The Leftist Forces Financing Opposition To Trump’s Illegal Immigration Crackdown

The Leftist Forces Financing Opposition To Trump’s Illegal Immigration Crackdown

by | Mar 5, 2025 | News

By Staff Reporter |

“CHINGA LA MIGRA!”

Major cities nationwide resounded with this chant in the weeks following President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Pro-illegal immigration activists took over the streets with protests bordering on riots and engaged in coordination efforts to thwart deportations.

Younger grassroots activists, like those with the local Party For Socialism and Liberation or the MECHA chapters, bolstered their numbers with members of the most well-funded leftist activist operations in the state.

These activist operations are nonprofits financed, in large part, by the wealthiest leftist donors in the nation—especially those dealing in dark money by the millions. But it doesn’t stop there. They’re also financed by reputable U.S. corporations and their leaders—and even federal grants. These nonprofits have similar goals: opening the border, abolishing immigration enforcement, and granting citizenship to illegal immigrants.

These leftist activist nonprofits are consistent in their messaging, outlined succinctly in collaborative efforts such as the United Nations Human Rights Council Immigration Working Group of 2020 report. That report advocated for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the establishment of “Welcoming Centers” to process any who wish to come across the border in Yuma, Nogales, and in other states along the southern border.

The following are the powerhouse groups leading coordinated efforts in Arizona to undermine the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.

Aliento Education Fund (Aliento) — Phoenix. Reported revenue for 2023: over $1.7 million.

Aliento’s founder and current leader is Reyna Montoya, a DACA recipient. Montoya’s partner and the nonprofit’s vice president of education and external affairs, José Patiño, is a 2024-25 Obama Foundation USA Leader.

Aliento provides illegal aliens with a defense and preparation plan to counter immigration enforcement efforts as well as resources on evading ICE.

Should the Supreme Court take on and overrule the active Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA) case, recipients like their founder, Montoya, would be at risk for deportation. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled DACA to be unlawful for new applicants but allowed renewals to continue.

The pressure of these pending changes to immigration law spurred Aliento to mobilize its forces.

Earlier this month, the Aliento chapter at Arizona State University led a protest against the advocacy of another campus group, College Republicans United, to aid deportation efforts.

In a subsequent interview with Arizona PBS, Montoya defended illegal immigration as permissible so long as the illegal immigrants don’t get a criminal record while in the country. Montoya also claimed the media and the Trump administration were exaggerating the negative consequences of illegal immigration.

“I think that people are really afraid that people who have been paying taxes, folks who haven’t really gotten in any trouble with the law, they are now targeted to be deported,” said Montoya.

In response to those supportive of deportations, Montoya declared illegal aliens shouldn’t be held responsible for committing the crime of illegal immigration. 

“What would you do if you were in our shoes?” said Montoya. “That you only made one mistake in your life that pushed you from different circumstances, what would you have done?”

Among Aliento’s top donors over the past decade are the Tides Foundation ($675k), Pharos Foundation ($450k), Arizona Community Foundation ($355k), Satterberg Foundation ($350k), Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation ($300k), and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors ($222k).

Last year, Aliento also received a $75,000 grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield to improve the mental health of illegal immigrants.

In 2022, Aliento received $250,000 from the GoDaddy founder’s charitable organization, the Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation.

The Arizona Center for Empowerment (ACE) — Phoenix. Reported revenue for 2023: nearly $7 million.

ACE is a Phoenix-based illegal alien advocacy nonprofit and a sister organization to Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA). ACE has regularly reimbursed LUCHA a little over a million in expenses for the past several years. ACE emerged as a response to SB1070 over a decade ago.

ACE’s founders are Alejandra Gomez and Abril Gallardo Cervera.

Gomez, the executive director, formerly served as deputy organizing director of United We Dream, an illegal immigration advocacy organization, and co-executive director of LUCHA.

Cervera is the chief of staff for LUCHA, which she also founded, and sits on the board of United We Dream Action. Cervera played a significant role in unseating former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio as well as passing the Health Working Families Initiative to raise Arizona’s minimum wage.

Other key players in ACE’s short history include Democratic lawmaker Raquel Terán, who sat on ACE’s board and formerly served as its director. Now, Terán is the director of the newly-formed Proyecto Progreso — another entity resisting immigration enforcement.

In response to the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, ACE has issued advisories to illegal aliens on avoiding immigration enforcement detainment: instructing them to remain silent, obtain legal counsel, and refuse law enforcement entry into the home without a warrant. ACE is also providing free assistance to illegal aliens, such as the completion of DACA renewal paperwork.

ACE and LUCHA senior policy advisor, Lena Avalos, led recent efforts to oppose a new Republican-led bill in the Arizona legislature (SB1111) offering a $2,500 bounty for each illegal immigrant via an Arizona Deportations Fund.

“This bill is nothing more than Donald Trump’s 2025 agenda, and you are wasting taxpayer resources on hateful, racist legislation,” said Avalos during the Senate Government hearing on SB1111.

Among ACE’s top donors over the past decade were the Center for Popular Democracy ($1.7 million), the Voter Registration Project (for voter registration, over $3.5 million), and the Telescope Fund ($900,000).

Chicanos Por La Causa Action Fund, also known as “Si Se Vota” (CPLCAF) is the advocacy arm of the similarly named nonprofit, Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC). Reported revenue for 2023: $4.4 million.

CPLCAF is resisting the Trump administration by tapping top elected officials and grabbing the ears of the state’s movers and shakers.

The week of Trump’s inauguration last month, CPLCAF’s executive director, Joseph Garcia, met with leaders at Arizona State University’s Hispanic Research Center to advocate against the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportation.

CPLCAF receives its funding from CPLC: over $10.4 million directly from CPLC the last two years. CPLC had a reported $200 million in revenue in 2023.

A significant portion of CPLC’s millions has come from federal government grants: the nonprofit was awarded nearly $72 million out of the approximately $500 million in obligations (about $297 million of these obligations incurred from 2020 onward, nearly 60 percent of total obligations incurred since the earliest available dataset provided in 2008). The majority of these grants came under the Biden administration:

    • In 2020, CPLC received a $101 million grant and a $68 million grant to carry out migrant head start programming, which doesn’t require proof of citizenship. $66 million and $53 million were outlayed, respectively; the performance period for the former doesn’t end until this August, and the latter grant ended last August.
    • In 2021, CPLC received a $4 million grant, again for head start programming. The total grant was awarded by the performance period’s end last year.
    • In 2022, CPLC received an $18 million grant to provide residential shelter and/or transitional foster care services for unaccompanied illegal immigrant children. Nearly $13 million has been outlayed; the performance period ends in June.
    • In 2023, CPLC received a $16 million grant to conduct home study and post-release services for unaccompanied illegal immigrant children. About $2 million of that grant has been outlayed; the performance period ends in September 2026.
    • In 2023, CPLC received a $12 million grant, again for head start programming. About $6 million of that grant has been outlayed; the performance period ends in December 2028.
    • In 2024, CPLC received a $21 million grant, again for migrant head start programming. About $7 million of that grant has been outlayed; the performance period ends in August 2029.

The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project (Florence Project) — Tucson. Reported revenue for 2023: $17.8 million.

The Florence Project provides free legal and social services to detained illegal immigrants of all ages in Arizona. The founders were immigration attorneys Christopher Brelje and Charlene D’Cruz. It is the largest organization of its kind in the state. The nonprofit is engaged in two of 22 lawsuits filed so far against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

The Trump administration’s Interior Department recently gave the Florence Project a stop work order on the Unaccompanied Children’s Program. The program issues government funding to non-governmental organizations to provide legal services to illegal alien minors. Days later following outcry and pushback, the administration rescinded that order.

Last month, the nonprofit sued the Trump administration over a day-one executive order, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” which dropped the court hearing requiring to expedite deportations, barred federal funding for sanctuary jurisdictions, limited parole authority to a case-by-case basis, limited Temporary Protected Status awards, paused pending the review and audit of all funds to non-governmental organizations involved with illegal aliens, prohibited public benefits to illegal aliens, and hired more immigration enforcement.

Earlier this month, the nonprofit sued the Trump administration over the proclamation shutting down asylum at the border.

In 2022, the Florence Project received $10 million from MacKenzie Scott — ex-wife to Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos. Scott’s donation was the single-largest gift from a donor in the nonprofit’s 35-year history, enabling the organization to expand in an unprecedented way by providing a “representation-for-all legal services model.”

A close second in funding is the Lakeshore Foundation, which gave the nonprofit about $7.6 million within the last decade.

Another top donor is the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education, which gave about $600,000 over the past decade. This nonprofit was founded for the purpose of serving Arizonans.

Among other top donors over the past decade were Together Rising ($487k), the Norman E. Alexander Family Foundation ($308k), and the Immigrant Justice Corps ($309k).

The Florence Project also received over $500,000 in independent contract payments from the Acacia Center for Justice in 2022 for legal services.

PODER in Action (Poder) and PODER Arizona (AZ Poder) — Phoenix. Reported revenues for 2023: $2.1 million and $1.1 million, respectively.

Poder was founded in 2013 as “Center for Neighborhood Leadership” by Ken Chapman and Joseph Larios. It was run by individuals from illegal immigrant families.

Chapman has spawned a number of activist efforts in his name. Alongside LUCHA’s Cervera, Chapman played a significant role in unseating former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Prior to Poder, Chapman was the executive director of the Maricopa County Democratic Party. Last year, Chapman sued the city of Phoenix for not producing records of elected officials’ communications with the Phoenix Police Department union.

Poder is the 501(c)(3) sister organization to its 501(c)(4), AZ Poder. Per the latest tax returns, the two organizations share identical leadership: executive director Viridiana (Viri) Hernandez and board members Nichole Cassidy (Chispa Arizona’s director of development; formerly: senior director of development for Women’s March, deputy director for Equality Arizona, director of development for Mijente, director of philanthropy for ACLU), Maher Osman (board member of CAIR Arizona, development coordinator for Instituto), Stephanie Cordel, and Zarinah Tavares.

Last November following Trump’s election, Hernandez, who came into the U.S. illegally, pushed the Phoenix City Council to refuse to assist deportations carried out by the Trump administration. Hernandez said the council needed to deprioritize immigration calls the way it has deprioritized abortion calls.

Since President Trump took office, AZ Poder organized protests at the Capitol against immigration enforcement efforts. They have also held workshops coaching illegal immigrants on ways to avoid immigration enforcement authorities.

Their top donors include the Alliance for Youth Organizing ($780k), Borealis Philanthropy ($700k), Marguerite Casey Foundation ($780k), and the Satterberg Foundation ($470k).

Puente Human Rights Movement, or Puente Arizona (Puente) – Phoenix. Reported revenue for 2023: nearly $900,000

Jovana Renteria (currently a director of the Maricopa County Bar Association’s division board) and Carlos Garcia (formerly the vice mayor of the city of Phoenix and co-founder of One Arizona) founded the nonprofit in 2007. Both left the organization in 2021.

Puente is helping illegal aliens evade immigration enforcement and other law enforcement officials assisting in deportation efforts.

Days into Trump taking office, Puente launched a hotline to warn illegal aliens of immigrant agent whereabouts and activity. The nonprofit sends out messages to illegal aliens so they may evade capture. Puente also arranged a network of scouts, “Migra Watch,” and the organization announced its plan to hold training sessions for those who sign up.

The nonprofit also scrubbed their website in preparation for their efforts to resist immigration enforcement. Their homepage currently reads, “We Are Cooking Something New.”

Puente’s executive director, Natally Cruz (Ireta), came to the U.S. illegally. In February, Cruz told NPR that she and the rest of Puente’s team are hands-on with the immigration authority hotline. Cruz has been leading workshops advising illegal immigrants on avoiding immigration authorities and taking advantage of constitutional rights.

“Instead of texting your comadre, or spreading the word, or putting a picture on social media, text it to us and we’ll make sure we’ll go out there and verify that information,” said Cruz.

Among Puente’s top donors over the past decade were Neo Philanthropy (over $1 million), the Arizona Community Foundation ($400k), Borealis Philanthropy ($300,000), and the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program ($300k).

Puente is the local hub of the national social justice organization also based in Phoenix: Mijente. Puente acts as a fiscal sponsor for the Mijene Support Committee, a digital and grassroots hub founded in 2015. Mijente has given at least $265,000 to Puente in reported pass-through grants in recent years.

Mijente is currently organizing groups for “deportation defense” to “organize against ICE raids” through its Community Defense Brigada, part of its Equipo Hormiguero program.

At the helm of Mijente are Marisa Franco, its co-founder, executive director, and president; Rafael Navar, its co-founder and treasurer; and Priscilla Gonzalez, secretary and campaign director. 

Navar also founded Division Del Norte, a California activist group, and formerly served as the California state director for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, and several directorships for the major labor unions AFL-CIO and SEIU.

Last December, Mijente and 61 other organizations launched an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the Biden administration to scale back ICE’s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP), the immigration agency’s supervision program, to hinder the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.

One of Mijente’s top donors is the Open Society Foundations (OSF or “Open Society Institute”), the nonprofit launched by leftist billionaire and dark money financier George Soros. OSF gave Mijente over $2.5 million from 2019 to 2022, along with $25,000 to Puente.

The Protests Will Go On

Mass protests against the Trump administration’s immigration policies and deportation efforts may not die down but could take different shapes in the coming months. Activists shifted their focus recently to protesting the Arizona legislature’s bills complementing federal immigration policies like SB1164: the Arizona Immigration, Cooperation, and Enforcement Act (Arizona ICE Act). This bill proposes restrictions on local governmental resistance to federal immigration authorities by adopting or passing anything prohibiting or restricting cooperation. It also requires law enforcement agencies to comply with federal immigrant detainers.

The Senate’s committee hearing on SB1164 drew a similar crowd of protesters as those who appeared in preceding weeks protesting the Trump administration. LUCHA organized that protest; an organizer, Gina Mendez, said LUCHA plans to protest every Monday at the state capitol against immigration enforcement efforts.

“NO PEACE, NO JUSTICE,” chanted the activists at one of the latest protests. “THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE.”

AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.

Ninth Circuit Court Rules Against Arizona’s Proof Of Citizenship Voter Laws

Ninth Circuit Court Rules Against Arizona’s Proof Of Citizenship Voter Laws

by | Mar 1, 2025 | News

By Staff Reporter |

Earlier this week, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled against two Arizona laws requiring proof of citizenship to vote: HB 2243 and HB 2492.

HB2243 was passed in 2022 and signed by then-Governor Ducey to authorize birthplace disclosure and county recorders to authenticate a voter’s citizenship based on “reason to believe” the voter may not be a citizen.

HB2492 was also passed in 2022 and signed by then-Governor Ducey to enhance the legal guardrails of the Arizona voter registration process, ensuring that proof of citizenship is required to ensure only U.S. citizens are voting in our elections.

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) called the ruling “outrageous and unprecedented” in a press release.

Scot Mussi, AFEC President, accused the Ninth Circuit Court of partisanship. Mussi expressed hope that the Supreme Court would take on the case and overrule the circuit court. 

“It’s clear this circuit court panel is motivated by radical ideology, and not the impartial judgment of the law,” said Mussi. “After months of legal wrangling over this law, and clear guidance from the nation’s high court, the Ninth Circuit still wrongly believes that it is the final arbiter of the U.S. Constitution and our laws. This ruling will continue to sow doubt into our system of government and will cost much more in taxpayer dollars thanks to the emergency appeal that will be again filed at the U.S. Supreme Court.”

HB 2492 was authored by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club and passed by the Arizona Legislature in 2022 to stop non-U.S. citizens from registering to vote and casting ballots in our state. Previously, a panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit allowed Arizona officials to reject state voter registration forms without proof of citizenship, which was part of the intent and purpose of the law in question. Yet, another panel on the same appeals court inexplicably overturned this order, vacating enforcement of the law concerning state voter registration forms, leading to an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court quickly overruled the Ninth Circuit’s order, allowing the provision on proof of citizenship for state voters to go into effect. This was the last court action in this case until the latest surprising decision by the Ninth Circuit.

Those involved in the lawsuit included pro-illegal immigrant activist organizations Poder Latinx and Chicanos Por La Causa.

In a press release announcing their victory, Poder Latinx executive director Yadira Sanchez claimed HB2492 amounted to voter suppression and enabled racial discrimination. 

“Arizona’s ‘reason to believe’ policy was a clear attempt to suppress naturalized citizens by subjecting them to discriminatory scrutiny. This ruling affirms that no voter should be treated as less American based on where they were born,” said Sanchez. “While this is a step toward a fairer electoral system, voter suppression tactics continue to evolve, targeting communities of color and immigrants. Poder Latinx remains committed to our mission to ensure that every eligible voter has the opportunity to make their voice heard and fully participate in our democracy, and to fight any effort to silence our communities.”

Joseph Garcia, vice president at Chicanos Por La Causa, expressed a general opposition to restrictions on voting. 

“This is a victory for the voters,” said Garcia. “We must make voting more accessible, not arbitrarily more difficult. It’s simple: Everyone who is eligible to register to vote should be allowed to register and vote.”

AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.

Maricopa County To Give $5 Million For Refugee Welfare

Maricopa County To Give $5 Million For Refugee Welfare

by | May 10, 2023 | News

By Corinne Murdock |

Maricopa County began to give $5 million to serve refugees, starting May 1. 

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (BOS) approved the $5 million appropriated from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to go to nonprofits serving refugees.

The nonprofits serve as part of the Maricopa County Relocation Assistance Program, a welfare program to bolster refugee and refugee family economic and social self-sufficiency.

In a press release, Supervisor Steve Gallardo said that the county was fortunate enough to subsidize this welfare program for refugees.

“Maricopa County is fortunate to have many nonprofits that help refugees from other countries find housing, medical care, and cross language barriers so they can integrate and become an asset,” state Gallardo.

The greatest bulk of the funding went to Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) with nearly $1.88 million to serve 40 families. That metes out to nearly $47,000 per family. Their program provides the widest array of services: outreach, intake, transitional housing, legal services, and stabilization support.

As AZ Free News has reported previously, CPLC’s subsidiary is facing federal investigation for pandemic loan fraud. CPLC’s President and CEO, David Adame, served on Gov. Katie Hobbs’ transition team. 

It’s interesting that Gallardo decided to speak on this latest round of refugee welfare, since he also served on Hobbs’ transition team with Adame and, later, was Hobbs’ pick for Democratic Party Chair.

Of note, the federal webpage outlining the investigation into CPLC’s subsidiary, Prestamos, for pandemic loan fraud disappeared in late February. Archives of the report were available through February 24, but disappeared by February 27. 

Also earlier this year, several CPLC leaders were identified as part of the liberal think tank that helped provide the cover-up for Hunter Biden’s laptop.

The Area Agency on Aging will receive over $125,400 to assist 100 elder refugees with pre-literacy and citizenship classes, as well as financial assistance for citizen application fees. 

Friendly House received nearly $345,000 to provide adult education, emergency report, and immigration services to 150 refugees.

The International Rescue Committee received over $1.6 million. Of that funding, over $675,500 will provide case management services to 100 refugees, as well as training those community providers in “culturally appropriate techniques” to provide “culturally appropriate services” to crime victims. The remainder, over $957,400, will give legal services for refugees.

Lutheran Social Services will receive $600,000 to provide case management, medical services, and other support to “the most vulnerable refugees.” The press release named families, single parents, and women under this category.

Finally, the Somali American United Council of America will receive $312,000 to give refugees job placement services and “women’s empowerment.” The funding will also support nutrition, health, citizenship, digital literacy, and cultural adaptation classes.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Katie Hobbs Transition Team Includes Nonprofit Under Loan Fraud Investigation

Katie Hobbs Transition Team Includes Nonprofit Under Loan Fraud Investigation

by | Dec 18, 2022 | News

By Corinne Murdock |

Governor-elect Katie Hobbs’ transition team includes the leader of a nonprofit under investigation for pandemic loan fraud. 

Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) President, CEO, and lobbyist David Adame was named to Hobbs’ transition team. 

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is investigating CPLC for fraudulent pandemic loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The Democrat-led Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis issued a report at the beginning of this month revealing that CPLC’s nonprofit lending subsidiary, Prestamos, received approximately $7.7 billion in loans. That made Prestamos the third-ranked lender for PPP last year, after JP Morgan Chase Bank and Bank of America. 

“As of late December 2019, Prestamons had provided ‘more than $50 million in loans supporting more than 400 businesses’ since its formal inception in 2000,” stated the subcommittee report. “In other words, in the two decades prior to the pandemic, Prestamos likely issued less than one percent of the funds that it issued in 2021 as part of the PPP.”

The subcommittee recommended the Department of Justice (DOJ) to act on their findings. 

In a statement, Prestamos said that their compliance program resulted in the denials of 57 percent of PPP applications. 

“Prestamos supports any effort to identify and correct fraud and to enhance controls, and we have been working with the SBA to strengthen the role of non-profit, community-based lenders in reaching those in need,” stated the lender.

Hobbs named her transition team about a week before the SBA report dropped.

CPLC’s website has a portal for its “Boards,” which currently houses a broken link. However, archived versions of the portal link include the word “Prestamos” in the URL.

In 2020, Adame served on Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-AZ) transition team. Adame is also a board member of the Arizona-Mexico Commission appointed by outgoing Governor Doug Ducey, a member of the Dean’s Council at Arizona State University (ASU) W.P. Carey School of Business, and a board member of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC).

The GPEC President and CEO, Chris Camacho, has worked closely with CPLC and was also named to Hobbs’ transition team. 

The co-chair of GPEC’s International Leadership Council, Sharon Harper, recently issued a $1.5 million grant to CPLC through her trustee role for the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. Harper also named Adame to a Creighton University board. 

Harper, the president, CEO, and co-founder of Plaza Companies, also sits on the boards of the McCain Institute and BioAccel, and serves as a vice chair for the Arizona Community Foundation. 

A number of Hobbs’ other transition team members also have ties to CPLC.

Mary Rose Wilcox, former Phoenix City Council member and defeated 2014 congressional candidate, also has ties to CPLC and its loans operations: in 2009, the former Maricopa County Supervisor faced 36 felony counts for failing to disclose her CPLC loans and exercising a conflict of interest when voting on funding related to CPLC. The charges were dropped, ultimately, and Wilcox received about $1 million in settlement. 

Mesa Mayor John Giles has worked closely with CPLC over the years. Most recently, the mayor helped establish a new affordable housing development, “Nuevas Vistas.” Giles also supported CPLC’s efforts to pass Proposition 308, granting in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants so long as they graduated from an Arizona high school. Arizona voters approved the measure last month. Leftist dark money heavily backed the proposition. 

Bob Worsley, former state senator, and John Graham, chairman & CEO of Sunbelt Holdings, also signed onto Prop 308. 

Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo has also partnered with CPLC in the past. Marlene Galan-Woods, a former Fox News and CBS News anchor, serves on the team and is the wife of Grant Woods: a prominent attorney awarded by CPLC for his work and campaign co-chairman for both former Governor Jan Brewer and Sen. John McCain.

CPLC’s political arm, CPLC Action Fund, endorsed Hobbs in October through its initiative “Latino Loud” or “Sí Se Vota.”

Adame then appeared in one of Hobbs’ TV campaigns released in late October.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Leftist Dark Money Successfully Influenced Arizona Voters on Propositions

Leftist Dark Money Successfully Influenced Arizona Voters on Propositions

by | Nov 13, 2022 | News

By Corinne Murdock |

The left’s network of dark money appears to have successfully influenced voters in passing Propositions 209 and 308.

Prop 209, the Predatory Debt Collection Act, was passed by voters overwhelmingly, 72 to 28 percent. It’s a California-union backed effort to eradicate all debt collection in the state; the political action committee (PAC) driving support for the measure received the vast majority of its $12.7 million from the California union, Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers (SEIU-UHW). They’re rooted in the leftist infrastructure of dark money, since they don’t disclose the source of their millions in funding.

Marketing for Prop 209 promised a protection against medical debt collection. However, the measure goes much further by encompassing all other debts. The measure essentially makes all debt collection futile. 

Prop 308, which would award in-state college tuition rates to Dreamers, was passed narrowly, 51 to 49 percent. According to the campaign finance data, the proposition was backed by at least $1.2 million in out-of-state dark money, such as NextGen, SEIU-UHW, United We Dream, and American Business Immigration Coalition Action.

Another $1 million came from Chicanos Por La Causa, a Phoenix-based organization, though their tax returns indicate that neither their organization or their political action arm raise anywhere near that amount in revenue respectively. 

Those millions together make up the vast majority of the $2.6 million raised, $1.8 million spent to back the measure.

In-state tuition rates for Dreamers will add onto the increasing cost burden faced by Arizona’s public schools. As AZ Free News reported in September, illegal immigrant children cost Arizona public schools over $748 million in 2020. 

The influence of leftist dark money will likely only grow in strength in the coming years, thanks to the success of another proposition.

Prop 211, the Voters’ Right to Know Act, was also passed by voters overwhelmingly, 72 to 27 percent. It proposes to remedy the influence of dark money in the state. However, it establishes neat carveouts ensuring leftist dark money isn’t affected: corporate media, Big Tech, labor unions, and “nonpartisan” PACs.

The main financier of the measure, David Tedesco, is the founder and CEO of the Phoenix-based venture capitalist firm, Outlier.

Tedesco donates heavily to both Democrats and Republicans according to state and FEC campaign finance records. He spent $211,600 backing Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s failed Senate campaign. He’s given at least $116,400 to Democrats for this election: $100,000 to the Arizona Democratic Party, over $5,000 to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs, over $5,000 to Congressman Greg Stanton (D-AZ-09), and over $5,000 to failed Democratic candidate Aaron Lieberman. 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.