Taxpayer Dollars Backed Parts of Coalition Suing Over Trump Immigration Enforcement

A coalition of litigation groups, at least two of which have been backed by taxpayer dollars, is targeting the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement in court.

The two leading organizations are Democracy Forward, chaired by Democratic lawyer Marc Elias, and UnidosUS, a Hispanic left-of-center group that has reportedly received millions in government funding in previous years.

The other partners include the left-leaning National Immigrant Justice Center, a group that has also received government grants; the libertarian-leaning legal group Institute for Justice; and the left-leaning Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center.

The chief aim of the coalition is suing the government over alleged misconduct by officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement or with Customs and Border Protection.

Specifically, the new national initiative plans to expand the use of the Federal Tort Claims Act, or FTCA. The law allows people to bypass sovereign immunity to sue the U.S. government for personal injury, property damage, or wrongful death caused by the wrongful or careless conduct of federal employees.

More than 100 lawyers from 60 organizations convened in Chicago last week for training and discussion on FTCA litigation.

“This convening is just the beginning of what will be a coordinated network of attorneys representing people harmed by federal officers’ actions at the administrative claim stage and in federal litigation, and Democracy Forward is honored to offer training, research, litigation guidance, screening tools, and ongoing technical support to make sure partners have the tools they need to hold government accountable,” Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman said in a public statement.

“The Federal Tort Claims Act can be an incredibly powerful civil rights accountability tool,” she said.

The nature of the statute makes it different from many of the politically oriented lawsuits that have amassed from groups on the left since President Donald Trump returned to office last year, said Robert Stilson, senior research analyst at the Capital Research Center, an investigative think tank.

“The Federal Tort Claims Act is for individuals wronged by government employees, and it could be legitimate complaints,” Stilson told the Daily Signal. “I wouldn’t call it lawfare. On the other hand, Unidos is clearly politicized. Democracy Forward is clearly politicized.”

UnidosUS, formerly known as the National Council of La Raza, has received tens of millions in funding through government grants. The UnidosUS website contends that federal immigration enforcement itself is rooted in structural racism.

“Immigration laws in this country are often designed to keep Latino immigrants out, or when allowed, treated as disposable, marginalized, and often illegal,” the website says.

In 2023, the group received $11.2 million from taxpayers, or about 20% of its budget, according to the Capital Research Center. From 2008 to 2017, the federal government provided about $38 million to UnidosUS. The group received no grants from 2018 through 2020 during the first Trump administration. But during the Biden administration, the organization received $35.9 million in federal grants from 2021 through 2023.

“Unidos is a good illustration of sending significant federal grant money to recipients with openly political agendas,” Stilson said. “It’s sending taxpayers’ money to groups representing one side of the political spectrum.”

A UnidosUS spokesperson did not respond to inquiries from the Daily Signal about the government grants. The group’s president, Janet Murguía, previously touted the initiative when it was launched in June.

“As mass deportation efforts escalate, holding the federal government accountable for abuses of power, excessive force, and misconduct is critical to protecting our communities and mitigating the harm these enforcement actions cause,” Murguía said.

Democracy Forward has filed more than 150 lawsuits against the Trump administration in the first year of Trump’s second term and dozens more in the first six months of 2026. Elias, the chairman of the board of Democracy Forward, served as an election lawyer for the Democratic National Committee and for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The National Immigrant Justice Center, formerly the Midwest Immigrant Rights Center, provides pro bono or discounted legal services to low-income immigrants. It has advocated for halting ICE detention and defunding ICE.

In 2024, the NIJC received $2.6 million—or about 32% of its revenue—from government grants, according to the Capital Research Center.

An NIJC spokesperson did not respond to inquiries from the Daily Signal.

The MacArthur Justice Center litigates for people it considers to have faced injustice from the criminal justice system and advocates for overturning death sentences. The organization was founded in 1985 by the adult children of J. Roderick MacArthur.

The group, with a sizable $89.6 million in net assets, does not appear to receive government funding.

A spokesperson for the group did not respond to inquiries for this story.

The Institute for Justice has litigated against law enforcement abuse in the past but is perhaps best known for lawsuits in defense of property rights, the First Amendment, and advocating for deregulation. And there is no evidence the libertarian-leaning group gets government funding.