Ending Wealth-Based
Jailing

MFF Action is transforming carceral narratives, lobbying our leaders, and organizing our neighbors to fight for an end to the cash bail and immigration detention systems.

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What is Mff action ?

MFF Action is a political advocacy organization and partner of Minnesota Freedom Fund. We engage in lobbying, endorse candidates, and organize the community as we seek to end pre-trial detention and stop the harms of the immigration system in Minnesota.

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making an impact is what counts

What we do & how you can help

Minnesota Freedom Fund paid 657 bails and 76 immigration bonds in 2021, for a total of $6,944,513. We’re proud of Minnesota Freedom Fund’s work to reduce the harms of the cash bail and immigration detention systems, but paying bail and bonds is not enough. We need to create lasting, transformative change — and we need your help to do it.

our impact

Our values

Accountability to Community

The trust of our community is essential to our work. We are committed to remaining accountable to the communities we serve as well as our supporters, donors, and partners. We will also work to empower local organizations across our state.

Abolishing Systems Intended to Harm

We believe that our criminal legal system and immigration detention system, like many other systems in our society, were designed to maintain and uphold white supremacy while prioritizing the wealth, power, and influence of the few at the expense of the many.

Intersectional Racial Equity

We are mindful of the interlocking oppressions that face the people we serve, especially Black, brown, and Indigenous people who are subject to disproportionate rates of arrest, higher bails, harsher sentences, and other institutional abuses.

We have the power to end wealth-based jailing.

Ending pre-trial jailing and eradicating the harms of immigration detention are attainable goals — if we work together.

FAQ

Frequently Asked
Questions

Is Minnesota Freedom Fund Action the same thing as Minnesota Freedom Fund??

No, but we share a few important things like our staff, our values, and our vision for a free and equitable Minnesota. Minnesota Freedom Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit bail fund whose mission is to minimize the harms of wealth-based jailing by paying pre-trial bail and immigration bonds for people who can't afford it.

Its core purpose is to reduce the harms of pre-trial and immigration detention and provide direct aid to people in our community – not lobby elected leaders for policy change. That’s why we created Minnesota Freedom Fund Action (MFF Action), a 501(c)4 lobbying organization dedicated to fighting in legislative and electoral arenas to elect progressive leaders and permanently end systems of wealth-based jailing.

MFF Action works to create lasting, systemic change so that Minnesota Freedom Fund’s work is no longer necessary.

Okay, so Minnesota Freedom Fund Action doesn’t pay bail or immigration bonds. What does it do?

MFF Action is a 501(c)4 lobbying organization working to elect progressive leaders and permanently end systems of racist, wealth-based jailing. 

To reach this goal, MFF Action rates and endorses candidates committed to our mission; builds relationships and lobbies elected leaders to pass bail reform legislation; influences policy related to our mission and goals; works to change the narrative around pre-trial fairness and immigration detention; and leads the grassroots movement for pre-trial fairness in Minnesota.

 In short, MFF Action works alongside the Minnesota Freedom Fund so that, together, we’re not only minimizing the harms of racist, wealth-based carceral systems – we're taking bold, courageous steps to end those systems altogether.

Is it really possible to end pre-trial detention in Minnesota?

Yes – if we work together. 

In the 2022 midterm elections, Minnesota voters rejected a fear-based message that more police, prosecution, and pre-trial punishment is the only path to public safety.

Instead of caving to fear, we elected progressive leaders with the vision and will to fight for pre-trial fairness. We know, and our legislative allies know, that victory is possible when we build a strong, grassroots coalition to fight for pre-trial fairness and immigration justice.

We created MFF Action to share our vision for pre-trial fairness and lead Minnesotans over the finish line. Now we need you to join the movement.

How does Minnesota Freedom Fund Action decide which candidates and policies to support?

MFF Action supports candidates who share our values and are committed to working with us to achieve our common goals: passing pre-trial fairness in Minnesota and eradicating the racist, wealth-based harms of the immigration detention system.

In shaping our legislative agenda, we devote the bulk of our lobbying work to supporting or opposing legislation that directly relates to our mission and goals. But we also recognize that the criminal legal system is a vast and interlocking network of institutions and policies, some of which have big impacts on pre-trial fairness and immigration detention. That’s why we also work with coalitions fighting for things like police reform, driver’s licenses for all, post-conviction review, gross misdemeanor sentencing fairness, improved jail and detention conditions, and more.

Is my donation to MFF Action tax deductible?

MFF Action is a 501(c)4 lobbying organization. Donations to Minnesota Freedom Fund are therefore not deductible for federal income tax purposes.

Our sister organization, Minnesota Freedom Fund, is a 501(c)3 charitable organization and donations to Minnesota Freedom Fund are tax deductible.  

If you have questions about your gift, please contact our Development team at [email protected].