasonal workers, ³⁴ and supported the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would federalize election administration in the United States. ³⁵

In 2020, UnidosUS Action Fund used the social media hashtag #RacistaGOP in an attempt to label the Republican Party as “racist” for Hispanic voters ³⁶ and spent $31,340 in support of presidential candidate Joe Biden (D). ³⁷ That same year, UnidosUSAF participated in a Lincoln Project-sponsored town hall with left-of-center Nuestro PAC and Mi Familia Vota to attack the Trump administration’s COVID-19 response. The group also worked with the Lincoln Project’s Hispanic Steering Committee to defeat President Trump in 2020. ³⁸

UnidosUS Action Fund supports the far-left Black Lives Matter movement; ^{39 40} accused the Republican Party of being filled with “white nationalism” in a statement it released with the left-of-center League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Voto Latino, and Mi Familia Vota in 2020; ⁴¹ opposed the Trump administration’s environmental policies; ⁴² and worked with left-progressive UltraViolet Action to run a six-figure advertising campaign in Pennsylvania, Florida and Arizona urging Hispanic voters to change the course of the country in 2020. ⁴³

Political Activities

In 2022, UnidosUS Action Fund supported the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court ^{44 45} and opposed Florida House Bill 1557, which prohibited the teaching of sexual material to children between kindergarten and third grade. ⁴⁶

In 2021, UnidosUS Action Fund endorsed Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) in the gubernatorial recall election. ⁴⁷

In 2020, UnidosUS Action Fund spent $626,045 on outside spending in federal elections, all in support of Democratic Party candidates. ⁴⁸ This included $107,525 to turn out Florida Hispanic voters through a “chase mail” campaign and efforts to inform Pennsylvania Hispanic voters on their vote-by-mail options and support UnidosUS Action Fund-endorsed federal candidates. ⁴⁹

UnidosUS Action Fund endorsed Joe Biden (D) for President, Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) for U.S. Senate, and 13 Democratic Party candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2020 election cycle. ⁵⁰ In a UnidosUS Action Fund-hosted virtual town hall with presidential candidate Joe Biden, the group said it would do “everything in its power” to support Biden in the 2020 election. ^{51 52} UnidosUS Action Fund also issued a statement congratulating President-elect Joe Biden (D) and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris (D) in November 2020. ⁵³

Also in 2020, UnidosUS Action Fund opposed the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, calling her selection “bad for Latinos,” ⁵⁴ and targeted Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in an advertising campaign that called for illegal immigrants and non-U.S. citizens to receive COVID-19 relief payments. ⁵⁵

The group also ran advertising campaigns targeting U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) to demand his support for the “DREAMers,” illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children, ⁵⁶ and Spanish-language advertisements targeting U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). ⁵⁷

In 2018, the group conducted partisan voter mobilization and endorsement events in Texas and Florida for federal and state candidates. The group also endorsed U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) in the 2018 election cycle. ^{58 59}

UnidosUS Action Fund endorsed former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-NY)’s 2016 presidential campaign ⁶⁰ and worked in Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Virginia in the 2016 elections. ⁶¹

Funding

UnidosUS Action Fund receives its funding from grants and individual donations, which are routed through Democratic-affiliated passthrough ActBlue Civics. ⁶²

In 2019, UnidosUS Action Fund received $610,125 of contributions and grants and reported $457,115 of expenses. ⁶³ The group reported contributions of $185,250 and expenses of $240,186 in 2018 and reported contributions of $290,605 and expenses of $440,380 in 2017, respectively. ⁶⁴ In 2019, the UnidosUS Action Fund gave $1,500 to the Democratic Party-aligned pro-abortion Poder PAC. ⁶⁵ In 2018, UnidosUS Action Fund received $75,000 from the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) labor union. ⁶⁶ In 2014, UnidosUS Action Fund received $140,000 from the left-of-center Sixteen Thirty Fund, which is administered by Arabella Advisors. ⁶⁷

1. “UnidosUS Action Fund Inc.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2019. Part III. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/455341145/202010289349300001/full.
2. “About.” UnidosUS Action Fund. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/about.
3.  “2020 Endorsements.” UnidosUS Action Fund. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/2020-election-endorsements.
4. The UnidosUS Action Fund Launches Ad to Move on from Bipartisan Immigration Negotiations.” UnidosUS Action Fund. June 24, 2021. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/bipartisanimmigrationnegotiation.
5. “Economy.” UnidosUS Action Fund. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/economy.
6. ^[1] “Path to Citizenship.” UnidosUS Action Fund. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/pathtocitizenship.
7. “#ImmigrantsAreEssential.” UnidosUS Action Fund. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/immigrantsareessential.
8. “tweet.” Twitter. Posted May 29, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://twitter.com/unidosusaf/status/1266335537616556033?s=21&t=YtIs7y44OmI_e6X-ElhrSQ.
9. “Tweet.” Twitter. Posted June 6, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://twitter.com/unidosusaf/status/1269333078792601606?s=21&t=YtIs7y44OmI_e6X-ElhrSQ.
10. UnidosUS Action Fund. “The Party of Trump: An Indictment of White Nationalism in Today’s GOP.” Medium. August 27, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://medium.com/@unidosusaf/the-party-of-trump-an-indictment-of-white-nationalism-in-todays-gop-cd3d45ce4867
11. UnidosUS Action Fund. “Polluting America First: How Killing Clean Power Plan Hurts the Latino Community.” Huffpost. October 31, 2017. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/polluting-america-first-how-killing-clean-power-plan_b_59f8e9f0e4b0de896d3f2c32.
12. “UltraViolet Action y UnidosUS Action Fund comparten información precisa y local con votantes Latinas.” UltraViolet. October 13, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://weareultraviolet.org/pressrel/ultraviolet-action-y-unidosus-action-fund-comparten-informacion-precisa-y-local-con-votantes-latinas/.
13. Barth, Cindy. “Labor Department sues National Council of La Raza Action Fund Inc.” Orlando Business Journal. December 26, 2012. Accessed April 10, 2022. https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2012/12/26/labor-department-sues-national-council.html.
14. “Final Determination Letter.” Internal Revenue Service. July 21, 2014. Accessed April 10, 2022. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/dl/FinalLetter_45-5341145_NATIONALCOUNCILLARAZAACTIONFUNDINC_03212014_02.tif.
15. “UnidosUS Action Fund Inc.” Candid GuideStar. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/45-5341145.
16. Gamboa, Suzanne. “National Council of La Raza Changes Name to UnidosUS.” NBC News. July 10, 2017. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/national-council-la-raza-changes-name-unidosus-n781261.
17. US Department of Labor Sues National Council of La Raza Action Fund Inc., Ordering Reinstatement of Whistle-Blower Fired for Mold Exposure Complaint.” U.S. Department of Labor. December 26, 2012. Accessed April 10, 2022. https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20121226.
18. Barth, Cindy. “Labor Department sues National Council of La Raza Action Fund Inc.” Orlando Business Journal. December 26, 2012. Accessed April 10, 2022. https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2012/12/26/labor-department-sues-national-council.html.
19. “Rafael ‘Ray’ Collazo.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafael-ray-collazo-094aa269/.
20. Johnson, Jamila. “Protect and Defend: NCLR Creates Latino Political Agenda.” Al Día. March 9, 2017. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.aldianews.com/politics/policy/protect-and-defend-nclr.
21. “Rafael ‘Ray’ Collazo.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafael-ray-collazo-094aa269/.
22. “Rafael ‘Ray’ Collazo.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafael-ray-collazo-094aa269/.
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24. “About.” UnidosUS Action Fund. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/about.
25.  “Climate Change.” UnidosUS. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/environment.
26. “About.” UnidosUS Action Fund. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/about.
27. “Building Back Together Launches Language Justice Committee to Tackle Language Barriers at the Ballot Box.” Building Back Together. September 22, 2021. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://buildingbacktogether.org/news/building-back-together-launches-language-justice-committee-to-tackle-language-barriers-at-the-ballot-box/.
28. “The UnidosUS Action Fund Launches Ad to Move on from Bipartisan Immigration Negotiations.” UnidosUS Action Fund. June 24, 2021. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/bipartisanimmigrationnegotiation.
29. “The UnidosUS Action Fund Promotes Rafael Collazo to Executive Director. March 1, 2021. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/ed-announcement.
30. “Economy.” UnidosUS Action Fund. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/economy.
31. “Path to Citizenship.” UnidosUS Action Fund. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/pathtocitizenship.
32. “#ImmigrantsAreEssential.” UnidosUS Action Fund. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/immigrantsareessential.
33. “Tweet.” Twitter. Posted March 10, 2022. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://twitter.com/votolatino/status/1501977189591535627?s=21&t=AqRZ4XS3zNcApNLQFL3c_Q.
34. “Education.” UnidosUS Action Fund. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/immigrantsareessential.
35. “UnidosUS Action Fund Responds to the State of the Union Address.” March 2, 2022. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/sotu2022.
36. UnidosUS Action Fund. “End the Hate.” YouTube Video. Uploaded August 25, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PseSxNHRKao.
37. “UnidosUS Action Fund, Inc.” Federal Election Commission Independent Expenditure Filer Report. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C90015322/?cycle=2020&tab=spending.
38. “Announces Joint Town Hall and New Ad “Le Creímos”.” The Lincoln Project. September 28, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://lincolnproject.us/the-lincoln-project-joins-forces-with-mi-familia-vota-unidos-us-action-fund-nuestro-pac/.
39. “tweet.” Twitter. Posted May 29, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://twitter.com/unidosusaf/status/1266335537616556033?s=21&t=YtIs7y44OmI_e6X-ElhrSQ.
40. “Tweet.” Twitter. Posted June 6, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://twitter.com/unidosusaf/status/1269333078792601606?s=21&t=YtIs7y44OmI_e6X-ElhrSQ.
41. UnidosUS Action Fund. “The Party of Trump: An Indictment of White Nationalism in Today’s GOP.” Medium. August 27, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://medium.com/@unidosusaf/the-party-of-trump-an-indictment-of-white-nationalism-in-todays-gop-cd3d45ce4867.
42. UnidosUS Action Fund. “Polluting America First: How Killing Clean Power Plan Hurts the Latino Community.” Huffpost. October 31, 2017. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/polluting-america-first-how-killing-clean-power-plan_b_59f8e9f0e4b0de896d3f2c32.
43. “UltraViolet Action y UnidosUS Action Fund comparten información precisa y local con votantes Latinas.” UltraViolet. October 13, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://weareultraviolet.org/pressrel/ultraviolet-action-y-unidosus-action-fund-comparten-informacion-precisa-y-local-con-votantes-latinas/.
44. “Statement from UnidosUS Action Fund Executive Director Rafael Collazo on the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court.” UnidosUS Action Fund. April 7, 2022. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/judgebrownjackson.
45. “Twitter.” Tweet. Posted April 7, 2022. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://twitter.com/UnidosUSAF/status/1512174021596499968.
46. “Statement from UnidosUS Action Fund Executive Director Rafael Collazo on the passage of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill (HB 1557).” March 9, 2022. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/hb1557.
47. NEWS: UnidosUS Action Fund Endorses Gavin Newsom.” September 10, 2021. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/newsomendorsement.
48. “UnidosUS Action PAC Outside Spending.” OpenSecrets. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cycle=2020&cmte=C00684258.
49. ^[1] “UnidosUS Action Fund Inc.” Return of Organization Exempt From income Tax. (Form 990). 2019. https://causeiq.s3.amazonaws.com/form990s/2021_08_EO/455341145_2021_08_EO_93493228025381.pdf?response-content-disposition=filename%3Dform990-455341145-unidosus-action-fund-inc-2020-09.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ6QW4APNZUQPWEJQ&Expires=1649414758&Signature=6X3J%2FbcwJ6jFZ65DXnwlXvnNRTM%3D.
50. “2020 Endorsements.” UnidosUS Action Fund. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/2020-election-endorsements.
51. “Joe Biden Speaks with UnidosUS Action Fund Online Event Transcript July 29.” Rev. July 29, 2020. Accessed April 10, 2022. https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/joe-biden-speaks-with-unidosus-action-fund-online-event-transcript-july-29.
52. Edelman, Adam. “Biden slams Trump for promoting false COVID-19 claims from ‘crazy woman’.” NBC News. July 29, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/biden-slams-trump-promoting-false-covid-19-claims-crazy-woman-n1235235.
53.  “Congratulations President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris. “UnidosUS Action Fund. November 7, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/congratulationsbidenharris.
54. ^[1] UnidosUS Action Fund. “Amy Coney Barrett Is Bad News for Latinos – And the Future of America.” Medium. October 16, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://medium.com/@unidosusaf/amy-coney-barrett-is-bad-news-for-latinos-and-the-future-of-america-11034a19a2c8.
55. ^[1] Bernal, Rafael. “Hispanic advocacy organization launches campaign to include immigrants in pandemic relief.” The Hill. April 14, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://thehill.com/latino/492709-hispanic-advocacy-organization-launches-campaign-to-include-immigrants-in-pandemic/.
56. UnidosUS Action Fund. “Senator Cornyn, We Need Action!” YouTube Video. Uploaded March 24, 2021. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6C92iDijLg.
57. UnidosUS Action Fund. “Senator Rubio, We Need ACTION.” YouTube Video. Uploaded March 24, 2021. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyqbDYl0zm8.
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60. Ortega, Danny. “NCLR Action PAC Endorses Hillary Clinton.” Huffpost. October 31, 2016. Updated December 6, 2017. Accessed April 9, 2022. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/from-our-chairman-danny-o_b_12735938.
61. “About.” UnidosUS Action Fund. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://www.unidosusaf.org/about.
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64. ^[1] “UnidosUS Action Fund Inc.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2019. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/455341145/202010289349300001/full.
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66. “United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2018. Schedule I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/530220586/201943159349302264/full.
67. “Sixteen Thirty Fund.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2014. Schedule I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/264486735/201533209349314223/full