How one group rapidly distributed millions in just 3 months during ICE surge

As state and local leaders continue to figure out how to address the widespread impacts from the surge of federal immigration agents, a coalition of 33 philanthropic leaders has managed to fundraise and distribute millions of dollars to local organizations across Minnesota in the span of just a few months.

The Immigrant Rapid Response Fund opened its grantmaking in January 2026 and has been disbursing funds to organizations on a weekly basis since. In total, more than 140 organizations will receive nearly $14 million in grants once the final grants go out.

Ambar Cristina Hanson, executive director of the Mortenson Family Foundation, said the origins of the fund emerged long before the start of Operation Metro Surge.

In November 2024, a group of Latino leaders working in philanthropy came together to create a plan in anticipation of potential attacks on their communities.

“We wanted to figure out how can we create long-term infrastructure for our communities to really help us in being able to withstand a crisis if it comes,” Hanson said.

That led to the creation of the MN Latine Fund. Then, as the situation escalated and other communities began being targeted, the fund was expanded to include other groups.

The Immigrant Rapid Response Fund was officially launched five days after Renee Good was killed. The idea was to get money out as quickly as possible to the people who needed it most.

“We came together with a sense of making sure that we had to act quicker than philanthropy in this case because the urgency was so imminent,” Hanson said.

Of the nearly $14 million that will be doled out, almost 30 percent went toward rental assistance and another 18 percent for legal services. The last bucket of funding supported community organizing efforts, such as know-your-rights trainings and safety planning.

Hanson said the group will move into the next phase of its work as it wraps up its final round of grantmaking this week.

“We're looking at what does it look like to repair, to rebuild, to build different solutions in our communities so that if anything like this happens again, we can withstand in a little bit of a stronger way.”

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