Which philanthropic foundations publish grants databases that can be searched for funding to immigrant‑rights or 'abolish ICE' organizations?
Executive summary
Several philanthropy information services and funder websites make searchable grants or grantee data available for investigators looking into support for immigrant‑rights causes, while individual foundations and donor collaboratives publish grantee lists or program pages that signal priorities; however, public data specifically labeled for organizations advocating “abolish ICE” is sparse in the available reporting and often buried within broader immigrant‑rights grant categories [1] [2] [3]. The most actionable starting points in the reporting are third‑party grants databases and trackers—Instrumentl, Candid/Foundation Center, Inside Philanthropy and GrantWatch—supplemented by sector groups and funder program pages that publish grantee information or funding priorities [1] [2] [4] [5] [6].
1. Instrumentl and other commercial grant databases: searchable grant listings outside foundations
Instrumentl’s immigration grants browse is explicitly presented as a searchable interface to grants for immigration nonprofits, making it a direct tool for finding funders and recent awards in the immigrant‑rights space [1]. Commercial and subscription platforms such as Instrumentl are designed to aggregate funder and grant records that individual foundations may not centralize on their own sites, and the reporting identifies Instrumentl by name as a practical entry point for locating immigration‑focused grants [1].
2. Candid / Foundation Center: the sector’s central grants data backbone
Analyses of foundation support for immigrants rely heavily on Foundation Center/Candid data, which aggregates grantmaking information from many foundations and has been used to quantify giving to immigrants and refugees; researchers advise using that aggregated data for a fuller picture because individual foundations do not all publish structured grant databases [2] [3]. The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy and philanthropy researchers cite Foundation Center data when describing historical funding levels and trends for immigrant‑rights giving, underscoring Candid/Foundation Center as the sector tool for searchable, cross‑foundation grant data [2] [3].
3. Inside Philanthropy and GrantWatch: journalism and directories that track who funds what
Inside Philanthropy maintains reporting and trackers about which funders underwrite immigrant‑rights advocacy and policy work and publishes reporter‑compiled lists of major funders and funds—naming players such as the Four Freedoms Fund, Ford, Carnegie and community foundations—making it useful for identifying likely funders and program priorities even when foundations don’t provide their own searchable grant portals [4] [7]. GrantWatch similarly aggregates foundation grant opportunities and funder lists for refugee and immigrant work, offering a directory approach rather than a raw grants database [5].
4. Funders and collaborative vehicles that publish grantee lists or program pages
Several funders and intermediaries publish program pages and grantee roll calls that are searchable or reviewable: the Ford Foundation publicly describes its immigrant‑rights program and priorities, and other funders and donor collaboratives—Four Freedoms Fund, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Blaustein’s Immigrant Justice program, and Tides’ I‑Belong initiative—are repeatedly named in reporting as major funders whose program pages or housed funds reveal grantees and strategies [8] [7] [9]. Impact Fund, a foundation that explicitly funds immigrant‑rights legal work, lists grant support for litigation and related efforts on its site, offering another avenue to identify targeted funders and grantees [10].
5. Sector networks and affinity groups: conveners, data stewards and limitations
Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) functions as the philanthropy field’s infrastructure organization and compiles resources and coordinated strategies for funders; GCIR is a practical place to learn which foundations are actively funding immigration and refugee work, though GCIR itself is an intermediary and not a universal searchable grants database [6] [11]. Reporting also warns that philanthropic data is incomplete—movement organizing historically received only a small slice of foundation dollars, and labels like “abolish ICE” are politically loaded and may not appear as discrete searchable categories in foundation datasets, which complicates direct searches for explicitly abolitionist funding [2] [3].
6. Practical takeaway and reporting limits
For investigators seeking searchable grant records, begin with Instrumentl and Candid/Foundation Center for aggregated grant data, use Inside Philanthropy and GrantWatch to map likely funders, and consult funder program pages (Ford, Tides, SVCF, Blaustein, Four Freedoms Fund, Impact Fund) and GCIR for grantee lists and strategy statements to triangulate support for immigrant‑rights work; the reporting does not show a comprehensive public database that isolates grants explicitly labeled “abolish ICE,” so locating funding with that specific label likely requires targeted searches of grantee lists, news reporting, and intermediary funds named in sector coverage [1] [2] [4] [5] [8] [9] [10] [6]. Where sources do not document searchable foundation databases or explicit “abolish ICE” tags, reporting limitations are noted rather than assumed.