At this time, we are not accepting letters of inquiry (LOI) for grants in Immigrant Rights and Integration. We expect to begin accepting LOIs before the end of 2008.

California and the Bay Area possess an exceptionally high proportion of newcomers—a key aspect of our rich cultural diversity. Still, in this region and beyond, discrimination and institutional inequity deny immigrants equal voices and equal participation in our communities.

The Haas, Jr. Fund recognizes that without basic equality, immigrants cannot become integrated into our communities. Accordingly, we are committed to promoting and protecting civil and human rights for immigrants—with the civic and social responsibilities that such rights entail. Furthermore, we are committed to helping amplify immigrants’ voices in public discourse and engaging immigrants as active members of society.

Challenges and Opportunities

Immigrants enrich the cultural life of our communities, and California’s and the nation’s economies depend on them. During the past two decades, California’s immigrant population has more than doubled. Immigrants now make up one fourth of the state’s population—in the Bay Area, nearly one third.

Despite their important contributions, many immigrants live in the shadows of society. Most legal immigrants have undocumented family members; in fact, more than four out of five immigrant children live in families of mixed legal status—a statistic with profound implications for families in the neighborhoods where the Fund focuses its efforts. Living under the threat of deportation, and as targets of daily hostility, many immigrants are afraid to participate in civic life or exercise their existing rights. Instead, they remain socially marginalized and vulnerable to economic exploitation. Since September 11, 2001, new immigration enforcement has further undermined immigrants’ rights. When any group is silenced and denied basic rights, our whole society incurs great costs.

Major national debates are now underway about the need for, and nature of, broad immigration reform. Before our Congress considers a legislative solution, our nation needs to seek consensus on the general outlines such reform should take. Since President Bush declared the U.S. immigration system “broken” in 2004 and proposed a program of temporary legalization for workers, federal lawmakers have offered and debated various policy proposals. Such debates present the opportunity to help educate lawmakers and the public about the possibilities and consequences of far-reaching immigration reform. At the same time, anti-immigrant forces are gaining strength, making it even more important that reform advocates forge strong alliances across the U.S. and in California.

Funding Priorities

Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Achieving a consensus on the outlines of broad immigration reform requires coordination and strategic alliances among advocacy and community groups and their allies across the U.S. We support coordinated local and national advocacy that educates federal policymakers and the public about the urgent need to establish immigration reform as a national priority.

We believe that earned legalization offers the most far-reaching, long-term policy solution; we support efforts to explore its potential benefits at national and state levels. We recognize the importance both of enforcing immigration law at the borders and among employers and of protecting immigrant workers’ rights. We are also focused on supporting and reunifying families.

Grants outside California are by invitation only.

Civic Integration and Civil Rights
Toward the goal of engaging immigrants, especially low-income immigrants, as fullfledged members of our communities, the Fund supports efforts to engage and organize California’s immigrants to make their voices and stories heard in federal, state and local debates about policies that affect their lives. We are focused on helping California-based immigrant groups, coalitions, and allies to strengthen their influence in national debates. We also support organizing that helps immigrants advocate for better access to state and local public programs and services.

We are committed to efforts that engage immigrants as members of entire communities, bringing together immigrant rights, civil rights, community, labor, business and other diverse groups—immigrant and non-immigrant—to advance a common vision for improving immigrants’ lives and solving community problems. We are interested in cultivation of immigrant leaders with the skills and experience to address not only immigration reform, but also to improve community life as a whole.

We are also exploring strategies that counter government administrative and enforcement practices that threaten immigrants’ rights and prevent their integration into community life.