Immigrant Justice as Central to Anti-Authoritarian Resistance

A Call to Action for Funders

I. Xenophobia as the Engine of Authoritarian Takeover

The Scholarly Consensus

Research consistently shows that "xenophobia, anti-immigration sentiments, nativism, ethno-nationalism are, in different ways, central elements in the ideologies, politics, and practices of right-wing populism and Extreme Right Wing Parties." This isn't merely correlation - xenophobia functions as what scholars call "the vicious circle of xenophobia" where "anti-immigrant rhetoric and populist policies lead to adverse immigrant selection" creating a "self-reinforcing dynamic process" that accelerates democratic breakdown.

Psychological Mechanisms

Research reveals that "pathogenic threat," meaning introducing the idea that immigrants are as invasive, infectious, organisms that can cause disease in the host organism, increases authoritarian traits and xenophobic attitudes, creating conditions where populations become more susceptible to authoritarian messaging during crisis moments. Right-wing authoritarianism "predicts prejudice against outgroups that are perceived to challenge the prevailing normative order, which immigrants, particularly those from distant cultures, have the potential to do."

Key Insight for Funders

Xenophobia isn't a byproduct of authoritarianism - it's the primary delivery mechanism. When you fund immigrant justice, you're disrupting the foundational strategy of authoritarian consolidation.

II. Xenophobia, Ultranationalism, and "Make America Great Again"

The MAGA Framework

"Make America Great Again" functions as what scholars call "palingenetic ultranationalism" - a narrative of national rebirth through purification. This "marriage of convenience" combines "populism based on an ethnic and chauvinistic definition of the people," authoritarianism, and nativism, resulting in "xenophobic nature" that becomes central to political identity.

The Three-Part Structure

1. Mythologized Past: America was once "great" (read: demographically homogeneous)

2. Contamination Narrative: Immigration has "polluted" or "replaced" the "real" Americans

3. Purification Promise: Deportation and exclusion will "restore" greatness

Historical Pattern

This mirrors historical patterns where, while once the U.S. had an open borders policy, "disinformation about people of Chinese descent was rampant" during the 1870s-1880s anti-Chinese campaigns, leading to exclusion laws that "privileged assimilation and defined who has the right to reside in America." Today's attacks on Haitian immigrants follow identical patterns, using "stock narratives informed by anti-Black racism and xenophobia to dehumanize Haitians as unworthy members of the polity."

III. Xenophobia as Essential to Fascism

The Fascist Playbook

Fascism requires xenophobia because it provides "unity of the working class" through creating an external enemy. "The fascist propaganda campaigns are working: the number of Americans who believe welcoming immigrants is what makes this country great dropped from 66% in 2021 to 57% in 2024."

Why Fascism Needs the "Other"

Fascist movements require:

• Scapegoating mechanism for economic anxiety

• Unity through exclusion - defining the "pure people" against contaminating outsiders

• Justification for violence - immigrants become "invaders" requiring military response

• Testing ground for authoritarianism - if you can dehumanize migrants, you can dehumanize anyone

Contemporary Evidence

The connection is direct: "when populism moves from rhetorical enmity to practices of enemy identification and persecution, we could be talking about its transformation into fascism." We're witnessing this transformation in real-time through mass deportation operations and military deployment against communities.

IV. The Stakes of Immigrant Inclusion in Civil Resistance

Strategic Imperative #1: Breaking the Divide-and-Conquer Strategy

Authoritarians deliberately "sow divisions within the Black community by painting immigrants as taking resources from Black American people — ultimately undermining Black political power." Successful civil resistance requires countering this manufactured division.

Strategic Imperative #2: Protecting Democratic Infrastructure

Sanctuary policies have strong constitutional grounding based on the 10th Amendment's anti-commandeering doctrine. Federal courts consistently rule that "the U.S. government cannot 'commandeer' state resources by demanding participation." Defending immigrant communities means defending federalism and constitutional limits on executive power.

Strategic Imperative #3: Maintaining Coalition Capacity

Immigrant communities bring essential assets to resistance movements:

• Economic power through labor organizing and consumer capacity

• Cultural resilience from experience surviving authoritarian regimes

• International solidarity connections for isolating domestic authoritarianism

• Moral authority as visible victims of authoritarian cruelty

Stakes Analysis

If immigrant communities are successfully isolated and terrorized:

• Coalition fractures along racial and class lines

• Constitutional protections erode

• International solidarity weakens

• Economic disruption capacity diminishes

If immigrant communities are centered in resistance:

• Coalition strengthens through shared struggle

• Constitutional protections are reinforced

• International pressure on authoritarians increases

• Economic leverage multiplies

V. Integrating Immigrant Rights Leaders into Civil Resistance

Structural Integration Strategies

1. Decision-Making Power

• Immigrant rights leaders in core strategy roles, not just advisory positions

• Resources for immigrant-led organizations to lead campaigns, not just participate

• Policy development that centers immigrant experiences

2. Issue Integration

• Frame all civil resistance issues through immigrant impact analysis

• Connect housing, healthcare, labor, and education organizing to immigration status

• Develop shared political education curricula

3. Security Integration

• Shared legal defense funds

• Integrated rapid response networks

• Cross-community sanctuary practices

Tactical Integration Approaches

Movement-to-Movement Building

• Brazilian Black women's resistance during Bolsonaro’s reign shows how movements can employ "grassroots organising, institutional politics, counter narratives, and the Black culture, in complementary and interconnected ways" with immigrant justice at the center.

Narrative Integration

• Challenge the scarcity framework that pits communities against each other

• Develop abundance narratives about immigrant contributions

• Create cultural products that humanize immigrant experiences

VI. How Allies Can Help

Funding Strategy Shifts

From Charity to Power Building

• Fund immigrant-led organizations for general operating support, not just service delivery

• Support immigrant leadership development and political education

• Invest in long-term organizing capacity, not just crisis response

From Single-Issue to Systems Change

• Fund intersectional analysis connecting immigration to economic justice, racial justice, gender justice

• Support coalition work that doesn't silo immigration issues

• Invest in shared infrastructure for multiple movements

Institutional Strategy

Challenge Institutional Complicity

• Push banks, universities, hospitals, and businesses to adopt sanctuary policies

• Pressure corporations to refuse contracts with detention and deportation agencies

• Support shareholder actions targeting immigration enforcement profiteering

Legal Infrastructure

• Fund constitutional challenges to federal overreach

• Support sanctuary jurisdiction legal defense

• Invest in know-your-rights trainings and legal clinics

Cultural Strategy

Counter-Narrative Work

• Support fact-checking and media literacy, but understand that "civil society-led efforts to shift narratives can be effective" - like America's Voice achieving "a 25% increase in public support for migration" through 14 years of sustained work.

• Fund cultural workers and artists from immigrant communities

• Support community media and storytelling initiatives

VII. Case Studies: Global Resistance to Xenophobic Authoritarianism

Brazil: Intersectional Resistance Under Bolsonaro

The Context: Bolsonaro's rise included explicit anti-immigrant rhetoric, calling migrants "the scum of the world" and withdrawing from the UN Global Compact for Migration. His administration "transferred responsibility for certifying indigenous territories as protected lands to the Ministry of Agriculture" and adopted "anti-immigration discourse that depicts immigrants as a burden on Brazilian society."

Successful Resistance Strategies

1. Indigenous-Led Organizing: Indigenous organizations like APIB (Articulation of Brazil's Indigenous People) launched international solidarity campaigns, publishing "Complicity in the Destruction" report exposing corporate connections to deforestation and human rights violations.

2. Intersectional Analysis: Brazilian Black women's movements connected anti-immigrant attacks to broader "backlash to feminism, sexual and gender diversity, racial equality" showing how xenophobia serves multiple oppression systems.

3. International Solidarity: Movements built pressure on international companies and governments, forcing EU trade negotiations to include human rights conditions.

Key Lessons for US Organizers:

• Center most impacted communities in leadership

• Connect immigrant justice to environmental and economic justice

• Build international pressure through corporate accountability

Thailand: Youth-Led Democracy Movement

The Context
Thailand's military government used "emergency measures to clamp down on freedom of expression" while maintaining "indefinite detention in squalid conditions" for Rohingya, Uighurs, and migrants from Myanmar. The government recognized "growing xenophobic sentiments and discrimination against migrants" as threats to democracy.

Successful Resistance Strategies

1. Cross-Movement Solidarity: The democracy protests included "LGBT activist group Seri Thoey" demanding "legalisation of same-sex marriage in addition to the three demands," showing intersectional approach.

2. Creative Tactics: The Move Forward party and civil society created "movement-party alliances" where "former politicians turned into activists and founded the Progressive Movement" creating "collaboration across civil society organizations."

3. Media Strategy: Government and civil society launched "Promoting Evidence-Based Migration Discourse and Media Reporting" to counter xenophobic narratives through "training on migration reporting for Thai journalists."

Key Lessons for US Organizers:

• Build strategic alliances between movements and electoral politics

• Use creative, youth-led tactics that capture public imagination

• Invest in media literacy and narrative change work

Global Best Practices in Counter-Xenophobia Work

Comprehensive Campaign Strategy: Successful movements understand "the comprehensive nature of the campaign where the public communication strategy is aligned with community organizing and movement building." They don't rely on communications alone but integrate narrative work with power building.

Educational Integration: Effective resistance includes curriculum reform: "develop an inclusive curriculum that reflects the history, contributions, and experiences of diverse cultures" and "content about the importance and the positive impact of migration."

International Coordination: Global movements recognize that "transnational solidarity is vital in struggles to resist regression" and work to "strengthen and enhance the membership and reach of transnational civil society networks."

VIII. Recommendations for Grantmakers

Immediate Actions (0-6 months)

1. Audit Current Portfolio: What percentage of grants explicitly support immigrant-led organizing vs. service delivery?

2. Convene Strategy Sessions: Bring together immigrant rights leaders and other movement leaders to develop shared analysis and strategy

3. Emergency Response Infrastructure: Fund rapid response networks that can mobilize within hours of enforcement actions

Medium-term Investments (6-18 months)

1. Leadership Development: Multi-year investments in immigrant political leadership development programs

2. Narrative Change Infrastructure: Fund cultural workers, community media, and storytelling initiatives led by immigrant communities

Legal Infrastructure: Support constitutional challenges and sanctuary jurisdiction defense

Long-term Vision (18+ months)

1. Movement Ecology Development: Build sustained infrastructure for immigrant-led organizing that can operate in cycles of crisis and growth

2. Policy Innovation: Support development of proactive policy agendas that expand rights rather than just defending against attacks

3. International Solidarity: Build relationships with global movements facing similar challenges

Success Metrics

Power Indicators:

• Number of immigrant-led organizations in decision-making roles in broader coalitions

• Policy wins that expand immigrant rights rather than just defending against cuts

• Electoral outcomes in local races where immigrant-led organizing played a decisive role

Narrative Indicators:

• Polling data on public attitudes toward immigration in funded areas

• Media coverage analysis showing shift from deficit to asset framing

• Cultural production by immigrant artists and writers reaching mainstream audiences

Coalition Indicators:

• Joint actions between immigrant rights and other movements

• Shared funding proposals across movement sectors

• Policy platforms that integrate immigrant justice with other priorities

Conclusion: The Moment Demands Boldness

The research is clear: xenophobia is not a peripheral issue in the authoritarian threat we face - it's the central strategy. When we fund immigrant justice as a civil rights issue, we miss the strategic imperative. When we fund it as central to defending democracy itself, we align resources with the actual dynamics of power.

The global examples show that successful resistance to xenophobic authoritarianism requires:

• Centering most impacted communities in leadership

• Connecting immigrant justice to broader systemic issues

• Building international solidarity

• Investing in long-term power building, not just crisis response

For philanthropy, this means a fundamental shift from treating immigrant communities as beneficiaries to recognizing them as the leaders of the fight for democracy itself. The question is not whether to fund immigrant justice, but whether to fund it with the urgency and scale that the threat demands.

The future of American democracy may well depend on how boldly we all, and philanthropists in particular, choose to center immigrant communities in resistance strategies today.