House Republicans are pressing the IRS to investigate the Berkeley-based Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), a nonprofit that presents itself as a humanitarian charity for children and families in the Middle East, over financial ties to organizations linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
A September 28 referral from the House Ways and Means Committee cited repeated funding of PFLP-linked organizations and growing opacity over millions of dollars in overseas grants. The committee asked the IRS to investigate MECA and consider revoking its tax-exempt status.
The congressional action follows a July report by the Network Contagion Research Institute that traced MECA funding to organizations with PFLP ties, including the Union of Health Work Committees and Union of Agricultural Work Committees. The report also traced money flowing into MECA from foundations linked to billionaire George Soros and China-based tech entrepreneur Neville Roy Singham, whose nonprofit network has separately drawn congressional scrutiny.
The House referral also highlighted a sharp change following the October 7, 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel and massacre of civilians. MECA had averaged about $1.8 million a year in foreign grants from fiscal 2018 through 2023. Its overseas grants then jumped to more than $10.6 million in fiscal 2024 and $11.4 million in fiscal 2025. At the same time, its disclosures became far less specific. None of the 49 foreign-grant entries in its 2024 return identified a recipient organization, and 36 were described only as “community projects.” In 2025, none of its 38 foreign grants included a stated purpose.
The committee is asking the IRS to prioritize the referral and forward any evidence of prohibited transactions or material support for a designated terrorist organization to the Justice Department and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
“Ways & Means Republicans Move to Strip Tax-Exempt Status from Nonprofit with Suspected Terrorism Ties,” House Ways and Means Committee, September 28, 2026
