Issues

 

In collaboration with funders, community leaders, and nonprofit organizations across the Americas, HIP is working to:

• Build the capacity of Latino grassroots organizations, including advocacy groups working to protect the human rights of immigrants and service agencies providing vital educational and legal services for immigrant communities.
• Facilitate dialogue among funders, community leaders, policymakers, academics, and activists to raise awareness of immigration issues and identify cross-sector strategies for responding to complex problems.
• Address the root causes of migration by promoting economic development in low-income communities in Latin America.

Current Programs

Funder’s Collaborative for Strong Latino Communities

Since the inception of the Funders’ Collaborative, HIP has leveraged millions of dollars to build the capacity of Latino organizations that serve immigrants, particularly in the areas of English language acquisition, adult and child education, civic participation and legal aid. HIP funds have also helped build the capacity of social justice organizations mobilizing Latino communities to advocate for policies that respect immigrant rights. One example is the Workplace Project, a nonprofit in Long Island, NY, which works for socioeconomic justice for immigrants. With funding from HIP, the Workplace Project initiated extensive training for its board and staff and developed a robust fundraising plan that helped increase revenues and make the organization more sustainable. Another example is the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Arizona, which provides free legal services to immigrants who have been detained. HIP support helped the Florence Project complete an organizational assessment and strategic plan.

Facilitating Funder Dialogue

HIP is actively convening and participating in dialogue with a breadth of funders, community leaders, and policymakers who have a stake in issues facing immigrants. In the past two years, HIP has worked in collaboration with local funders to convene several community forums on immigration policy issues, including two forums in North Carolina and one in Philadelphia, each attended by more than 150 people.

In 2008 and 2009, in recognition of HIP's 25th anniversary, HIP held a series of briefings and discussions on protecting the rights of unaccompanied migrant children. Events were held in Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco, and Mexico, with speakers including Margarita Zavala, the wife of the president of Mexico; Sonia Nazario, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author; and Gara LaMarche, the former president of Atlantic Philanthropies.

Transnational Program

Through the Transnational Program, HIP seeks to address the root causes of immigration by supporting economic development projects in Latin American communities that face severe levels of poverty and have lost as much as half their populations to emigration.

Why We Care

It has long been said that the United States is a nation of immigrants, and this centuries-old story continues to this day. Of the more than 50 million Latinos in the U.S., about one-third are immigrants and about two-thirds are native-born.

Immigration is an important source of growth for the U.S. A common misconception about immigrants is that they drain social services, do not pay taxes, and have an overall negative impact on the economy. In fact, immigrants add value to the economy by adding to consumer spending, helping create new businesses, paying taxes, and forming an important part of the workforce. Several studies have demonstrated that immigrants help fuel economic growth and generate more in tax revenues than they receive in government benefits over their lifetimes.

As the U.S. continues to grow and demand for a highly skilled labor force rises, working with rather than against immigrants will help the country remain strong in an increasingly competitive global economy. That means investing in programs such as ESL, adult education, citizenship classes, immigration legal services, and other programs to help newcomers transition into the mainstream community and workforce.

Unfortunately, in many cases, the U.S. not only fails to welcome immigrants, but instead actively seeks to turn them away. Both documented and undocumented immigrants are sometimes detained without due process, targeted based on racial profiling, and denied basic services such as access to health care and education. A recent spate of anti-immigrant legislation at the state level has only increased the frequency of these human rights violations occurring within the boundaries of the United States. The debate around immigration policy has grown increasingly toxic, with many seeking to punish and criminalize immigrants rather than looking for humane approaches to a complex problem.

We believe that the human rights of immigrants must be respected regardless of legal status. That’s why HIP supports efforts by Latino grassroots advocacy groups to mobilize for policies that protect human rights, reform the U.S. immigration system, and empower immigrant communities to tell their stories and fully participate in the political process.

Working for immigrant rights also presents an opportunity for building coalitions across movements. Only about half of all foreign-born U.S. residents are from Latin America, with millions of immigrants claiming roots in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The issue also intersects with LGBT rights, with many lesbian, gay, and bisexual immigrants denied citizenship because their relationships are not legally recognized by the federal government of the U.S. Finally, with immigrants making up a huge portion of the workforce, labor rights and immigrant rights are also intertwined. There is tremendous potential for positive social change if immigrants, people of all ethnicities, LGBT people, and workers come together to fight for human rights and fair treatment for all.

On the other side of the border, HIP promotes economic development in Latin America, focusing on communities that have lost large portions of their populations as a result of people leaving in search of greater opportunity in the U.S. The root cause of much immigration is poverty and economic inequality in Latin America, and we want to change those underlying realities, so that when people do make the decision to migrate to a new country, they do so by choice—not out of necessity, and not in desperation.

What Our Members and Partners are Doing

HIP partners and members are working to raise awareness about immigration issues or support work related to immigration.

The affinity group Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees runs a robust educational program for its members, with in-person and online programs all around the U.S.

Since 2003 the Four Freedoms Fund has made more than $36 million in immigration-related grants to over 145 groups working in 33 states.

The Knight Foundation runs a grants program aimed at helping immigrants move from green-card status to fully naturalized citizens.

The Open Society Foundations runs several programs targeting international migration as well as social justice in the U.S.

The Ford Foundation is the second largest foundation in the U.S. and a leading supporter of immigrant rights.