The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles Wednesday denied and rejected allegations made by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who claimed that the Westlake district-based immigrant rights organization has funded protests in the city.
Hawley, the chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, began an investigation into the Los Angeles-area protests and requested internal communications, as well as financial records, from CHIRLA.
Hawley wrote a letter to CHIRLA on Wednesday, which he posted on social media.
“Credible reporting now suggests that your organization has provided logistical support and financial resources to individuals engaged in these disruptive actions. Let me clear: bankrolling civil unrest is not protected speech,” Hawley wrote in his letter to CHIRLA. “It is aiding and abetting criminal conduct.”
In response, CHIRLA Executive Director Angelica Salas in a statement said it “categorically” rejects any allegation that its work as an organization violates the law.
“Our mission is rooted in non-violent advocacy, community safety and democratic values,” Salas said in a statement. “We will not be intimidated for standing with immigrant communities and documenting the inhumane manner that our community is being targeted with the assault by the raids, the unconstitutional and illegal arrests, detentions, and the assault on our First Amendment rights.”