Virginia Sanctuary Funding: Following the Money Trail

The Financial Infrastructure Behind Virginia’s Transformation

Part 3 of a 3-part investigative series: Virginia’s sanctuary transformation — following the money

In Part 1, we documented the sanctuary architecture already built across Virginia. In Part 2, we identified the organizations executing the playbook. Now we follow the money—tracing Virginia sanctuary funding to its sources.

Policy campaigns require staff, offices, lobbyists, and lawyers. Someone pays for all of it. Our investigation traces funding flows from major national foundations through policy organizations to Virginia advocacy groups. The trail leads to familiar names.

The Three-Tier Funding Model

Virginia sanctuary funding follows a model refined over two decades. It operates on three tiers.

Tier 1: Major Foundations. At the top sit wealthy foundations that have made immigration policy a strategic priority. The most significant include George Soros’s Open Society Foundations (OSF), the Ford Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation.

Tier 2: National Policy Organizations. Foundation money flows to national groups that develop strategy, create model legislation, and coordinate campaigns. Key players include the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), and the national ACLU.

Tier 3: State Advocacy Groups. Money reaches organizations that execute campaigns in specific states. In Virginia, this includes CASA, the Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC), the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights (VACIR), and ACLU of Virginia.

Money flows down. Model legislation flows up. The coordination is documented. Here’s what we found.

Open Society Foundations: The Soros Network

George Soros’s Open Society Foundations has committed hundreds of millions to immigration causes. OSF’s own grants database shows direct funding to organizations shaping Virginia policy.

According to OSF grant records, CASA received approximately $1.96 million from Open Society Foundations between 2017 and 2023. The grants funded immigrant organizing, civic participation, and advocacy. Year-by-year totals: $145,000 (2017), $125,100 (2018), $130,000 (2019), $245,000 (2020), $965,000 (2021), $100,000 (2022), and $250,000 (2023).

OSF has also provided multi-million-dollar support to national policy organizations like ILRC and NILC. Grant descriptions reveal the purpose. One ILRC grant funded efforts to “encourage naturalization among eligible immigrants, assist them with the process, and mobilize their civic participation.” Another supported work to “dismantle the infrastructure of criminalization, detention, and deportation of immigrants.”

OSF has also funded New Virginia Majority, a progressive organizing group, with at least $100,000.

Ford Foundation: Millions for Advocacy

The Ford Foundation rivals OSF in its commitment to immigration advocacy. Ford’s grants database documents substantial support to many of the same organizations.

CASA received $1.35 million from Ford Foundation between 2009 and 2016. Grant records show: $100,000 (2009), $100,000 (2010), $150,000 (2011), $150,000 (2012), $200,000 (2013), $200,000 (2014), $200,000 (2015), and $250,000 (2016). The grants supported immigrant civic participation, leadership development, and organizational capacity.

Ford also funds national policy organizations. In August 2022, Ford approved a $700,000 grant to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. The grant description states its purpose: “General support and core support for the Immigrant Justice Network (IJN) to advocate against criminalization of immigrants in the US.” The grant runs through December 2024.

Ford’s immigrant rights strategy, as described in its own materials, seeks “to balance the long-term need to develop a more secure and energized pro-immigrant movement… while in the short and medium term, investing in efforts to improve the lives of the millions of undocumented immigrants already here through state, local, and administrative policy interventions.”

That phrase—”state, local, and administrative policy interventions”—describes exactly what is happening in Virginia.

But OSF and Ford don’t act alone. They coordinate.

The Four Freedoms Fund: Coordinated Grantmaking

In 2003, five major foundations created the Four Freedoms Fund to coordinate their immigration grantmaking. The founding funders were Carnegie Corporation, Ford Foundation, Open Society Institute, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The fund is hosted by NEO Philanthropy.

Four Freedoms Fund has since attracted additional funders including the Gates Foundation, JPB Foundation, and Kresge Foundation. Its stated priorities include “supporting state and local advocacy and organizing infrastructure” and “blunting immigration enforcement and criminalization.”

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The Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights operates within the state-based immigrant-rights coalition network that the Four Freedoms Fund was created to support. VACIR participates in national coalition structures funded through intermediaries like NEO Philanthropy. This places VACIR within the broader Four Freedoms-backed infrastructure.

CASA: Following the Dollars

CASA’s 2022 IRS Form 990 reports approximately $25.7 million in total revenue. The organization has grown from a small nonprofit with a $500,000 budget in the 1990s into a major regional operation.

CASA’s funding comes from multiple streams. Foundation grants include $1.96 million from Open Society Foundations (2017-2023), $1.35 million from Ford Foundation (2009-2016), and $1 million from the Rockefeller Foundation in partnership with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Additional foundation support has come from the Annie E. Casey Foundation ($275,000), Osprey Foundation ($320,000), and others.

Government grants have historically provided a large share of CASA’s budget. A 2011 Washington Post profile reported that “nearly half” of CASA’s $6 million budget came from “local, state and federal appropriations.” As of 2025, CASA had received approximately $3.2 million in federal grants since 2021 from agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Labor, and Department of Treasury.

Labor unions also contribute, including SEIU, AFL-CIO, Communications Workers of America, and Unite Here. The Democracy Alliance—a donor collaborative that coordinates giving among wealthy progressive donors—lists CASA as a supported organization.

One donation stands out. In 2008, Citgo Petroleum Corp. donated $1.5 million to CASA. Citgo is a subsidiary of PDVSA, Venezuela’s state-owned oil company. The donation came one year after CASA’s executive director, Gustavo Torres, attended a conference in Venezuela where the main event was a panel entitled “United States: A possible revolution.”

CASA isn’t alone. Other Virginia advocacy groups also receive substantial outside funding.

Legal Aid Justice Center: Public Funding

The Legal Aid Justice Center’s most recent IRS Form 990 reports approximately $4.7 million in government grants. LAJC’s FY2022 audited financial statements show roughly $5.06 million in grants and contracts revenue.

LAJC’s funding profile relies heavily on government and legal-sector foundations. Private foundation grants have included support from Borealis Philanthropy, Pew Charitable Trusts, and Public Welfare Foundation. The Southern Poverty Law Center provides institutional support.

LAJC conducted the FOIA investigation that uncovered Virginia’s 32 active 287(g) agreements—a finding now cited by every allied organization pushing for sanctuary legislation. The organization’s stated mission is to “dismantle systems that create and perpetuate poverty.”

How the Model Works

The funding documented above doesn’t just support organizations. It shapes strategy.

National organizations like ILRC develop model legislation and policy frameworks. They publish guides tracking state-by-state progress. They train state advocates and provide technical assistance on legislative language.

State organizations like CASA, LAJC, and VACIR adapt national frameworks to local conditions. They lobby legislators, conduct FOIA investigations, organize pressure campaigns, and issue coordinated press releases when victories are achieved.

Foundations provide financial fuel at every stage. Ford’s $700,000 grant to ILRC funds model legislation development. OSF’s grants to CASA support Virginia-specific implementation. Four Freedoms Fund supports state coalition infrastructure.

This explains why Virginia’s sanctuary bills—SB 783, HB 650, HB 1441—mirror legislation in California, Oregon, and Illinois. They emerge from the same policy pipeline, funded by the same foundations, implemented by organizations in the same networks.

What the Funders Say

Foundation representatives defend their grantmaking as supporting immigrant rights and civil liberties. They argue that sanctuary policies protect vulnerable communities and build trust.

These arguments deserve consideration. Foundations have every right to fund causes they believe in. Advocacy organizations have every right to accept funding and pursue their missions. Nothing documented here is illegal.

But Virginians have a right to know who funds the campaigns reshaping their state. When the same foundations that funded sanctuary advocacy in California also fund it in Virginia—and when the legislation looks nearly identical—citizens deserve to understand they’re witnessing a coordinated national campaign, not spontaneous local activism.

A Biblical Perspective on Transparency

Scripture speaks to the importance of bringing things into the light. Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:11-13: “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible.”

Jesus declared in John 3:20-21: “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

We do not claim that foundation-funded advocacy is inherently wicked. But policy changes affecting millions of Virginians should happen in the light. When professional campaigns present themselves as grassroots movements, transparency becomes a moral imperative.

What Citizens Can Do

Investigate for yourself. The funding information in this article comes from public sources—IRS Form 990 filings, foundation grant databases, organizational reports, and investigative journalism. CASA’s 990s are available at ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer. LAJC’s filings are at the same site. Foundation databases are searchable online. Verify our claims.

Contact your legislators. SB 783, HB 650, and HB 1441 are pending now. Find your representatives at whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov. Ask whether they know who funds these campaigns.

Share this information. Most Virginians have never heard of the Four Freedoms Fund or NEO Philanthropy. They don’t know VACIR participates in networks funded by Soros, Ford, and Carnegie. This information is public but not widely known. Change that.

Pray for wisdom. Pray that Virginia’s leaders would see clearly and govern according to the biblical purposes of government—rewarding good and restraining evil. Pray for immigrants in our communities, that they would find genuine welcome through lawful means. Pray for our nation.

Conclusion: Whose Agenda?

This three-part series has documented Virginia’s sanctuary transformation from multiple angles. We examined the policies, the organizations executing them, and now the funding that makes it possible.

The picture is not of grassroots activism bubbling up from Virginia communities. It is of a sophisticated, well-funded, nationally coordinated campaign deploying a playbook refined in other states. The foundations are real. The money is substantial. The coordination is documented.

Citizens can push back. They can demand transparency. They can hold representatives accountable. They can refuse to accept a transformation they never chose, funded by people they never elected, pursuing an agenda that may not reflect Virginia’s values.

The battle is real. The stakes are high. But so is our God.

Daniel reminded us that the Most High “removes kings and sets up kings” (Daniel 2:21). He is sovereign over foundations and legislatures, over governors and advocacy groups, over Virginia and all nations. Whatever happens in Richmond, Christ remains King. And one day, He will return to make all things right.

Until then, we stand firm. We speak truth. We trust the One who holds all things in His hands.