By A nonprofit organization dedicated to defending immigrants’ legal rights has initiated legal action against the Trump administration, seeking to restore federal funding for programs that provide legal assistance to individuals facing deportation. The Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, a recipient of substantial government grants, argues that the administration’s recent decision to freeze funding undermines due process protections for undocumented immigrants. However, the organization’s public statements suggest a broader and more confrontational stance against the administration’s immigration policies.
The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit has adopted an assertive approach in its outreach efforts, using social media advertisements to mobilize opposition to Trump’s immigration policies. One advertisement urges supporters to “disrupt Trump’s deportation machine,” writes The Washington Free Beacon, while another, referencing the organization’s lawsuit, defiantly proclaims, “See you in court, Trump.”
To make matters worse, the organization is funded in part by taxpayer money.
Since the last fiscal year, the Amica Center has received nearly $9 million as a subcontractor to provide legal services through the Department of Justice’s Legal Orientation Program (LOP), which informs illegal aliens about immigration court proceedings, according to federal spending records. It is a subcontractor through the Acacia Center for Justice, a federally funded pro-immigration group that claims the immigration system is “intentionally designed” to exploit “Black and brown people.”
In a lawsuit filed on Jan. 31, the Amica Center and several other pro-immigration groups say that Trump’s spending freeze “will have immediate, devastating, and irreparable effects” on their operations. According to the lawsuit, the Justice Department’s LOP accounts for 20 percent of the Amica Center’s budget for a program to represent adult illegal aliens.
“Amica Center has already had to divert funding for one of its LOP employees to another program and predicts it will have to make other diversions going forward, leading to potential layoffs if funding is not restored in the short-term,” the lawsuit says.
That could raise concerns in Washington that taxpayer funds are going to an organization that is calling to defy the administration’s immigration policies. The Amica Center began running its Facebook ads calling to “disrupt” the deportation system on Jan. 23, shortly after Trump took office, according to Facebook’s advertisement database. The ads direct readers to a donation page on the Amica Center’s website that solicits money for its “Immigrant Defense Fund.” The hyperlink for the webpage references Trump’s executive order.
The Amica Center lawsuit over federal grant suspensions underscores broader concerns about the allocation of taxpayer funds to politically active nonprofits—a controversy that extends beyond immigration policy. Similar concerns have surfaced in environmental policy, where the newly appointed EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has moved to reclaim $20 billion in federal climate funds hastily distributed during the Biden administration’s final days to activist groups who plan to fight the Trump administration.
Zeldin argues that these funds, allocated through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, were rushed out to nonprofits through a financial institution without sufficient oversight, prompting him to terminate the agreement and return the money to the U.S. Treasury. A Project Veritas investigation further revealed that an EPA official, Brent Efron, described the disbursement of over $100 billion in climate-related grants as an “insurance policy” to preserve Biden’s environmental agenda, even likening the spending spree to “throwing gold bars off the Titanic.” Efron also suggested that the grants could secure him a lucrative job at one of the recipient organizations. The revelation has fueled conservative criticism, with Senator Mike Lee condemning what he called unchecked government power.
Zeldin has pledged to investigate the matter, referring it to the EPA’s inspector general, Congress, and the Department of Justice. His decision is expected to trigger legal battles, as defenders argue the financial arrangement followed historical government practices. Nonetheless, both the Amica Center lawsuit and Zeldin’s actions highlight growing scrutiny over how federal funds are allocated—whether for immigration advocacy or climate initiatives—especially when they intersect with partisan objectives.
Biden staffers have been accused of shoveling money out the door to companies who will give them future employment.
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