Undocumented Migration Project Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Mission listed on website: The Undocumented Migration Project UMP is a long-term anthropological study of clandestine movement between Latin America and the United States that uses ethnography, archaeology, visual anthropology, and forensic science to understand this violent social process and raise awareness through research, education, and public outreach.
- Income
- $97,139
- Spending
- $68,043
- Reserves
- 18.7 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 61%
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 85% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, under $250k).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 18.7 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 1% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 30% of income.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
This organization files the short tax form, which does not ask about boards, policies or audits. That is normal for a small charity and is not a mark against it.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $7,271 spent. Research and Education: The UMP possesses over a decade worth of research that uses a combination of ethnographic, archaeological, forensic, and visual anthropological approaches to understand various aspects of unauthorized border crossings. By combining ethnographic work in Mexico with forensic and archaeological research in Arizona, the UMP has improved our knowledge of this highly politicized and poorly understood process and demonstrated how an archaeological approach can provide new insight into a contemporary social phenomenon. The research being conducted by the UMP is interdisciplinary, a fact reflected by the projects diverse theoretical and methodological approaches, the wide range of venues where this work is being published, and the ethnographic-archaeological field school that has been running in Arizona and Mexico since 2010.
- Public Outreach: The UMP aims to take social science research and translate that data into large-scale, interdisciplinary, public outreach endeavors intended to raise awareness around issues related to immigration and social justice. The UMP's current spotlight endeavor, Hostile Terrain 94 HT94, is a participatory exhibition combining education and art occurring in nearly 150 cities around the globe. HT94 seeks to illuminate and create a public discourse around the humanitarian crisis occurring at the U.S.-Mexico Border. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the exhibition has been extended far beyond its original end date of 2020 and will continue into 2026. As of December 2025, nearly 150 exhibitions have occurred around the globe. It is anticipated that by the end of 2025 between 75,000 and 100,000 people will have participated in the creation of the exhibition. These numbers do not include the thousands of anticipated visitors to the exhibitions nor those reached virtually.
- Community Engagement: The UMP engages with communities impacted by migration in many ways in addition to its foundational participatory exhibition work. In 2025 the UMP focused community engagement efforts on youth impacted by migration and the complicated co-contributing factors such as climate change providing community workshops and projects focused on multi-modal storytelling
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since April 2019.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.