The Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) is an organization that provides legal services for both legal and illegal immigrants and campaigns for left-of-center immigration policies. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops founded the organization in 1988. ¹

The organization is heavily involved in refugee resettlement and receives grants from the federal government. ² The organization also takes money from numerous left-wing funders including George Soros through his Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. ^3 4

Services

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network states that it was founded by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The group’s board is primarily composed of Catholic bishops. ⁵

CLINIC claims to be the “largest network of community-based legal programs,” while having a presence in 49 states with over 400 affiliated groups. The group argues that also that it employes roughly 3,000 employees providing services to around 500,000 immigrants annually. ^{6 7}

CLINIC states that its funding comes from the “Catholic Church, foundations, and individual donors.” In 2023, CLINIC received $7,404,198 in government grants, which accounted for 46 percent of the group’s total revenue that year. ^{7 8}

The group claimed the Catholic Immigration Network as a related organization in 2023. The Catholic Immigration Network is also based in Silver Spring, Maryland, and lists Anna Marie Gallagher as the principal officer. As of 2024, the organization has only filed e-postcards with the IRS, which are used for organizations with annual gross receipts no greater than $50,000. ^{9 10}

The organization says it based on “the Gospel value of welcoming the stranger.” ¹¹ The group supports a left-of-center immigration policy on the grounds that “all goods of the earth belong to all people. When persons cannot find employment in their country of origin to support themselves and their families, they have a right to find work elsewhere in order to survive. Sovereign nations should provide ways to accommodate this right.” ¹²

CLINIC conducts advocacy through its “Advocacy” project. CLINIC advocates against state- and local-level immigration legislation and operates the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) Pro Bono Project. ¹³ The BIA Pro Bono Project connects immigrants with cases before BIA with lawyers to represent them. ¹⁴

The Center for Citizenship and Immigrant Communities advocates for left-of-center immigration policy including a path to citizenship for the population of roughly 12 million presently illegal immigrants. It also supports other not-for-profit immigrant assistance and immigration advocacy organizations. ¹⁵

CLINIC’s Training and Legal Support program “works to expand the availability of professional, low cost immigration services by providing legal expertise and training to CLINIC’s member agencies and constituents.”¹⁶

CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Representation and Advocacy Project represents illegal immigrant families in federal detention. ¹⁶

Religious Immigration Services helps the Catholic Church bring in immigrants to serve the church as religious workers. ¹⁶

Defending Vulnerable Populations Project trains attorneys to represent immigrants in hearings. It does this by expanding training and advocating for more left-of-center immigration policies. ¹⁷

Refugee Resettlement

CLINIC often works with Catholic Charities USA and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on refugee resettlement. From 2008 to 2015, the Catholic Church and its affiliated organizations took in over $2 billion in revenue to resettle refugees. ²

Litigation

In January 2019, CLINIC joined the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center and the Legal Aid Justice Center in suing the Trump administration over the issue of detaining illegal immigrant children. The organizations claimed that the Trump administration was detaining the children to deter Central Americans from crossing the border illegally ¹⁸

Funding

In 2023, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network reported $16,041,239 in revenue, $16,661,029 in expense, and $18,644,665 in total assets. $7,404,198, which was forty-six percent of the group’s revenue in 2023, came from government grants in 2023. ^{19 8}

The Open Society Foundations awarded $680,000 in grants to CLINIC between 2016 and 2021. ²⁰ From 2000 to 2014, the Open Society Foundations gave over $1.4 million to CLINIC. ²¹ In 2015, the Foundation to Promote Open Society gave $970,000 to CLINIC. ²²

The Ford Foundation awarded $3,320,000 in grants to CLINIC between 2007 and 2016. ²³

In 2023, the Jones Day Foundation gave $150,000 to CLINIC. ²⁴

In 2024, the Carnegie Corporation of New York gave $200,000 to CLINIC, $233,000 in 2023, $150,000 in 2022, $437,000 in 2021, and $562,000 in 2019. ²⁵

In 2019, the American Immigration Council gave $23,000 to CLINIC $72,000 in 2018. ²⁶

In 2019, Borealis Philanthropy gave $75,000 to CLINIC. ²⁷

Grantmaking

In 2023, grantees of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network included the Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Community Learning Partnership, Council on American-Islamic Relations California, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, Education and Leadership Foundation, the Jewish Family Service of San Diego, Light of Hope Immigration Law Center, and Human Agenda. ²⁸

Leadership

Anna Marie Gallagher is the executive director and secretary of the board of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, a position she has held since 2019. Previously, Gallagher worked as the head of the litigation for Maggio Kattar, an immigration issues-oriented law firm. Prior to this, she was a co-founder and president of the board of directors of the International Coalition on the Detention of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants, as well as helping to found the Center for Human Rights Legal Action. She has also been a teaching fellow at the Georgetown University Law Center and the deputy director of the Legal Action Center for the American Immigration Law Foundation. ^{29 30}

Michelle Sardone is the deputy director of CLINIC. Previously, she was the legal services group manager at Hogar Immigrant Services of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia. ³¹

Sebastian Knox is the director of human resources and diversity, equity, and inclusion at CLINIC. Previously, Knox worked as the
assistant director of human resources in intercollegiate athletics at the University of Maryland, as a human resources consultant for Al Jazeera Media Network, and as the director of human resources at the Humane Rescue Alliance. ^{32 33}

Jaime Soto, the Catholic bishop of Sacramento, California, is the board chair of CLINIC. ¹

Gwen Mills, president of UNITE HERE, a hospitality industry-focused labor union, is a member of the board of CLINIC. ¹

1. “Clinic’s Board of Directors.” Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). Accessed September 12, 2025. https://www.cliniclegal.org/about-us/board.
2. “Refugee Resettlement: The Lucrative Business Of Serving Immigrants”. 2015. Capital Research Center. https://capitalresearch.org/article/refugee-resettlement-the-lucrative-business-of-serving-immigrants/.
3. Data compiled by FoundationSearch.com subscription service, a project of Metasoft Systems, Inc., from forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Queries conducted February 15, 2019.
4. Nielson, Aly. 2016. “Wikileaks Exposes Soros Millions Pushing To Undermine Catholics”. Newsbusters. https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/business/alatheia-nielsen/2016/10/14/wikileaks-exposes-soros-millions-pushing-undermine.
5.   “Clinic’s Board of Directors.” Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). Accessed September 12, 2025. https://www.cliniclegal.org/about-us/board.
6. “Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (Clinic).” Facebook. Accessed September 13, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/cliniclegal/.
7. “About Us: Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (Clinic).” About Us | Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). Accessed September 13, 2025. https://www.cliniclegal.org/about-us.
8. “Catholic Legal Immigration Network,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2023. Page 9 Part VIII Line e.
9. “Catholic Legal Immigration Network,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2023. Schedule R.
10. “Tax Exempt Organization Search Details: Internal Revenue Service.” Tax Exempt Organization Search Details | Internal Revenue Service. Accessed September 15, 2025. https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/details/.
11. “Guiding Principles.” CLINIC. Accessed February 15, 2019. https://cliniclegal.org/guiding-principles.
12. Toombs, Bonnie. “Church Supports Legal Avenues, Status for Immigrants.” Catholic Diocese of Wichita Kansas. Accessed February 15, 2019. https://catholicdioceseofwichita.org/news/columns/19650-church-supports-legal-avenues-status-for-immigrants-19650.
13. “Advocacy.” CLINIC. Accessed February 15, 2019. https://cliniclegal.org/programs/advocacy.
14. “BIA Pro Bono Project.” CLINIC. Accessed February 15, 2019. https://cliniclegal.org/programs/advocacy/bia-pro-bono.
15. “Center for Citizenship and Immigrant Communities.” CLINIC. Accessed February 15, 2019. https://cliniclegal.org/programs/center-citizenship-and-immigrant-communities.
16. “Programs”. 2019. CLINIC. Accessed February 11, 2019. https://cliniclegal.org/about-us/programs.
17. “Programs”. 2019. CLINIC. Accessed February 11, 2019. https://cliniclegal.org/about-us/programs.
18. “Catholic Group Joins Suit Over Federal Detention Of Immigrant Youth”. 2019. Catholic Philly. http://catholicphilly.com/2019/01/news/national-news/clinic-other-groups-join-in-lawsuit-over-detention-of-immigrant-youth/.
19. “Catholic Legal Immigration Network,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2023. Page 1 Part I Lines 12, 18, and 20.
20. “Awarded Grants.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed September 11, 2025. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=Catholic+Legal+Immigration+Network
21. Nielson, Aly. 2016. “Wikileaks Exposes Soros Millions Pushing To Undermine Catholics”. Newsbusters. https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/business/alatheia-nielsen/2016/10/14/wikileaks-exposes-soros-millions-pushing-undermine.
22. Maghami, Neil. 2017. “True Believers: George Soros And The Religious Left’S War On President Trump”. Capital Research Center. https://capitalresearch.org/article/true-believers-george-soros-and-the-religious-lefts-war-on-president-trump/.
23. “Grants Database.” Ford Foundation. Accessed September 11, 2025. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/?search=Catholic+Legal+Immigration+Network.
24. “Jones Day Foundation,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2023. Schedule I.
25. “Carnegie Corporation of New York,” Return of Private Foundation Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990 PF) 2019, 2021, 2022. 2023, and 2024. Page 11 Part XIV.
26. “American Immigration Council,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2018 and 2019. Schedule.
27. “Borealis Philanthropy,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2019. Schedule I.
28. “Catholic Legal Immigration Network,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2023. Schedule I.
29. “Anna Marie Gallagher.” Anna Marie Gallagher | Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). Accessed September 12, 2025. https://www.cliniclegal.org/about-us/staff/anna-marie-gallagher.
30. “Catholic Legal Immigration Network,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2023. Page 7 Part 7.
31. “Michelle Sardone.” Michelle Sardone | Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). Accessed September 12, 2025. https://www.cliniclegal.org/about-us/staff/michelle-sardone.
32. “Sebastian Knox – Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (Clinic).” LinkedIn. Accessed September 12, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-knox-9b67753/.
33. “Sebastian Knox.” Sebastian Knox | Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). Accessed September 12, 2025. https://www.cliniclegal.org/about-us/staff/sebastian-knox.