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.
Anti-ICE protesters shut down traffic in Phoenix, AZ while waving foreign flags and signs saying we’re on stolen land.
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.
Hundreds of student protestors at ASU stood up to fascists gathered to promote ethnic cleansing and report undocumented students. They protected their undocumented classmates by creating an impromptu march that overwhelmed the MAGA racists. #3E#USprotests#Arizona#ICEpic.twitter.com/gVQeGpvOwh
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.
Back in December 2024, we joined @JustFuturesLaw and 60+ organizations to call on Secretary Mayorkas to immediately scale back ISAP before Trump could weaponize it for mass arrests & deportations. And now there’s indications of those concerns becoming reality.
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.
Amid protests in the chamber, Arizona Senate Republicans passed a controversial bill to give state voters an opportunity in the November General Election to take border security into their own hands.
On Wednesday, Arizona Senate Republicans reformed the lines around an amended HCR 2060 after a one-week delay, approving the measure after a spirited debate on the floor of the chamber. The legislators weren’t the only individuals making their presence known though, as some onlookers from the gallery interrupted the legislative process to chant “Stop the Hate.”
On the floor, Senate Republicans rounded up all 16 votes to give a green light to the border-related measure. Thirteen Democrats voted against it, while one member did not vote.
🚨FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Senate Republicans Pass Secure the Border Act, Heads to House for Final Vote
“The Governor’s reckless disregard for the safety and well-being of our citizens has left us no other option than to send the Secure the Border Act to the ballot to empower Arizonans to take matters into their own hands,” said Senate President Warren Petersen.
According to Arizona Senate Republicans, the measure “would provide local, county, or state law enforcement the authority to arrest individuals who are non-U.S. citizens entering Arizona from Mexico outside of a lawful port of entry.” These enhanced tools for local law enforcement to protect their communities would go into effect only if the federal courts allow a similar policy (SB 4) in the State of Texas and if Arizona voters approve this measure in November. There are additional provisions in HCR 2060 that are not tied to the legal wrangling over SB 4.
The Arizona Senate Democrats’ Caucus “X” account expressed the sentiments of its members, writing, “Today has shown once again that the Republican majority at the legislature has failed Arizona. They rushed through another ballot referral, HCR 2060, that could easily lead to racial profiling across this state, it will give law enforcement unlimited state immunity, and cost taxpayer money to fight in court.”
Today has shown once again that the Republican majority at the legislature has failed Arizona.
They rushed through another ballot referral, #HCR2060, that could easily lead to racial profiling across this state, it will give law enforcement unlimited state immunity, and cost… pic.twitter.com/papxoWc4m1
— Arizona Senate Democrats (@AZSenateDems) May 23, 2024
Arizona Republicans were again clear about the urgent need for state officials to act on the border to protect innocent families. In the press release announcing the result of the vote on HCR 2060, Republicans shared information about the skyrocketing number of suspected terrorists entering the United States over the past four years – “more than 2500%” or 367 individuals.
The Senate Republicans’ “X” account noted that Democrats had voted against “protecting our citizens from border related crimes, providing law enforcement with tools to keep our communities safe, preventing known terrorists from entering Arizona, tougher punishments for criminals trafficking deadly fentanyl across the border, and preventing those who enter Arizona illegally from benefiting from your hard-earned taxpayer dollars and public resources meant for law-abiding citizens.”
Today, all Arizona State Senate Democrats voted NO on:
❌Protecting our citizens from border related crimes ❌Providing law enforcement with tools to keep our communities safe ❌Preventing known terrorists from entering Arizona ❌Tougher punishments for criminals trafficking… pic.twitter.com/9v5vhfed5U
The efforts from Arizona legislators to send this referral to state voters comes more than two months after Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed SB 1231, the Arizona Border Invasion Act, which would have “ma[de] it unlawful for a person who is an alien (unlawful immigrant) to enter Arizona from a foreign nation at any location other than a lawful port of entry and outline[d] penalties for violations of illegally entering Arizona and provide[d] immunity from civil liability and indemnification for state and local government officials, employees and contractors who enforce this prohibition” – according to the purpose from the state Senate.
In her veto letter to Senate President Warren Petersen, Hobbs said, “This bill does not secure our border, will be harmful for communities and businesses in our state, and burdensome for law enforcement personnel and the state judicial system. Further, this bill presents significant constitutional concerns and would be certain to mire the State in costly and protracted litigation.”
The Democrat governor has helped to lead the opposition against this measure since its inception a few weeks ago.
Senator Janae Shamp, the sponsor of SB 1231, pushed back on the governor’s opposition, saying, “The people of Arizona have had enough with Democrats turning a blind eye to the border invasion. The chaos Governor Hobbs and Democrat lawmakers are perpetuating from Biden’s open border fiasco needs to stop, and I’m confident it will, when voters make their voices heard in November.”
To ensure that all sixteen Republicans stayed together on final passage of HCR 2060, an amendment was introduced and passed on the Senate floor ahead of the vote to send the measure to the Arizona House. The amendment, in part, “specifie[d] that being a DACA recipient is not an affirmative defense to illegal entry if the program is cancelled or a federal court has issued a final order determining that the program is unlawful, and any appeals of the final order have been exhausted.”
Before the vote on the amended version, Senate Democrats attempted to preempt the Republicans’ efforts to clarify certain provisions of the measure. The Caucus’ “X” account stated that HCR 2060’s “current form is an unfunded mandate that will give near-unlimited immunity for ANY law enforcement officer across the state to arrest someone they suspect has entered the country illegally.”
🚨Even if this language is amended out…HCR2060 is too extreme for Arizona. #azleg
Its current form is an unfunded mandate that will give near-unlimited immunity for ANY law enforcement officer across the state to arrest someone they suspect has entered the country illegally.… pic.twitter.com/TfhuTF9wBh
— Arizona Senate Democrats (@AZSenateDems) May 22, 2024
HCR 2060 now heads to the Arizona House of Representatives, where it is expected to receive expedited consideration from Speaker Ben Toma, who is the sponsor of its original form.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
The District of Columbia attorney general is investigating Arabella Advisors, the dark money giant operating a national funding network for leftist nonprofits, including in Arizona.
The Washington Free Beacon discovered that the DC attorney general issued subpoenas last month to Arabella Advisors, as well as its largest clients, concerning investigative reporting about tax law aversion and illegal profiteering.
Arabella Advisors manages five nonprofits that funnel dark money funds into other leftist nonprofits and initiatives: New Venture Fund, Sixteen Thirty Fund, Hopewell Fund, Windward Fund, and the North Fund. Their influence is expansive, both nationally and in Arizona.
The five nonprofits all funded One Arizona, a coalition of leftist nonprofits, who in turn funded Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), Chispa AZ, Arizona Advocacy Network, ProgressNow AZ, and Mi Familia Vota. Those nonprofits used that funding to advance their causes in Arizona’s elections.
An outgrowth of the New Venture Fund’s front initiative, We Mean Business Coalition, collaborated with the Carbon Disclosure Project and World Resources Institute to create the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Last November, the Biden administration proposed granting decision-making power on defense contracts to SBTi. In February a key initiative of SBTi, the Advanced and Indirect Mitigation (AIM) Platform, launched at GreenBiz 23 in Scottsdale.
Another New Venture Fund initiative, Campus Vote Project, has a presence across 41 states. In Arizona, the initiative coordinates with Arizona State University, Mesa Community College, South Mountain Community College, Northern Arizona University, Eastern Arizona College, Cochise College, Chandler-Gilbert Community College, and Phoenix College to increase voter turnout among college students.
Prior to the 2020 election, only Mesa Community College and South Mountain Community College were recognized by the dark money-originating initiative.
Also concerning higher education, the New Venture Fund created a scholarship program fund that partnered with Northern Arizona University (NAU) last year to pay illegal immigrant students’ tuition.
The Sixteen Thirty Fund was a major funder to the nonprofit Way to Win, which spent $110 million in key states, including in Arizona, to ensure Democratic victories in 2020. Way to Win served as the sponsor to Progress Arizona (formerly ProgressNow Arizona), who was led by Gov. Katie Hobbs’ ousted spokeswoman, Josselyn Berry, until at least 2021.
Those listed as running Progress Arizona, according to their latest available tax return (2021), were:
Emily Kirkland (executive director): Arizona Education Association communications director; former senior political strategist for the Colibri Collective; former director of Organizing for 350 Massachusetts and communications coordinator for Better Future Project
Ariel Reyes (director): Instituto political director; former Arizona Wins political director; former lobbyist for the Torres Consulting and Law Group
Elsa O’Callaghan (director): consultant with Prickly Pear Consulting; executive director of Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee; former staffer for California Rep. Karen Bass (D); and former Planned Parenthood Los Angeles staffer
Belen Sisa (director): unemployed DACA recipient; former Democracy Initiative campaign manager; former communications staffer for Democratic congressional candidates Victor Reyes (New Mexico) and Mike Siegal (Texas), independent presidential candidate Bernie Sanders; and former staffer for Arizona Wins and Mi Familia Vota
Alexa-Rio Osaki (director): director of Arizona Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AZ AANHPI) Advocates; Arizona Coalition for Change communications director
Josselyn Berry (chairman)
The Hopewell Fund and Sixteen Thirty Fund have issued much of the funding for Opportunity Arizona. Until 2021, one of the individuals behind that organization was Dacey Montoya: a principal player in many of the dark money groups, Democratic candidates, and progressive initiatives in Arizona.
Those listed running the organization, according to their latest available tax return, were:
Ben Scheel (executive director): director of Bright Phoenix; former deputy campaign manager for Phoenix city council candidate Karlene Parks
Ed Hermes (board president): attorney; Osborn Elementary School District governing board president; vice chair of the city of Phoenix’s Vision Zero Committee; Maricopa County Superior Court judge pro tempore; and Move Osborne Forward treasurer
Josh Zaragoza (board member): political consultant involved in Phoenix City Councilwoman Yassamin Ansari’s council campaign and ongoing congressional campaign; former chief of staff to Phoenix Councilwoman Laura Pastor; and former Human Rights Campaign organizer
Monica Pimentel (board member): Arizona Latino School Board Association president; Glendale Elementary School District governing board member; Maricopa County Deferred Compensation Committee member; and former Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlan (MEChA) vice president
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Biden administration and the dark left money network are demanding access to nonparty conservative organizations’ private documents in two lawsuits against election integrity laws requiring proof of citizenship and voter roll cleanups.
In the case Mi Familia Vota v. Fontes (2:22-cv-00509) the Department of Justice (DOJ), Democratic National Committee (DNC), Arizona Democratic Party, and leftist dark money groups including: Mi Familia Vota, Living United For Change Arizona (LUCHA), and Voto Latino are challenging the election integrity bills HB2243 and HB2492. In the case Mi Familia Vota v. Fontes (2:21-cv-01423), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, League of Conservation Voters, LUCHA, Mi Familia Vota, and Arizona Coalition for Change are challenging SB1485.
Any individuals or organizations that aren’t party in a lawsuit are considered “nonparty.” Federal law allows for nonparty individuals and organizations to be brought into a case and be compelled to disclose evidence requested. In these cases challenging Arizona’s three election integrity laws, that means conservative organizations are being asked to hand over private documents, communications, legislative correspondence, lobbying strategy, and information on contributions and expenditures.
Those issued nonparty subpoenas include the Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) and the Republican Party of Arizona. No court has issued an injunction on the contested laws to date.
The Goldwater Institute is representing AFEC in their defense against the subpoenas. In a motion to quash the subpoenas, the organization argued that private opinions have no bearing on the validity of a challenged law, citing precedent set by Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee (2021), and that the subpoenas threaten the rights to free speech and privacy.
“The Supreme Court has stated time and again that individual legislators’ opinions about a statute reveal little or nothing about the law’s meaning and validity,” read the motion. “It is thus all the more true that the statements and opinions of private parties, several degrees removed from any official government action, have no bearing on the question of whether a state law is consistent with federal law.”
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, declared in a report that the budding leftist practice of filing nonparty subpoenas against conservative individuals and organizations constitutes a weaponization of federal law to intimidate and silence conservatives.
AFEC’s subpoena came from the Arizona Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander for Equity Coalition (AZ AANHPI for Equity). While that organization argues for total transparency of its ideological opponent, it is shrouded in mystery itself.
AANHPI for Equity and AZ AANHPI Advocates have independent websites, social media pages, and staff, yet the pair are presented as one entity in multiple locations (for example, on the AZ AANHPI for Equity “about us” page). Both were founded in July 2020 by Jennifer Chau, who has served as the director for AZ AANHPI for Equity, an unspecified nonprofit, and executive director for AZ AANHPI Advocates, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, since their inception according to her LinkedIn page.
According to the IRS, AZ AANHPI Advocates had its federal tax exempt status automatically revoked in mid-May for not filing any tax forms in the entire three years of its existence (EIN:85-2344934). The IRS issued its revocation posting earlier this month. No IRS records exist for AZ AANHPI for Equity.
Yet, both organizations’ websites continue to solicit donations and market themselves as nonprofits. The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) awarded AZ AANHPI Advocates good standing for its status as a nonprofit in mid-July as well. No ACC records exist for AZ AANHPI for Equity.
On its website, AZ AANHPI Advocates discloses that it receives funding from top leftist dark money organizations The Future We Need and Arizona Wins!. The listed address for The Future We Need is the same address for the Arizona Education Association and Progress Now Arizona (now Progress Arizona); yet, no such organization as “The Future We Need” exists per ACC, the IRS, the Federal Election Commission (FEC), or the secretary of state’s campaign finance databases. There does exist a similarly-named dark left political action committee (PAC) entity, “The Future We Want.”
In their entire three years of advocacy and fundraising, only AZ AANHPI Advocates had any campaign finance records filed within the state: just one receipt of $10,000 from Invest in Arizona in August 2021, for “signature gathering.” According to the secretary of state’s campaign finance database, AZ AANHPI has never filed any reports on their contributions or expenditures.
Invest in Arizona and Arizona Wins both had one top Democratic dark money handler in common: Dacey Montoya. (Gov. Katie Hobbs’ controversial former press secretary, Josselyn Berry, worked as the program manager for Arizona Wins from 2015 to 2016 and executive director for ProgressNow from 2016 to 2019; Hobbs’ gubernatorial campaign used the same mailing address as both organizations; and Montoya’s consulting firm was involved in both Hobbs’ secretary of state and gubernatorial campaigns). Montoya is now the treasurer for the organization behind the ballot initiative to legalize any and all abortion up to birth, Arizona for Abortion Access.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Benjamin Franklin once famously said, “[I]n this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes” — true, unless you’re a leftist political nonprofit. For many of them, taxation isn’t certain, even if they run afoul of tax-exempt status requirements.
Funding sources, expenditure recipients, and even those operating these nonprofits may remain secretive under the current state of lax federal enforcement. These tax-free and opacity perks are possible through two interrelated federal tax classifications: 501(c)(3), or “C3,” and 501(c)(4), or “C4.” There are over 27,000 C3s and just over 1,200C4s registered in Arizona. The big difference between the two classifications is that donations to IRS-recognized C3 organizations are deductible under our income tax code. And the Left has learned how to exploit this tax status for their political benefit.
In Arizona, many liberal C3 and C4 nonprofits work in tandem, each executing symbiotic duties while coordinating their activities and sharing data and resources. Sometimes, these C3 and C4 duos are “sister” organizations — meaning, they’re affiliated rather than independent entities allied over common goals.
These arrangements are legal so long as clear distinctions are made between charitable and non-charitable activities. Over the last several months, AZ Free News has conducted an extensive review of over a dozen different liberal nonprofits in the state, examining their websites, tax documents, and social media accounts. Our research has found that many of these organizations have blurred the lines on their political activities via various C3 and C4 groups. In some cases, there appeared to be no distinction at all, with some C3 organizations providing completely different accounts of their tax-deductible program activities to the IRS compared to what they shared publicly.
How the IRS Intended for C3 and C4 Organizations to Operate
C3s have two major qualifiers: they’re supposed to be nonpartisan and apolitical—meaning, they can’t expend funds or use resources to coordinate with political activity being conducted by C4s.
C3s must organize and operate exclusively for purposes that are one or more of the following: charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals.
The IRS defines “charitable” as relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erecting or maintaining public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening the burdens of government; lessening neighborhood tensions; eliminating prejudice and discrimination; defending human and civil rights; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.
The IRS expressly prohibits C3s from being an “action organization”: those engaging in political or legislative activities. Political activities include the direct or indirect participation or intervention in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any political candidate. The IRS also prohibits political campaign fund contributions or public statements of positions, either verbal or written, on behalf of the organization in favor of or opposing any candidate.
The IRS does condone voter education activities, such as get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts like voter registration. However, any evidence of political bias is forbidden: favoritism of a candidate, opposing a candidate in any way, or “hav[ing] the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates.” Lobbying is also largely forbidden.
Comparatively, the IRS classifies C4 organizations into one of two categories: social welfare organizations or local association of employees. The former concerns civic leagues or organizations organized exclusively for social welfare promotion, not profit. The IRS clarifies that social welfare promotion doesn’t include direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate. Those that do must not render that activity as their primary activity, and risk being subjected to taxation. The latter concerns membership-based organizations with net earnings devoted exclusively to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes.
How Leftist C3 and C4s Operate in Arizona
Our review of leftist C3s in Arizona appears to indicate that their activities are overtly partisan and political. They coordinate with politically active C4s to achieve shared, partisan goals, and receive political action committee (PAC) funding while doing so. Often, these leftist C4s have either direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to one or more candidates.
Progressive activists leading these C3s have effectively mastered the art of exploiting the IRS code for partisan advantage, helping to maximize liberal donor partisan impact with their dollars while still hiding their identity. The C3s will claim that their allowable vote (GOTV) efforts, such as voter registration, are nonpartisan. They will claim they’re reaching out to certain, “marginalized” demographic groups; however, these groups turn out to be known Democratic voter bases.
One example of this is Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, the C3 sister organization of Mi Familia Vota, the C4. The former admitted on their 2020 tax filing to coordinating political activity with the latter. The executive director of Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, Hector Sanchez Barba, has publicly advocated for the losses of Republican candidates.
“We will keep working to keep extremism, Trump and MAGA out of our democracy,” wrote Sanchez Barba. “@MiFamiliaVota.”
In response to a Politico article documenting the GOP’s underperformance in last year’s midterm elections, Sanchez Barba thanked Latino voters for having Democrats win.
Meanwhile, their partner C4s pay for media and partisan activities like ad campaigns for candidates. It’s uncertain whether the funding for these activities comes from their C3 partners since those grant or cost-sharing agreements aren’t public. The IRS requires that C3 funds given to C4s be restricted to charitable uses — not electioneering activity.
The C3-C4 duo targets certain voter demographics to achieve a partisan outcome. They contact Democrat-leaning voters to get their vote cast, convince newly registered voters to vote Democratic through mailers and ads supportive of Democratic candidates and causes, and publicly support certain partisan ballot initiatives.
The C3-C4 sister organizations thinly veil their efforts that a division exists between them. For example, Mi Familia Vota spent tens of thousands on TV advertising that advocated for the election of Reginald Bolding ahead of last year’s primary. However, they listed a staffer for their C3 sister organization, Mi Familia Vota Education, as the point-of-contact on that campaign filing.
As AZ Free News reported in Part One of this series, Mi Familia Vota receives funding from One Arizona, a C3, which in turn receives its funding from the Tides Foundation, George Soros’ Open Societies Foundation, and several different organizations under Arabella Advisors.
.@RealMarkFinchem, a MAGAmigo, lies, & says that the 2020 election was fraudulent. If elected, he would use his position to help Trump. We are fighting for free and clear elections this cycle. Our democracy is at stake in Arizona, we must fight back. We say #BastaFinchempic.twitter.com/WPVSjflt2L
Ahead of the midterm election last June, One Arizona advertised a job opening for an independent expenditure (IE) campaign manager. The position appears to be one for a political staffer, which would constitute prohibited electioneering.
While not a complete pitcure, the above graphic illustrates some of the connections in the left’s secretive infrastructure and how they relate to Arizona elections.
Leftist C3s also hire for both the C3 and C4, resulting in shared jobs and salaries. One Arizona (C3) and Arizona Wins (C4) co-hired staff including a field director, field program coordinator, and finance and compliance director. That shared salary should not be used for political work. One recent example of this was a job listing by Arizona Coalition for Change (C3) and Our Voice Our Vote (C4) for a data manager that would work within the duo’s political and grassroots lobbying arms.
These blurred lines surrounding co-hires don’t just apply to staff. Arizona Center for Empowerment (ACE, a C3) and LUCHA (C4) share an executive director, Alejandra (Alex) Gomez, as well as staffers. This relationship is further complicated by the fact that ACE listed LUCHA as its “Employer of Record” on their latest tax return. Under Gomez, both organizations have expressed their partisanship.
Last year, LUCHA launched an initiative to get Democratic candidates elected: “LUCHA Blue.” The nonprofit pledged to prioritize certain races and voter bases in its GOTV efforts. On its hiring page for the initiative, LUCHA disclosed that it would staff between 70 and 105 people.
“We believe that not all candidates align with the mission of LUCHA, and this is why we created a campaign not only to flip Arizona Blue — but LUCHA Blue!” stated LUCHA. “Overall, the goal of the campaign is to win these targeted races, increase Latin/Hispanic voter turnout, and educate voters on the voting process.” (emphasis added)
In one post following Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) winning re-election last November, LUCHA appeared to affirm that both it and ACE assisted in organizational efforts to assure Kelly’s victory.
Wealthy dark money donors have a greater financial incentive to back C3s. 75 percent of their donations can go to politics and qualify as tax deductible — effectively maximizing their gift-giving while affording them a tax break. C4 donations aren’t tax deductible.
The IRS has long been aware of the disparity between the lawful intent for C3 and C4 entities, and the current reality of C3-C4 relationships. As ProPublica revealed in 2019, the IRS essentially gave up on holding nonprofits accountable.
The following are some of Arizona’s liberal C3-C4 nonprofit duos: One Arizona and Arizona Wins, Arizona Center for Empowerment and Living United for Change in Arizona, Mi Familia Vota Education Fund and Mi Familia Vota Victory, Chispa AZ/League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and League of Conservation Voters, Arizona Coalition for Change and Our Voice Our Vote, Instituto Lab and Instituto Power, Rural Arizona Engagement and Rural Arizona Action, and Voto Latino Foundation and Voto Latino.
The relationships between these nonprofits and the awareness of their straining tax law will be further explained in the next installment of this series.
This is Part Two in a series on the Left’s secret infrastructure to turn Arizona blue. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to be notified of Part Three in the series.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
