Santa Fe Dreamers Project renamed to Contigo Immigrant Justice as footprint broadens

Source: Santa Fe New Mexican

The Santa Fe Dreamers Project is rebranding as Contigo Immigrant Justice, a name its leader says better reflects its expanded scope and broader commitment to immigrant rights across the Southwest.

The organization, founded in 2014, began as a single attorney offering support to so-called Dreamers — immigrant youth protected under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy. However, it has long outgrown the name, said Executive Director Miles Tokunow, who said it needed a new label “that is reflective of the work.”

For one, the organization is no longer just in Santa Fe, having expanded beyond New Mexico’s borders into El Paso and Colorado.

Secondly, it’s not just for dreamers anymore, with the group now offering a wide variety of immigration services and even announcing a new bail bond fund program.

And, Tokunow said, “It’s not just a project.” He noted an increase in funding from foundations, individual donors and local and state grants that have opened the door to add new legal staff.

The rebrand comes amid a federal immigration crackdown that has created a rapidly shifting legal landscape for attorneys and incited fear in immigrant communities around the country. As a counterweight, community financial support for their work has grown — and the new name’s addition of “justice” is to emphasize “the values of how we do the work.”

“We are energized for the fight ahead,” Tokunow said. “Protecting as many folks as possible … making sure survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault have these pathways towards safety, security, financial stability — that’s the bedrock for us to be able to fight like hell.”

The increase in support was not immediate with the election of President Donald Trump, he said.

“The administration had some pretty big threats around wanting to ... come after philanthropy as well and donors and … we’re not seeing those threats come to fruition,” he said.

That, combined with “recognizing the incredible need” to oppose mass deportation, Tokunow said, has resulted in an environment of financial support leading to the plan to expand both its legal work and its programming.

The rebrand comes with a new program announcement: The organization will take over Fronterizx Fianza, a previously volunteer-run fund based in El Paso that bailed eligible immigrants out of detention as they waited — sometimes more than a year — for hearings on noncriminal charges.

The demands of the work outpaced what the volunteer-run group could offer, Tokunow said, and they reached out to Contigo in an effort to keep the program alive.

In addition to taking over, Contigo will expand the fund — both geographically into Colorado and in its scope through assessing detention cases to see if the organization can provide legal services. Bond amounts range widely from about $1,500 to $20,000, Tokunow said.

“We want to make sure that you still have the ability to be out with your family,” he added. “And work. And not be in inhumane living conditions.”

Although the group’s focus will remain on individualized legal services, Tokunow said the new name emphasizes advocating for policy change from the local to the federal level.

He pointed to the appointment last year of one of the organization’s managing attorneys, Jessica Aguirre, to the city of Santa Fe’s recently revived Immigration Committee as “part of that expansion” beyond its former name and toward an overall commitment to immigrant justice.

“It takes a village,” Tokunow said. “And the village is showing up.”