Defending Our Neighbors Fund
An urgent lifeline to local organizations providing legal and bond support to immigrant families and individuals who need it most.
The Defending Our Neighbors Fund is powered by everyday people, like you, stepping up and building a vital lifeline to support our immigrant neighbors, loved ones, and communities against injustice.
We all deserve to be treated fairly and with dignity. Yet every day, immigrant families are forced to navigate a complex and punishing immigration system alone, without access to legal counsel. Even young children, the most vulnerable members of our communities, are facing trained prosecutors without anyone by their side.
This is why the Defending Our Neighbors Fund exists.
Today, there are more than 6 million U.S. households who have a family member at risk of detention or deportation. Right now, the federal government is funneling $170 billion of our taxpayer dollars to dramatically increase enforcement in our cities, all while slashing funding for legal service organizations who provide critical support for immigrants and make sure they have access to a lawyer. The Defending Our Neighbors Fund is a rapid-response effort to meet this urgent need for legal representation head-on, working to ensure families have access to life-saving legal support, and when possible, bond assistance.
Access to legal representation makes a profound difference in whether families can stay together.
As people's due process rights continue to be violated — affecting tens of thousands of people who are immigrants, children, and even U.S. citizens and green card holders — the need for legal counsel is skyrocketing. Studies show that in 2024, there were more than 2.5 million cases in immigration court where people did not have legal representation. Having access to a lawyer is often the difference between a family staying together or being separated indefinitely.
To meet the ballooning demand in this moment, the Defending Our Neighbors Fund is quickly deploying high-impact grants to trusted organizations providing legal and, when possible, bond assistance to communities in need, this includes organizations that are:
- Serving communities with large immigrant populations
- Serving communities in legal deserts, and
- Serving communities near some of the country’s most active immigration detention and processing centers
In this moment of division, we must all come together to defend our neighbors.
Supported by United We Dream and the ACLU, the Defending Our Neighbors Fund is hosted by Abundant Futures Fund (a fiscally sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors), and aims to raise and deploy $30 million to grassroots organizations to meet this crisis with action and care.
We, the people, will power this movement with small dollar contributions. Your donation supports trusted organizations providing legal representation and, when possible, bond assistance, to communities in need.
Thank you for helping us defend our communities at such a critical moment. Your support makes all the difference.
Fundraisers
Fundraiser by Alexis Sypek
Runners Against ICE
The greatest strength of the running community is its ability to uplift each other - and complete strangers - in moments of deep pain, uncertainty, and self doubt out on the road or on the trail. It is a daily source of empowerment, community, and joy for so many of us. People across the country are facing unfathomable pain and uncertainty right now as we witness in real time the federal government stripping our neighbors away from their communities and their livelihoods. Let’s dig deep and show them what we, as a community, can do. We're raising money for the Defending our Neighbors fund, a new initiative launched by the ACLU to provide representation, resources, and assistance to those impacted by ICE. Thank you for anything you're able to donate. -Lexi & Fra
- Raised
- $1,865
- Next milestone
- $2,500
19 supporters
DonateFundraiser by Meredith Anne Capuli
PLUR for Freedom
Our group originated within the rave community, which is rooted in the core values of PLUR: Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect. Our creative idea of dressing as “Minions” has grown on TikTok and is now reaching approximately 2,000+ people. Because this initiative has expanded beyond our rave community, we wanted to use our platform not only for fundraising, but also to embody PLUR in action by supporting individuals and families in need of immigration legal services or counseling. For every $5 donated, participants would receive one raffle entry for a chance to win a Minion-themed totem, approximately 3 feet tall. Through incorporating PLUR, we intend to create an accessible and lighthearted way to encourage participation while reinforcing the values of compassion, community care, and mutual respect that define both rave culture and humanitarian advocacy for those who have been affected by immigration. Through this effort, we hope to bring people together across communities and support a meaningful cause to help immigrants facing detention and deportation gain access to legal support for our immigrant neighbors, loved ones, and communities, so that they can obtain legal representation and bond assistance. MINIONS, TONIGHT WE SPREAD PLUR. * Join The Revolution. Spread the PLUR. **
- Raised
- $40
- Goal
- $10,000
2 supporters
DonateDonors
Catherine Adams These funds were raised by a group of Craftivists in Lansing, Michigan. We plan to continue to create community and raise funds to protect our immigrant friends and neighbors by supporting Defending Our Neighbors who are doing the importan...
Elizabeth McMahon 1Please keep up the good work. You are needed now more than ever. It will take years to undo even a little of the evil being done to communities of color in the current administration. I thank God that your organization already has teams in ...
Carmen Cardenas 1Injustice and abuse cannot and must not stand.
Megan Wilson Americans love their neighbors ✊🏼♥️
Tessa Snyder