Immigration and civil rights organizations across the US are warning of a growing effort to undermine their advocacy work as rightwing lawmakers accuse them of fueling the demonstrations against federal raids in California.
Advocacy groups voiced alarm on Thursday after Josh Hawley, a Republican US senator from Missouri, threatened multiple immigration and civil rights groups with investigations over claims that they are “bankrolling civil unrest” in Los Angeles.
Hawley, who chairs the Senate subcommittee on crime and counter-terrorism, accused the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (Chirla), the Party for Socialism and Liberation, as well as Unión del Barrio of their “alleged role[s] in financing and materially supporting the coordinated protests and riots that have engulfed Los Angeles in recent weeks”.
As part of a letter he wrote to the organizations, Hawley, who was memorably captured raising his fist in a salute to supporters of Donald Trump outside at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, then later fleeing the mob after they invaded the building to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory, said that “bankrolling civil unrest is not protected speech”.
He referred to “credible reporting” that the organizations were providing logistical and financial support to “individuals” engaged in disruptive actions, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday, as Hawley followed up on a committee announcement in the House of Representatives that it will investigate 200 organizations it accuses of helping “inadmissible aliens” during the Biden administration.
The attacks on Chirla and others also came after advocates and lawyers rushed to advise people arrested and detained, and their affected family members, during the latest immigration raids in the LA area that sparked the most fierce protests over the weekend, the LA Times further reported.
Hawley added: “You must immediately cease and desist any further involvement in the organization, funding, or promotion of these unlawful activities,” also demanding that Chirla preserve a slew of records including all internal communications, financial documents, grant applications and funding proposals.
“Failure to comply will result in additional action by this subcommittee, including potential referral for criminal investigation,” Hawley said.
In response, Chirla executive director Angelica Salas rejected Hawley’s accusations, saying: “Our mission is rooted in non-violent advocacy, community safety, and democratic values … 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.”
Similarly, the United Farm Workers Foundation, which represents a sizable presence across California’s farmlands that are largely worked by undocumented workers, said that it “unequivocally denounces the disturbing tactics” deployed against Chirla.
“Republican members of Congress are launching a troubling and politically motivated attack on non-profit organizations, including Chirla. These actions appear designed to intimidate and discredit the work of groups that serve immigrant communities across the country,” UWF Foundation said.
In an additional statement, Erica Corcoran, the UWF Foundation CEO, said that Chirla’s “work is grounded in nonviolent action, community empowerment, and the defense of democratic values, principles that should be protected, not targeted, in a free society”.
The Guardian has contacted the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Unión del Barrio for comment.
Hawley’s letters have also alarmed civil rights organizations.
David Loy, the First Amendment Coalition’s legal director, said: “The first amendment … guarantees that … anyone who organizes or supports or participates in a protest cannot be held legally responsible for the actions of a few individuals who might do illegal things like throw rocks or bottles, unless the organizer or the participant had the specific intent to commit those illegal acts or further the commission or aid and abet those illegal acts.
“The problem with the senator’s letter is that it’s ignoring this fundamental principle, and the effect of what he’s doing is to frighten and intimidate people against speaking out,” Loy said, adding: “No one in government should ever be … taking action which has the effect of intimidating and chilling people from exercising their freedom speech, full stop.”
Hawley’s letter follows federal authorities’ arrest earlier this week of David Huerta, the 58-year-old president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California who was charged with “conspiracy to impede an officer” while serving as a community observer during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raid in Los Angeles.
Huerta, who was initially hospitalized after federal officers knocked his head into a concrete curb last Friday, said: “Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals. We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice. And we all have to stand on the right side of justice.”
Hawley’s letter also comes after Bill Essayli, the interim US attorney for the central district of California, threatened advocacy groups with federal investigations over their involvement in the protests.
Eric Rodriguez, UnidosUS’s vice-president of policy and advocacy, told the Guardian on Thursday: “What we have seen is the Senate committee now using this accusation to be able to put pressure and intimidate organizations from engaging in peaceful protest … that’s something I think that should be objectionable to all Americans.
“Some of the folks who are putting an eye on the protesters or the organizations that are responding are the very same people who did not hold or did not have the desire to hold anyone accountable for the insurrection on January 6,” he added.
