House Judiciary Committee opens probe into taxpayer-funded group’s potential ties to LA anti-ICE riots
The House Judiciary Committee is investigating whether an activist organization with ties to the Democratic Party that received nearly $1 million in grants under the Biden administration used the funds to foment the anti-ICE riots that ripped through Los Angeles earlier this month.
In a letter obtained exclusively by The Post addressed to the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), the committee details the taxpayer-funded grants doled out to the group by the federal government between 2021 and 2023.
“This raises concerns that CHIRLA may be using federal funds to support violent criminal activity that impedes the enforcement of federal immigration law,” the letter states in reference to the funds, which ostensibly were paid out to support things like “citizenship instruction and naturalization services” and “innovations in citizenship education.”
The letter is signed by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), as well as Reps. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), the chairmen of two subcommittees.
The committee is requesting CHIRLA turn over “all documents and communications” related to any federal funds the group received, as well as a detailed breakdown of how the funds were spent, including any supporting documentation.
It’s also asking for an accounting of any financial contributions the group received or gave to any other non-governmental organizations between Jan. 20, 2021, and the present day, as well as any and all documents and communications “referring or relating to protests against ICE, DHS, Customs and Border Protection, enforcement of immigration laws, or the Trump Administration’s immigration policies,” from Jan. 20, 2025, to now.
CHIRLA staged a rally as anti-ICE protests broke out in LA as federal authorities swept into the sanctuary city to conduct President Trump’s deportation raids.
The protests turned violent earlier this month after immigration agents hit a Home Depot in the LA suburb of Paramount — descending into looting and assault on cops and federal agents.
Rioters defaced public buildings and torched cars in the streets.
Trump called in around 4,000 National Guard members and some 700 active-duty Marines to help quell the unrest.
A CHIRLA spokesman previously said the group “organized a press event on [June 5]” to protest the roundups and had “been sending legal observers to immigration courts and detention centers on [June 6, 7 and 8] as part of the LA Rapid Response Network,” but denied being part of the protests beyond that.
“We have not participated, coordinated, or been part of the protests being registered in Los Angeles other than the press conference and rally cited above,” the rep said.
According to financial records obtained by DataRepublican, CHIRLA received nearly $34 million in government grants, mostly from the state of California, in the fiscal year ending June 2023, a jump from the $12 million it received the previous year.
The radical group also received around $450,000 in grants for “citizenship education and training” between October 2021 and September 2024 from the DHS — the very agency the group was protesting earlier this month.
However, under the Trump administration, the federal agency cut ties with the group and terminated any further funding in March, including clawing back nearly $101,000 that had yet to be paid out.
Officials estimated the cost of the riots to LA taxpayers will exceed $30 million.
The committee gave the group until July 8 to comply with its request.
An email sent to CHIRLA’s director of communications was not immediately returned.
Read the full article here.