By Maya Sweedler 

Online fundraisers and crowdfunding campaigns have in the past month raised at least $26.6 million for various organizations that provide services to immigrant and refugee families, according to a tally by The Wall Street Journal.

As criticism of the federal government's policy of separating migrant families at the border reached a fever pitch this week, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world began donating -- some in amounts as small as $5.

The Facebook fundraising page "Reunite an immigrant parent with the child," created by Silicon Valley couple Charlotte and Dave Willner on June 15, had earned $16 million as of Thursday morning. That money is going to The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES, a Texas-based nonprofit that provides legal services and advocacy for immigrants and refugees.

RAICES had raised an additional $5.7 million on its website, including $4.5 million for its bond fund, per its fundraiser pages. RAICES, whose federal tax filings indicate it brought in a total of $15 million between 2012 and 2016, will put the money toward hiring more lawyers and training volunteers, according to a statement from the organization.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday afternoon backed away from the practice of separating migrant children from their families, issuing an executive order that requires the government to detain families seeking asylum together. The president had come under growing pressure after images and audio recordings surfaced of some of the 2,342 children the administration has said were separated from adults and placed in government facilities since the policy took effect.

Using Facebook as a crowdfunding platform can be very effective because the social media site can increase a campaign's reach, said Anindya Ghose, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business who researches crowdfunding.

"An average Facebook user logs in multiple times a day...and if [the campaign] is right up in your face every time you log in, the probability you see it is high," Mr. Ghose said. "So I give a lot of credit to a platform like Facebook for amplifying content like this."

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also joined the action, posting a fundraiser for the Texas Civil Rights Project on his public profile page early Tuesday morning. By Thursday, it had raised $68,000.

Both local and national organizations are already benefiting from the influx of cash, and for some smaller organizations the donations represent a substantial boost.

Several are scaling up. The Young Center, a national organization that serves unaccompanied immigrant children, is planning to hire two additional lawyers and a social worker, according to Associate Director Elizabeth Frankel.

The Texas Civil Rights Project -- beneficiaries of Mr. Zuckerberg's fundraiser as well as a campaign on liberal nonprofit ActBlue's crowdfunding platform -- is similarly planning to hire three additional employees, all of whom will focus on helping individuals in the Rio Grande Valley, said TCRP President Mimi Marziani.

"We went from being understaffed to hiring," Ms. Marziani said. "It's all happening very fast.... I expect we will continue to have that increased need for some time to come. Right now, we still don't have enough resources to be talking to all the families in McAllen, much less across Texas."

Dedicated crowdfunding websites, such as GoFundMe and ActBlue, have also raised thousands of dollars to assist immigrant families. GoFundMe, which put out a statement condemning the administration's policy, collated more than 60 campaigns providing relief to families affected by separations at the border.

GoFundMe said it verifies the identities of campaign owners. If users flag a campaign as suspicious, the organization freezes the funds until appropriate documentation is provided, company spokeswoman Kate Cichy said. So far, she said, GoFundMe hasn't seen any misuse of funds related to immigration-focused campaigns.

Amanda Litman, co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit Run for Something, used ActBlue to raise money that will be distributed across 14 organizations directly involved in helping immigrants. ActBlue has cross-referenced all groups with an Internal Revenue Service database, according to a spokeswoman.

After reading about children in detention centers, Ms. Litman said she turned to Twitter to find out what groups needed funding. She launched her campaign to raise funds for eight groups on May 25 and, at the advice of a friend on the ground in Texas, added another six this week, she said.

So far, the campaign has raised $2.4 million from approximately 28,000 unique contributions, Ms. Litman said on Wednesday afternoon. The first eight groups have already received between $220,000 and $230,000, while the second batch of groups has received between $80,000 and $90,000 each, according to Ms. Litman and ActBlue.

The American Civil Liberties Union, meanwhile, has raised $2.5 million online, according to a statement from Chief Development Officer Mark Wier.

Ms. Marziani said all the aid pouring into TCRP -- including cookies sent to its office -- has been inspiring.

"It's hard work to see these cases," Ms. Frankel said. "The outpouring of support has...gone a long way in terms of morale and making people feel like they have people behind them when they feel like they're not getting a lot done -- because there are so many cases."

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 21, 2018 13:25 ET (17:25 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Meta Platforms Charts.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Meta Platforms Charts.