In today's rapidly evolving legal landscape, nonprofits, private foundations, and sanctuary cities find themselves facing unprecedented scrutiny from federal authorities. In a timely and insightful article published in the Daily Journal's Top White Collar Lawyers 2025 Supplement, Bienert Katzman Littrell Williams LLP Managing Partner John L. Littrell, examines how progressive institutions can navigate these new realities.

The article details how a cascade of executive orders and policy memoranda have targeted progressive institutions and their funding sources. From immigration enforcement task forces to investigations into organizations that provide services to immigrant communities, the administration has signaled an abrupt and sometimes unprecedented reinterpretation of existing legal frameworks. Attorney General Pam Bondi has threatened to prosecute individuals who obstruct federal immigration enforcement under various criminal statutes, and even prominent philanthropists have been publicly identified as potential RICO targets.

As John explains in the article, white collar attorneys must expand their traditional expertise to meet these new challenges:

"The objective is not retreat, but resilience: programs built on lawful foundations, records that reflect a culture of compliance, and structures that allow progressive institutions to continue their work-even as the new administration era tests their resolve."

For in-house counsel at progressive organizations, the stakes could not be higher. Developing compliance programs that minimize legal liability while remaining true to an institution's core mission requires both strategic foresight and an understanding of the new enforcement landscape. This means becoming well-versed in immigration law, obstruction of justice statutes, and RICO-areas that have not traditionally been central to nonprofit legal compliance.

Read the full article at dailyjournal.com (subscription required) to learn more about how progressive institutions can protect themselves in this new enforcement environment.