This webinar brought together researchers, practitioners, and funders to make the case for rigorous documentation of the economic harms resulting from so-called immigration enforcement — and why building that evidence base now matters for future litigation, policy change, and repair.

Here is what our speakers shared:

  • Rudy Espinoza of Inclusive Action for the City opened with the story of Tanya — an entrepreneur from Guadalajara who built a nail salon and barbershop in a South LA swap meet. Tanya’s small business was thriving — and even considering a second location — before federal agents descended on her commercial corridor and decimated foot traffic. She kept showing up to work, even through cancer, even as a single parent, even as her savings evaporated. As a CDFI and small business lender, IAC is tracking these impacts across its entire lending portfolio.
  • Dr. Amada Armenta of UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute walked us through preliminary findings from a first-of-its-kind spatial dataset tracking foot traffic before and after draconian ICE raids in LA County. In neighborhoods like Westlake, foot traffic dropped between 6–30% within a half mile of a raid site in the week that followed. The team is working to translate those numbers into dollar figures and expand the analysis across the region — and beyond.
  • Veronica Vences of the Latino Community Foundation shared why LCF chose to invest in this research early — centering trust in community-rooted leaders and the understanding that the economic destabilization of immigrant communities is by design and affects everyone. She also introduced LCF’s first national fund: Community Protection Fund established to support efforts to hold government actors accountable for unlawful actions, violence, and trauma inflicted on American communities and protect the families they target.
  • Monica Gomez of the California Wellness Foundation closed with the health funder’s case for this work: economic stability is a social determinant of health. We cannot separate the well-being of communities from their economic lives. Immigrant entrepreneurs own one in three businesses in California and generate $14 billion in annual revenue. These businesses anchor neighborhoods and circulate wealth locally — and when they struggle, the consequences show up directly in health outcomes.
Key Takeaways for Funders
  • Documentation of harm is the basis for repair and accountability. The evidence being built today — foot traffic data, qualitative business owner interviews, economic impact modeling — is the foundation that future litigation, policy advocacy, and reparative actions will require. This documentation cannot wait. The people living and witnessing this harm are its most essential recorders, and the window to capture what is happening in real time is now. Funders who want to act have an important window today — the evidence is best built while the harm is being lived.
  • This methodology is replicable. UCLA LPPI is building open-source analytical tools so this approach can be applied in Chicago, New York, the Bay Area, and beyond. If you are a funder outside of LA, this is still relevant to your community.
  • Both offensive and defensive strategies are required. What this moment calls for is both offense and defense — immediate cash assistance and loan loss reserves alongside longer-term investments in impact litigation and infrastructure.
  • Frontline organizations are irreplaceable. Their proximity to impacted communities and the trust they have built over years is a superpower. Organizations like IAC don’t just deliver services — they hold relationships that allow people to navigate impossible decisions with information and dignity, even in a climate of fear. Philanthropic investment that matches that value is among the highest-leverage moves available right now.
  • Explore how investment portfolios and payout strategies can be brought into alignment with values. California Wellness has gone beyond the minimum 5% payout, mission-aligned its investments, and funded both traditional grants and program-related investments to leverage its full range of resources — a model worth examining for any foundation asking how to optimize its full wealth of resources, not just its grantmaking.
Resources

Additional resources shared during the webinar:

Additional resources shared in the chat: