Other Group

Make the Road Nevada

Website:

maketheroadnv.org/

Location:

Las Vegas, NV

Parent Organization:

Make the Road States

Director:

Leo Murrieta

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Make the Road Nevada 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 Nevada.

The group is a project of Make the Road States, an advocacy group that also hosts chapters in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. Make the Road States and its affiliates are modelled on Make the Road New York, a large immigrant organizing group based in New York City. Make the Road States 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 a $15 minimum wage, free taxpayer funded legal assistance to illegal immigrants in deportation hearings, and legislation allowing illegal immigrants to obtain professional licenses. 1

Make the Road Nevada and its affiliates are all affiliated with the network’s political action arm, Make the Road Action. 2

Background

Make the Road Nevada was founded in 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The group formed as an affiliate of 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. 3 4

Make the Road Nevada is formally organized as a branch of Make the Road States, an umbrella group for the Make the Road chapters other than New York that was formed in 2020 as a project of the Center for Popular Democracy. While no independent, full tax form is available for the group as of early 2022, the organization reported receiving more than $7 million in funds 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. 5 6

Make the Road Nevada is listed on the website of democratic socialist U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as an “endorsed organization.” 7

Policy initiatives of Make the Road Nevada have included supporting legislation to permit illegal immigrants to obtain professional licenses without a Social Security number and lobbying the Clark County Board of Commissioners for $500,000 and the Nevada legislature for $1 million in funds for legal aid for illegal immigrants facing deportation hearings. The group has also assisted with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) application renewals. 8

Activities

Campaigns conducted by Make the Road Nevada have included phone banking and canvassing for both the 2020 and 2022 general elections and Democratic primaries in Nevada and encouraging immigrants to complete the 2020 U.S. Census. The group promoted COVID-19 mitigation in the immigrant community in Nevada and launched a group called the Youth Power Project to promote youth organizing. The group has also staged protests outside Las Vegas city hall opposing homelessness policies, and protested outside the U.S. and Nevada capitols calling for relaxed immigration laws. 9 10

In 2021, Make the Road Nevada was mentioned in controversy surrounding the Nevada chapter of Mi Familia Vota, a group that experienced a mass resignation after its director allegedly assaulted two employees. Make the Road Nevada, which worked closely with Mi Familia Vota, assisted in expelling the group from the Nevada Immigrant Coalition steering committee, which also consisted of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada and the Culinary Workers Union, Local 226. 11

In January 2024, Make the Road Nevada partnered with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and Nevada State University to host an event meant to advertise TheDream.US, a national scholarship intended for undocumented immigrants residing within the United States. 12

Financials

In 2022, Make the Road Nevada received a $370,000 grant from the Center for Popular Democracy, a left-of-center organization that has funded other Make the Road States affiliates. 13

Leadership

Leo Murrieta has led Make the Road Nevada since 2017. He previously was the executive director of the Center for Latino Prosperity and the national director for Mi Familia Vota. He was also a co-founder of the Nevada Youth Coalition. 14

References

  1. “Immigrant Justice.” Make the Road NV.” Accessed April 21, 2022. https://maketheroadnv.org/immigrant-justice/
  2. “Home.” Make the Road Action. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.maketheroadaction.org/
  3. “About Make the Road Nevada.” Make the Road NV. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://maketheroadnv.org/about-make-the-road-nevada/
  4. 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
  5. “Make the Road States.” Guidestar. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/84-3988830#summary
  6. “Deborah Axt.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-axt-1202a84/
  7. “Make the Road Nevada.” Bernie Sanders. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://berniesanders.com/get-involved/make-road-nevada/
  8. “Immigrant Justice.” Make the Road NV.” Accessed April 21, 2022. https://maketheroadnv.org/immigrant-justice/
  9. Civic Engagement.” Make the Road NV.” Accessed April 21, 2022. https://maketheroadnv.org/civic-engagement/
  10. Pelaez, Roberto. “Activistas locales de inmigración quieren hacer valer sus exigencies.” El Mundo Las Vegas. December 17, 2021. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.elmundo.net/locales/activistas-locales-de-inmigraci%C3%B3n-quieren-hacer-valer-sus-exigencias
  11. Johnson, Shea. Apgar, Blake. “‘Disgusting actions:’ Nearly all Nevada staffers quit Mi Familia Vota.” Las Vegas Review-Journal. December 10, 2021. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/disgusting-actions-nearly-all-nevada-staffers-quit-mi-familia-vota-2494765/
  12. “Scholarship Program Assists Undocumented Nevada Students .” This Is Reno, February 1, 2024. https://thisisreno.com/2024/02/scholarship-program-assists-undocumented-nevada-students/.
  13.  Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Center for Popular Democracy. 2022. Schedule I. Part II. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/453813436/202303179349307965/full
  14. “Leo Murrieta.” Linkedin Profile. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/leo-murrieta-7b414191/
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Make the Road Nevada


Las Vegas, NV