Narrative Work Matters Now More Than Ever For Immigrant Communities
📷 credit: National Parks Gallery
In today’s political landscape, immigration isn’t just a matter of policy; it’s a matter of narrative. Who gets framed as a threat? Who gets left out of the story altogether? And who gets to decide?
The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia offers a chilling example. A longtime Maryland resident, Kilmar was deported this month despite a Supreme Court ruling ordering his return. He was labeled a gang member without formal charges, detained in a Salvadoran mega-prison, and turned into a political talking point. A single tweet from the administration dismissed his humanity and mocked the court’s decision: “He’s not coming back.”
This is what happens when narrative overrides due process. When a person becomes a symbol, justice is treated like a suggestion.
Narratives are not just stories. They’re tools that are crafted, deployed, and weaponized to shape public opinion and justify state violence. Nowhere is this clearer than in the national conversation about immigration.
Across the country, raids are staged for social media. Cabinet members are cosplaying in tactical gear for cable news. Deportations are framed as reality TV content, with families ripped apart to send a political message.
In an age where policy is shaped as much by public perception as by facts, the narratives we share and fund carry immense power. Anti-immigrant sentiment is sharply on the rise. In today’s political climate, immigration enforcement is packaged as entertainment, and communities are criminalized for existing. For those of us committed to justice in immigration, this moment demands more than just a defense against harmful policies. It calls for reshaping the cultural and political terrain we have shaped.
If we want to protect immigrant communities, not just from policy, but from public erasure, philanthropy must get serious about narrative change.
Why Funding Narrative Change Is Essential
Narratives shape who is seen as deserving of protection, dignity, and belonging. For decades, immigrants in the U.S. have been confined to narrow roles: As “good workers,” “criminals,” or “burdens.” Flattening millions of complex lives from hundreds of countries into palatable, uniform soundbites.
We have seen how devastating the flattening of stories can be. Like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Andry Hernandez Romero, a Venezuelan asylum seeker and artist, was deported to a Salvadoran mega-prison after being accused of gang affiliation based on tattoos and social media posts. In both cases, due process was bypassed, and narrative became the rationale.
The strategy of cruelty isn’t accidental. As Silky Shah argues in Unbuild Walls, the dehumanization of immigrants is deeply intertwined with the broader expansion of incarceration systems.
When the public is conditioned to see immigrant families as threats or lawbreakers, it becomes easier to justify draconian policies: the rollback of Temporary Protected Status, the arrest and deportation of legal residents, and even the attempted revocation of birthright citizenship.
These stories are not anomalies. They are warnings. Narratives scaffold policy; by changing the story, you begin to change what is possible.
How Funders Can Support Narrative Change
Resource Immigrant-Led Storytelling
Many groups like Define American and Opportunity Agenda are already disrupting dominant narratives, lifting up the lived realities of immigrants in ways that resonate across cultural and political divides. Investing in these efforts amplifies stories that counter fear with truth.
Fund Local Media Ecosystems
Narrative change doesn’t just happen in major media outlets. It happens in local newspapers, community radio, street art, and digital campaigns. These are the places and sources of information where anti-immigrant policies are most aggressively pushed, particularly in migrant communities. Funders can support creative, multilingual, and community-centered approaches to storytelling that foster solidarity rather than division.
Reject the “good immigrant” narrative:
Too often, funding strategies reinforce the binary of the “deserving” vs. “undeserving” immigrant. Framing some immigrants as more deserving than others reinforces harmful binaries that leave entire communities behind. Funding strategies must support organizations pushing back against respectability politics and advocating for full, unconditional dignity and belonging.
Invest in Long-Term Culture Change
Narrative change is a marathon, not a media cycle. As organizations like Four Freedoms Fund have recognized, a lasting cultural shift requires a long-term commitment to frontline organizations, rapid-response infrastructure, and the artists, content creators, and strategists who can build new public consciousness.
Philanthropy must be prepared to weather the backlash and keep showing up year after year.
Philanthropy’s Role in Shifting Cultural Conditions
Immigrant communities are targeted not just by policy but by narrative. They are being erased, criminalized, and turned into a spectacle. Unless funders intervene, these stories will continue to shape the cultural and political terrain for years. They will continue to degrade institutional trust and pit neighbor against neighbor.
The current moment is a stark reminder that policy does not exist in a vacuum. It grows from the stories we tell, or fail to tell, about who belongs, who deserves care, and whose lives matter. In the face of coordinated media attacks and state violence, investing in narrative change is not ancillary to immigrant justice work; it is central to it.
Philanthropy has a responsibility to help shape the cultural conditions where justice can take root. If we want to build a future where immigrants are seen not through the lens of fear, but through the full scope of their humanity as core members of our communities and a critical part of our society, then we must invest in the storytellers, organizers, and visionaries working to shift the narrative.
When Nonprofits Are Under Attack, Security Must Be Funded
📷 credit: LumiNola
For justice-focused nonprofits, the work has never been more urgent or more dangerous.
Nonprofits focused on advancing immigrant rights, racial justice, social justice, environmental justice, and defending our democracy are under siege from an escalating wave of attacks. They’re facing politically motivated audits, legal harassment, online threats, and funding retaliation, all while key revenue streams dry up overnight.
Nonprofits saw this coming. Many have been warning about escalating threats for years, especially in preparation for the return of a hostile Trump administration. They understood that the pushback against justice work wouldn’t just come in the form of ideological opposition; it would target their safety, infrastructure, and survival.
The mission hasn’t changed, but the risks have. And yet, philanthropy has not adjusted to meet the moment.
Rather than focusing on serving their communities, nonprofits are being forced to divert precious time, staff, and already-limited budgets to defend themselves against threats they warned us about. They're fighting legal battles, responding to doxxing and harassment, and scrubbing websites of staff names for safety.
While these attacks intensify, funding isn’t increasing to match the danger. Many foundations, wary of political scrutiny, are quietly stepping back, preemptively complying with an environment that punishes justice work. Others are taking a wait-and-see approach, as if inaction itself doesn’t carry consequences.
This moment requires more than continued programmatic support. Philanthropy must fund the security that makes justice work possible. That includes legal defense, digital and physical protection, crisis response, and flexible dollars that allow organizations to adapt quickly.
Nonprofits Are Fighting Battles They Shouldn’t Have to Fight Alone
The pressure is coming from multiple directions:
Government agencies are revoking grants for political reasons, forcing organizations to scramble for funding.
Far-right groups and individuals are harassing, threatening, and doxxing nonprofit staff, forcing organizations to remove employee information from public websites.
Funders are scaling back support out of fear of backlash, leaving nonprofits most vulnerable when they need protection most.
Funders are quietly asking grantees to remove so-called "controversial" language and core aspects of their work, such as justice, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), racial equity, and anti-racism, from their websites and grant applications to avoid political backlash.
Under the advice of legal teams and peers, boards and executive directors are distancing themselves from advocacy work, even when it is central to their organizational missions.
This is not theoretical. It’s happening now, and it’s only going to escalate.
Philanthropy Must Treat Security as Essential Infrastructure
Security cannot be treated as an afterthought. How can nonprofits do their work if they’re under siege? How can staff show up for communities when they’re worried about their safety?
Nonprofits aren’t asking for radical solutions; they’re asking for basic protection to meet this moment: funding for legal defense, crisis response, security systems, and flexible grants to help them adapt. These are not bold innovations; they’re overdue necessities. What nonprofits need now is not reinvention but a reaffirmation of support.
None of these threats are new. What’s new is the scale and coordination. The calls are louder, the attacks are sharper, and the stakes are higher.
If Philanthropy truly supports justice movements, it must use its power to fund the security and stability that make them possible. Here’s how:
Make Legal Defense and Security a Priority
Provide funding for legal assistance, digital safety, physical safety, compliance support, and crisis response, not just programmatic work.
Groups like Reset Tech guard against digital threats and seek to hold tech companies accountable to democratic values.
The San Francisco Foundation’s Safety & Security Resources offer a wide range of practical tools for nonprofits, activists, and funders alike to strengthen protection and preparedness.
Help Nonprofits Survive Funding Retaliation
Offer bridge grants and rapid response funding for organizations that lose government contracts due to political targeting.
Provide flexible, unrestricted funding that allows nonprofits to adapt to emerging threats and budget cuts.
Invest in Collective Defense Strategies
Support coalitions and rapid response funds that provides legal, financial, and strategic guidance to nonprofits under attack.
Invest in initiatives like the LEAD for Racial Justice initiative by the California Black Freedom Fund, the The Protecting and Advancing DEI Pro Bono Initiative by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, or the Democracy Forward Litigation Fund, which help organizations prepare for retaliatory audits and security threats.
Organizations like Vision Change Win are also providing rapid response support and community training education through virtual series tailored for nonprofits navigating community safety incidents.
Use Philanthropy’s Influence to Push Back
Publicly defend nonprofits that are being unfairly targeted.
Engage in legal defense and advocacy to protect nonprofit status and funding from politically motivated attacks.
Funders can turn to resources like ABFE’s Race-Explicit Grantmaking guide to stay grounded in values while navigating this moment.
Philanthropy Has the Power to Take Risks. Nonprofits Don’t.
Large philanthropic institutions have the financial security, legal resources, and institutional power that nonprofits do not. Unlike nonprofit organizations, foundations are not constantly at risk of being defunded or shut down without the power to fight back.
This is not about blame; it’s about recognizing positionality. Philanthropic institutions have the ability to take risks that frontline nonprofits cannot. That’s why this moment demands more than passive support. It requires action. This is a critical time for the country. Will philanthropy stand by the organizations it funds when they are under attack?
Nonprofits are making impossible choices in 2025: whether to continue critical work or pull back to protect their staff, whether to fight back or stay quiet to avoid becoming the next target, or risk losing government funding. Philanthropy can help alleviate some of those impossible choices. By funding security, legal defense, and crisis response, funders can ensure that nonprofits don’t just survive these attacks. Their funding will allow nonprofits to deepen their work and support their communities at an especially fraught time.
Our communities are under attack, and philanthropy has the power to help. None of these challenges are new, but the harm is escalating. The solutions nonprofits are calling for are practical, proven, and overdue: security, legal defense, and flexible, unrestricted funding. This isn’t about bold innovation. It’s about meeting the moment with courage and clarity. Philanthropy has the power to act; now is the time to use it.
Immigration Funding Through a Justice Lens: Recommendations for Philanthropy
📷 credit: Miko Guziuk via Unsplash
The scope of immigration’s impact has consistently shaped the very fabric of American society. As of 2022, 14% of the U.S. population – approximately 46.2 million individuals – was born abroad (Migration Policy Institute, 2024). The demographic reality of immigration has transformed communities, local economies, and social structures across the nation. Despite their significant contributions, immigrant communities remain highly vulnerable and are increasingly under attack, facing legal, economic, and social challenges that threaten their safety, stability, and acceptance.
We also know the current federal administration has had a mixed approach to immigration largely only working to create opportunities to protect current immigrants while deterring and restricting would-be immigrants. The presidential campaign rhetoric is also once again trying to pit groups against one another by spreading misinformation and lies about certain immigrant groups.
Philanthropy has a critical role to play in the face of ongoing attacks on immigrant rights. Recent interviews conducted by Raquel Gimeno and Alison Upton Lopez of leaders in the immigration space offer insights for funders seeking to make a meaningful impact in this space.
Current Landscape: Challenges and Inequities
Interviewees highlighted a few themes around the current challenges facing the sector when it comes to addressing and prioritizing immigration and immigrant communities.
Severe Underfunding: The immigration sector faces a funding crisis, particularly in legal services, narrative work, and state-level advocacy. This underfunding perpetuates systemic inequities and limits the capacity for transformative change during a time when immigrants are most at risk.
Political Vulnerability: With looming political uncertainties, immigrant communities are at risk of increased deportations and erosion of legal protections, highlighting the urgent need for expanded support systems. Anti-immigrant rhetoric is continuously spread, which not only shapes public opinion but influences policy. This rhetoric dehumanizes immigrants, fuels discrimination, and creates a pressure pot of hostility that impacts the daily lives and dignity of the migrant population.
Movement Fragmentation: Years of crisis response have led to burnout and division within the immigration movement, weakening collective power and resilience.
Risk Aversion and Its Ripple Effects: Funder’s hesitance to engage in potentially controversial work has a cascading effect on the sector. Smaller nonprofits, lacking the resources to navigate potential legal challenges, are often forced to adopt similarly risk-averse strategies. This domino effect of caution further limits the sector's ability to pursue bold, transformative initiatives, which disproportionately impact grassroots and community-led organizations.
Recommendations for Justice-Oriented Philanthropy
Provide Sustained, Flexible Funding: Offer multi-year, unrestricted support to build organizational capacity and enable proactive strategies.
Integrate Immigration: Prioritize immigration and immigrant communities long-term in any grantmaking strategy, not just as a response to waves of xenophobic rhetoric and policies.
Empower Local Action: Focus on state and local initiatives for immediate impact and momentum-building.
Amplify Marginalized Voices: Invest in narrative change work centering immigrant experiences and countering harmful rhetoric.
Strengthen Legal Defenses: Support direct legal aid and strategic litigation to protect immigrant rights.
Foster Intersectional Solidarity: Build connections between immigrant communities and other marginalized groups.
Invest in Community Power & Infrastructure: Fund grassroots organizing and leadership development within immigrant communities.
Prepare for Political Contingencies: Develop strategies to help organizations plan for the outcomes of national elections, particularly around safety and security, legal defense, and longer-term policy strategies.
Call to Action
The fight for immigrant justice requires bold, sustained commitment from philanthropy. By centering equity, empowering communities, and addressing root causes of injustice, funders can play a pivotal role in building a more inclusive and just society for all.
*Note: Leaders from the following organizations were interviewed for this work: