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Make the Road Connecticut

Parent Organization:

Make the Road States
Location:

Bridgeport, Connecticut
Executive Director:

Barbara Lopez

Make the Road Connecticut is a left-of-center community organizing group that focuses on immigration issues and organizes protests, community services, and political advocacy efforts among the immigrant community in Connecticut. The group is a project of Make the Road States, a nonprofit advocacy group that also hosts chapters in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. Make the Road States and its affiliates are modeled on Make the Road New York, a large immigrant organizing group based in New York City. Make the Road Connecticut and its affiliates are all affiliated with the network’s political action arm, Make the Road Action. 1

All the Make the Road groups are all fiscally sponsored by and affiliated with the Center for Popular Democracy. The group supports various left-of-center economic and immigration policy positions including taxpayer funded healthcare for illegal immigrants, local “sanctuary city” ordinances, and rental assistance for illegal immigrants. 2 3

Background

Make the Road Connecticut was founded in 2017. The group formed as an affiliate of the  the Center for Popular Democracy and was inspired by the more established Make the Road New York, a New York City immigrant organizing and advocacy group founded in 1997. The New York chapter of the group has had a longstanding affiliation with the Center for Popular Democracy, the political operation of former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), and the left-wing Working Families Party. 4 5

Make the Road Connecticut is formally organized as a branch of Make the Road States, an umbrella group for the Make the Road chapters other than New York’s that was formed in 2020 and was a project of the Center for Popular Democracy before Make the Road States was formed. The organization reported receiving more than $7 million in funding in 2020 and had more than $5 million in assets. The principal officer listed for Make the Road States is Deborah Axt, who is also the deputy director of Make the Road New York. 6 7

Policies supported by Make the Road Connecticut include promotion of state and local “sanctuary” laws that prohibit coordination between local law enforcement and federal authorities, promoting an “ESL/bilingual bill of rights” in Connecticut, and promoting taxpayer-funded healthcare in Connecticut for all residents regardless of immigration status. 8

Activities

Make the Road Connecticut has announced plans to create community services similar to those offered by other Make the Road chapters such as English-as-a-second-language (ESL) classes, Spanish classes for youth, and college counseling. The group also plans to provide pro-bono representation on immigration law matters, health care law, and COVID assistance. 9 10

Make the Road Connecticut sponsors a “Fightback Committee” that actively encourages “activat[ing] rapid response and deportation defense networks” to assist illegal immigrants from being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 11

References

  1. “Home.” Make the Road Action. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.maketheroadaction.org/
  2. “About Us.” Make the Road Connecticut. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.maketheroadct.org/about-us
  3. “Home.” Make the Road New York. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://maketheroadny.org/
  4. “About Us.” Make the Road Connecticut. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.maketheroadct.org/about-us
  5. Suebsaeng, Asawin. “These Are the Groups Behind Those ‘Spontaneous’ Anti-Trump-Ban Protests.” The Daily Beast. February 02, 2017. Accessed April 18, 2022. http://www.thedailybeast.com/these-are-the-groups-behind-those-spontaneous-anti-trump-ban-protests
  6. “Make the Road States.” Guidestar. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/84-3988830#summary
  7. “Deborah Axt.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-axt-1202a84/
  8. “2021 Annual Report.” Make the Road Connecticut. Accessed April 21, 2022. http://www.maketheroadct.org/_files/ugd/7867a1_7f442a82653e455da69c30a202bb319e.pdf
  9. “2021 Annual Report.” Make the Road Connecticut. Accessed April 21, 2022. http://www.maketheroadct.org/_files/ugd/7867a1_7f442a82653e455da69c30a202bb319e.pdf
  10. “Our Services.” Make the Road New Jersey. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://maketheroadnj.org/category/our-services/
  11. “2020 Annual Report.” Make the Road Connecticut. Accessed April 21, 2022.  http://www.maketheroadct.org/_files/ugd/7867a1_6720c68ec4e543ca97eb451560664b00.pdf
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