By Maya Sweedler
Online fundraisers and crowdfunding campaigns have in the past
month raised at least $26.6 million for various organizations that
provide services to immigrant and refugee families, according to a
tally by The Wall Street Journal.
As criticism of the federal government's policy of separating
migrant families at the border reached a fever pitch this week,
hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world began
donating -- some in amounts as small as $5.
The Facebook fundraising page "Reunite an immigrant parent with
the child," created by Silicon Valley couple Charlotte and Dave
Willner on June 15, had earned $16 million as of Thursday morning.
That money is going to The Refugee and Immigrant Center for
Education and Legal Services, or RAICES, a Texas-based nonprofit
that provides legal services and advocacy for immigrants and
refugees.
RAICES had raised an additional $5.7 million on its website,
including $4.5 million for its bond fund, per its fundraiser pages.
RAICES, whose federal tax filings indicate it brought in a total of
$15 million between 2012 and 2016, will put the money toward hiring
more lawyers and training volunteers, according to a statement from
the organization.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday afternoon backed away from
the practice of separating migrant children from their families,
issuing an executive order that requires the government to detain
families seeking asylum together. The president had come under
growing pressure after images and audio recordings surfaced of some
of the 2,342 children the administration has said were separated
from adults and placed in government facilities since the policy
took effect.
Using Facebook as a crowdfunding platform can be very effective
because the social media site can increase a campaign's reach, said
Anindya Ghose, a professor at New York University's Stern School of
Business who researches crowdfunding.
"An average Facebook user logs in multiple times a day...and if
[the campaign] is right up in your face every time you log in, the
probability you see it is high," Mr. Ghose said. "So I give a lot
of credit to a platform like Facebook for amplifying content like
this."
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also joined the action, posting
a fundraiser for the Texas Civil Rights Project on his public
profile page early Tuesday morning. By Thursday, it had raised
$68,000.
Both local and national organizations are already benefiting
from the influx of cash, and for some smaller organizations the
donations represent a substantial boost.
Several are scaling up. The Young Center, a national
organization that serves unaccompanied immigrant children, is
planning to hire two additional lawyers and a social worker,
according to Associate Director Elizabeth Frankel.
The Texas Civil Rights Project -- beneficiaries of Mr.
Zuckerberg's fundraiser as well as a campaign on liberal nonprofit
ActBlue's crowdfunding platform -- is similarly planning to hire
three additional employees, all of whom will focus on helping
individuals in the Rio Grande Valley, said TCRP President Mimi
Marziani.
"We went from being understaffed to hiring," Ms. Marziani said.
"It's all happening very fast.... I expect we will continue to have
that increased need for some time to come. Right now, we still
don't have enough resources to be talking to all the families in
McAllen, much less across Texas."
Dedicated crowdfunding websites, such as GoFundMe and ActBlue,
have also raised thousands of dollars to assist immigrant families.
GoFundMe, which put out a statement condemning the administration's
policy, collated more than 60 campaigns providing relief to
families affected by separations at the border.
GoFundMe said it verifies the identities of campaign owners. If
users flag a campaign as suspicious, the organization freezes the
funds until appropriate documentation is provided, company
spokeswoman Kate Cichy said. So far, she said, GoFundMe hasn't seen
any misuse of funds related to immigration-focused campaigns.
Amanda Litman, co-founder and executive director of the
nonprofit Run for Something, used ActBlue to raise money that will
be distributed across 14 organizations directly involved in helping
immigrants. ActBlue has cross-referenced all groups with an
Internal Revenue Service database, according to a spokeswoman.
After reading about children in detention centers, Ms. Litman
said she turned to Twitter to find out what groups needed funding.
She launched her campaign to raise funds for eight groups on May 25
and, at the advice of a friend on the ground in Texas, added
another six this week, she said.
So far, the campaign has raised $2.4 million from approximately
28,000 unique contributions, Ms. Litman said on Wednesday
afternoon. The first eight groups have already received between
$220,000 and $230,000, while the second batch of groups has
received between $80,000 and $90,000 each, according to Ms. Litman
and ActBlue.
The American Civil Liberties Union, meanwhile, has raised $2.5
million online, according to a statement from Chief Development
Officer Mark Wier.
Ms. Marziani said all the aid pouring into TCRP -- including
cookies sent to its office -- has been inspiring.
"It's hard work to see these cases," Ms. Frankel said. "The
outpouring of support has...gone a long way in terms of morale and
making people feel like they have people behind them when they feel
like they're not getting a lot done -- because there are so many
cases."
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 21, 2018 13:25 ET (17:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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