THE ALAMEDA COUNTY Board of Supervisors unanimously approved $3.57 million in emergency funding to bolster services for immigrants and refugees as federal immigration enforcement increases across the country.
The new funding will expand the county’s rapid response hotline, legal defense programs, and community outreach efforts, bringing the county’s total investment in immigrant protections this year to more than $7 million.
“As (President) Trump escalates his mass deportation machine, we must escalate our community defense,” said Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas, who chairs the Alameda County Together for All Ad Hoc Committee. “We’re telling our community that we are your partner to fight back against increased ICE enforcement and potential racial profiling.”
The money comes in response to a doubling of regional U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations between January and July and recommendations from local advocacy groups. It includes:
- $1.98 million to the Alameda County Immigration Legal Education Partnership to expand the rapid response hotline to seven days a week.
- $1.04 million to the California Coalition for Immigrant Justice for deportation defense and legal services.
- $514,000 to Trabajades Unidos Workers United for countywide education and community organizing.
- $50,000 to the county Public Defender’s Office to help offset rising litigation and application costs for low-income immigrants.
Supervisor Elisa Marquez, chair of the county’s Public Protection Committee, said the investment moves the county closer to establishing a permanent Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.
“We are charting a path toward building the infrastructure needed to protect and serve our community, regardless of who occupies the White House,” Marquez said.
The latest $3.57 million emergency funding follows a series of prior allocations by the board to bolster immigrant defense and support services. In March, they earmarked $2.2 million for programs aimed at protecting the region’s immigrant and refugee communities in response to heightened federal immigration enforcement. The board had also approved $50,000 to fund legal services and rights education and $1.3 million to increase the capacity of the county public defender’s Immigration Unit to provide deportation defense and legal services to immigrant clients facing removal from the country.
The Board of Supervisors is expected to review a plan on Oct. 21 outlining next steps for coordination among county agencies and community partners.
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