Borealis Philanthropy
The Immigration Litigation Fund (ILF) is a national fund whose goal is to ensure that the nation’s immigration enforcement system is fair, humane, and prioritizes the civil and human rights of those vulnerable to deportation. The Fund’s grantmaking prioritizes impact litigation efforts that are connected to, and coordinated with, immigrant communities and organizations.
ILF supports litigation efforts focused on ensuring the rights of immigrants are protected and promoting greater fairness and accountability in the nation’s immigration enforcement system. ILF supports impact litigation that addresses discriminatory, unlawful, and overly punitive immigration enforcement policies and practices at any stage of the enforcement trajectory, from identification and apprehension, to detention, removal, or exclusion of immigrants.
ILF prioritizes funding to effective organizations, projects, and impact litigation efforts that:
- Demonstrate an ability to partner with local and state-based, grassroots groups
- Show potential for systematic change including policy change; legal precedent, directly benefit on-going advocacy and organizing efforts; or contribute to shifting public narratives and discourse on immigration enforcement
- Work in regions with limited legal capacity
- Address issues facing under-represented communities particularly Black immigrants, Asian Pacific Islander (API) immigrants, Middle Eastern, Arab, and South Asian (MASA) immigrants, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Transgender (LGBT) immigrants, immigrants with disabilities, immigrant women, and immigrants with contact with the criminal justice system
ILF’s funding will prioritize impact litigation that focuses on immigrants targeted by enforcement efforts including but not limited to those who:
- Have entered or re-entered without documentation
- Overstay visas or fail to adjust status
- Have prior criminal convictions
- Use false social security numbers to work
- Seek humanitarian protection (asylum, protection from torture, TPS, or as refugees)
- Are from countries or regions deemed to be threats to the United States
The ILF provides time-limited, project support for:
- Impact litigation (including but not limited to staff time, some organizational overhead costs, travel, research, filing fees, interpreter and translation costs, etc.)
- Strategic convenings meant to advance coordination on an issue related to enforcement and impact litigation efforts
Amount: Grants range up to $75,000.
Eligibility: Public interest legal groups, advocates, and community-based organizations may apply, if they are engaged in impact litigation, advocacy and organizing connected to impact litigation, and/or communications efforts connected to impact litigation.
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