How One Minnesota Foundation Is Responding to the ICE Crisis

After President Donald Trump was reelected, immigrant rights advocates and supporters alike — as well as immigrants themselves — braced for a storm. On the philanthropic side, while some funders increased their grantmaking to prepare for and respond to the administration’s imminent attacks, many funders chose a more cautious approach. Some adopted a “wait and see” response; others shifted their strategies and pulled away from immigration funding entirely. 

Now, more than a year later, the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations have become one of the biggest crises in the nation, with immigrants — undocumented, visa holders and legal permanent residents — and U.S. citizens alike being detained, arrested, injured and deported. At least 31 people have reportedly died in ICE custody, though that number is likely higher. 

In Minnesota, things reached a boiling point after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen. Under the pretext of rooting out fraud and removing “criminal illegal aliens,” the Department of Homeland Security sent additional immigration agents to Minnesota to enact “the largest immigration operation ever,” which the agency dubbed “Operation Metro Surge.” 

Inside Philanthropy recently spoke with Lulete Mola, president and cofounder of Black Collective Foundation Minnesota (BCFMN). Launched in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, BCFMN refers to itself as the first culturally specific Black community foundation in the state and has been active as a rapid-response funder during the current crisis. 

Minnesota has the largest population of Somali Americans in the U.S. — one factor behind the administration’s actions appears to be allegations of fraud levied against Somali immigrants in the state. The administration has also ended Temporary Protected Status for Somali immigrants. In addition to using derogatory language against the Somali community, Trump has clashed with Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is Somali American. Of course, the state was also the epicenter of the racial justice uprisings in 2020.

“We’re a vibrant community,” Mola said. “We’ve welcomed refugee and immigrant communities here. We’re one of the top resettlement places in the country. So I think it’s a layer of reasons.”

Responding to attacks against immigrants in Minnesota

BCFMN is a small foundation. It has no national funders and has struggled to raise money lately. But that hasn’t stopped it from taking action. 

In light of the escalation that began earlier this month, the foundation is awarding grants as soon as this week, including microgrants to organizations responding to the crisis. Some groups, Mola said, are being harassed and need to install alarms or hire security. Other organizations are purchasing groceries for community members who are afraid to leave their homes. 

BCFMN has also partnered with other philanthropic leaders in Minnesota, including those from the Mortenson Family Foundation, Bush Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Headwaters Foundation for Justice, Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation and the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, to support the Immigrant Rapid Response Fund. The fund, which was created by the MN Latine Fund housed within the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, is seeking to raise $5 million to support Somali, Latino and other immigrant-serving front-line organizations. Critically, the fund is meant to add resources to communities and not replace existing support. 

Before the federal escalation in Minnesota, BCFMN had already been funding organizations supporting immigrants in the state. Some of its earlier grantees include Ayada Leads, Daryeel Youth, African Economic Development Solutions and the Immigrant Development Center. 

In 2024, BCFMN launched MN LEAD (Legal Education, Advocacy, and Defense for Racial Justice), a multiracial initiative that helps organizations and leaders address the legal challenges to race-conscious programming — a move that proved prescient given what happened the following year. It was inspired by the California-based Black Freedom Fund’s LEAD for Racial Justice Initiative. To date, MN LEAD has engaged more than 670 organizers and provided legal training to almost 250 nonprofit and philanthropic leaders across the state. Some of the response grants BCFMN is currently awarding will be administered through MN LEAD.

“We have a legal fund where we’re issuing grants to organizations that do have acute legal needs and need to retain attorneys themselves or be sure they’re able to keep up with the critical capacity their organizations need,” Mola said. BCFMN has funded trainings and legal support, including pairing people with pro bono legal assistance and organizing legal infrastructure in the community.

Mola says it’s critical to understand that the issues Minnesotans are facing are intersectional. BCFMN, she said, is committed to the holistic wellbeing, safety and prosperity of all Black people, from those who are descendants of enslaved people in the U.S. to Black immigrants, Black elders, Black people with disabilities, Black youth living in rural Minnesota and those who live in cities. 

“Communities are living with intersectional identities, and so our response must consider these intersectionalities. Culturally specific philanthropic leaders and organizations like the Black Collective Foundation — our DNA is made of this understanding and this expertise,” Mola said.

What other funders can do to help immigrants in Minnesota and across the U.S.

At the beginning of Trump’s first term as president, philanthropy responded to his attacks on immigrants with a surge in funding. A similar surge has not taken place during his second term, however, even as his administration’s actions grow more draconian.

BCFMN has outlined actions funders can take to support immigrants, stressing that while it is understandable to be “stunned and heartbroken,” it is still necessary to act. BCFMN suggests funders use their position to align policies, practices and resources to organizations that protect immigrants and those who are defending them; strengthen relationships and community by building relationships with proximate communities, legal advocates and organizers; prepare for risks, including legal risks and threats to safety; use their voices to reject false narratives and affirm the rights and humanity of immigrants; move resources; and to regularly revise their strategies as needs evolve. 

As IP’s Editor-in-Chief David Callahan recently wrote, foundations often move slowly in response to dramatically changing circumstances. Philanthropy, however, does have the freedom to act far more easily than other institutions if it takes advantage of it. 

Supporting litigation is one of philanthropy’s strengths, and it’s one area that is making a big impact in the fight for immigrant rights. But funders shouldn’t stop there. Likewise, rapid response is critical, Mola said, but it has to be met with long-term work to build permanent infrastructure. “Please advance rapid grants, but also ensure that organizations are durable… We cannot live in reactionary care. We need to care permanently, and we need to match our influence, our power and our resources accordingly,” she said. 

She added that organizations led by people of color often lack the necessary resources to do their work. She asked funders to support organizing — something philanthropy hasn’t done well enough during crises, Callahan noted — including racial justice organizing. 

“That’s not just advice. It is a call. It is a plea. We cannot continue treating critical funding like it’s optional. Our democracy is depending on it,” Mola said, pointing out that while little funding is going to organizing, those opposed to racial justice and immigrant rights are spending vast amounts of money on narrative and organizing. 

Mola added that the escalation in Minnesota should serve as a warning for the rest of the nation, and hopes that this moment will offer moral clarity. “You cannot afford not to be on the side. We cannot stand by while our literal neighbors are being dragged out of their homes, when federal agents are coming in with guns drawn where babies are asleep, where chemicals are being released into the cars and homes of residents,” she said.

“Do not retreat. Do not back down. Double down,” Mola said, adding, “Use your power. Use your influence. Because we’re losing a lot, and people’s participation will help us win, but we can’t do it without bold and courageous commitment.”

Note (1/21/26): This article has been updated to reflect that BCFMN will be awarding rapid response grants as soon as the week of publication, but that grants did not go out yet as of the time of publication.

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