_WHAT’S HAPPENING_
The Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate activist group founded in 2017, has undergone a transformation from its original environmental focus. Last September, delegates from over 100 local hubs voted to expand the organization's mission to fighting "authoritarianism."
The shift has led to more confrontational tactics, including disrupting federal immigration operations, training students to provoke conflict with college administrators, and laying the groundwork for mass student strikes.
This comes as the federal government has been scrutinizing left-wing activist organizations, with the Justice Department directing prosecutors to investigate groups linked to funders like George Soros' Open Society Foundations, which gave $2 million to Sunrise between 2019 and 2023.
_THE FACTS_
Last year, Sunrise Movement delegates voted 74 percent in favor of expanding the organization's mission beyond climate activism to include fighting the Trump administration.
The group organized what it called "the largest student walkouts" of Trump's presidency in response to the National Guard deployment in Washington, DC.
Sunrise coordinated ICE Out For Good campaigns targeting Hilton Hotels, including booking and canceling reservations, staging late-night "wide awake" protests, and encouraging hotel staff non-cooperation with federal ICE agents.
George Soros' Open Society Foundations donated $2 million to Sunrise between 2019 and 2023, according to grant database records.
Sunrise partnered with Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) and other groups to pressure thousands of colleges into dropping contracts with companies linked to ICE operations.
A Sunrise-hosted training session taught students to "manufacture conflict" with college administrators and create viral social media content portraying officials as "the villain."
Stu Smith, who authored a recent City Journal piece on Sunrise’s activism, told Upward News that groups like Sunrise Movement and YDSA use broad recruitment strategies aimed at college students, making them more far-reaching and durable over time than more niche left-wing groups like Students for Justice in Palestine.
Smith also said the federal government could start cracking down by tightening the tax filings nonprofits use to report their finances and activities, thereby forcing transparency and ensuring a clear separation between charity and political activism.
_OUR TAKE_
Climate protests, pro-Palestine organizing, opposition to immigration enforcement, and anti-Trump activism all seem to inevitably overlap. For example, Greta Thunberg shifted from being the face of climate change activism to joining Gaza flotillas and taking part in broader anti-capitalist causes.
What’s different about Sunrise Movement is that many elected Democratic officials have publicly supported them, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Ro Khanna (CA), Ilhan Omar (MN), Ayanna Pressley (MA), and Senators Ed Markey (MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
It recruits young members in high school and college in conjunction with the Democratic Socialists and other far-left groups. No matter what the cause may be — climate change, Palestine, social or economic justice — these nonprofit groups that receive millions of Soros' money can turn on a dime to become a vicious political force.
