From the Washington Free Beacon: California governor Gavin Newsom (D.) personally secured $500,000 in 2023 for a nonprofit group that supports defunding police and recently launched a bond fund for illegal immigrants in ICE custody, according to state records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Newsom in July 2023 asked the James Irvine Foundation, a private foundation that supports low-income workers in California, to donate $500,000 to the Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), a group that supports defunding the police. Though the funds didn’t come from Newsom’s own pocket, the James Irvine Foundation cut its check specifically at Newsom’s request, according to California’s “behested payments” database, which discloses whenever state elected officials solicit donations to a third party.
The Democratic governor “behested” the $500,000 contribution to ImmDef to support its efforts to “expand critical services offered to migrants crossing the US border,” according to the California database. Those services include ImmDef’s Detained Immigrant Bond Fund, which helps illegal immigrants get out of federal custody. The group launched the bond fund on June 7, just one day after anti-ICE riots broke out in Los Angeles, the Free Beacon reported.
The report notes that Newsom appears to be trying to remake his image, as he now tries to distance himself from the “defund the police” movement, and called it “lunacy” in a March interview with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
However, the Free Beacon points out that in February, Newsom “behested” $110,000 from the Stuart Foundation to Immigrant Legal Defense, a charity that provides legal services to immigrants and advocates for “abolishing immigration detention and reimagining the U.S. immigration system entirely.”
Newsom in July 2023 asked the James Irvine Foundation, a private foundation that supports low-income workers in California, to contribute $500,000 to the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, according to California’s “behested payments” database, which discloses instances in which…
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) July 21, 2025
More recently, as anti-ICE riots broke out in Los Angeles, ImmDef launched a bond fund that helps free detained illegal immigrants from ICE custody.
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) July 21, 2025
On several occasions, the Free Beacon reported, Newsom has requested nonprofits and private corporations to contribute to his wife’s charity before taking their side on state issues. pic.twitter.com/TWYSQ8rLZ3
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) July 21, 2025
READ MORE from the Washington Free Beacon.
Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter.)
The DML News App: www.X.com/DMLNewsApp
