Thread by @Lights4Liberty

A note this morning about the future of Lights for Liberty:

L4L is seeking non-profit status as a 501c4 social welfare organization. This status allows us to lobby Congress to change detention laws.

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L4L has no plans to fundraise on its own behalf. As we always have, we will continue to route all fundraising efforts to local immigration orgs.

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This new structure allows L4L to operate as a legal entity that can directly lobby Congress on issues of immigration policy and detention. Moreover, 501c4 organizations discourage donations generally, in that donations to a c4 entity, unlike a 501c3, are NOT tax deductible.

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Decision-making within this new entity will be driven by impacted people, immigrant organizations, and advocates. None of the leadership positions within the new 501c4 structure will be paid.

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Moreover, all of the work that has been done by the organizing committee to date has been on a volunteer basis as well. Several of our individual organizers contributed personal funds totaling thousands of dollars to this effort with no expectation of return.

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We hope that this clears up any confusion, and we look forward to continuing to do the work.

Thank you.

/end

An important additional note from one of our organizers, per her comment: “organizations with 501(c)(3) status, like many of our partner orgs, can not engage in lobbying efforts. Pursuing (c)(4) status is designed to allow us to complement their efforts, not detract from them.”