As protests against immigration crackdowns spread from Los Angeles to cities around the United States this week, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., leveraged the perceived unrest to target nonprofits supporting the very communities the Trump administration has put under siege.
President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and the Marines, while the Los Angeles Police Department carried out a brutal response to protests objecting to workers’ arbitrary detention by masked ICE agents in Los Angeles. After fueling the chaos in support of Trump’s deportation regime, Republicans used the moment to target nonprofit leaders and discredit protesters as “bought and paid-for flash mobs.”
In a letter to multiple nonprofit organizations serving immigrant and Latino communities — including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, also known as CHIRLA, and Unión del Barrio — Hawley accused the organizations of “aiding and abetting criminal conduct” by “bankrolling civil unrest.”
“Credible reporting now suggests that your organization has provided logistical support and financial resources to individuals engaged in these disruptive actions,” wrote Hawley, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, in one version of the letter. “Let me be clear: bankrolling civil unrest is not protected speech. It is aiding and abetting criminal conduct. Accordingly, you must immediately cease and desist any further involvement in your organization funding, or promotion of these unlawful activities.”
The letter demands that the organizations preserve a large number of records from November 5, 2024, onward, including “donor lists,” “media or public relations strategies,” and all internal communications and financial documents related to protests.
Hawley did not elaborate on any sources for his claims, and he did not immediately respond to The Intercept’s request for comment. But in an interview on Fox News, he doubled down on his accusations.
“These aren’t spontaneous at all. They’re about as authentic as astroturf. They are bought and paid-for flash mobs, and I want to know who’s doing the buying and the paying. That’s why today I’ve launched an investigation,” Hawley said on Wednesday.
CHIRLA denied fueling violence, saying the group won’t be intimidated by the Missouri senator.
“Our mission is rooted in non-violent advocacy, community safety, and democratic values,” wrote CHIRLA executive director Angelica Salas in a statement reported by LAist. “We will not be intimidated for standing with immigrant communities and documenting the inhumane manner that our community is being targeted with the assault by the raids, the unconstitutional and illegal arrests, detentions, and the assault on our first amendment rights.”
The inquiry marks the latest chapter of the GOP’s war on progressive-aligned nonprofits. Other Republicans have attempted to target CHIRLA and other nonprofits focused on immigrant rights. On Thursday, House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., and Subcommittee Chair Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., launched an investigation into more than 200 nonprofit organizations, including CHIRLA, alleging that they “helped fuel the worst border crisis in our nation’s history.”
The congressmen also accused the organizations of “actively advising and training illegal aliens on strategies to avoid cooperation with immigration officials.” In addition to CHIRLA, the House subcommittee called out Catholic Charities USA and Southwest Key Programs for their resettlement efforts.
The letter demands that organizations provide a full accounting of federal grants, contracts, and payments received during the Biden administration, as well as information on whether they’ve sued the federal government and the services they provide to immigrants.
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
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We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
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