The Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved one-time emergency funding on Tuesday of $3.5 million, including $2.2 million for East Bay nonprofits focused on immigrant legal defense and $1.3 million for additional resources at the public defender’s immigration office for the coming year.
The multimillion-dollar allotment comes amid increasing fear about enhanced immigration enforcement in the United States and around the Bay Area – such as a raid in San Jose in February. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors fast-tracked funds in just six weeks, beginning from a newly formed ad hoc committee resolution to full approval, to add a rapid response network as other Bay Area counties already have.
“Today’s unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors demonstrates our county’s commitment to immigrant and refugee communities,” said Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas on Tuesday, who co-chaired the Alameda County Together for All ad hoc committee that initiated the effort. “The policies of the federal administration are causing fear among our residents, and this action today will provide needed services and legal support to protect our most vulnerable.”
As of 2019, an estimated 107,000 immigrants live in the county without proper documentation, according to the nonpartisan migration think-tank Migration Policy Institute. Privacy experts have warned that their private information may be accessible by Immigration and Customs Enforcement via the county’s municipal ID program that provides access to food, education assistance and homeless services — which privacy experts said could put participants at risk of deportation.
The county’s $1.3 million allocation for the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office immigration unit will support increased staffing over the next year.
In addition, Tuesday’s allocation sent up to $700,000 to Centro Legal de al Raza, an immigrant legal defense organization based in Oakland, to offer the county’s first rapid response hotline and coordinate “Know Your Rights” trainings across its community network; $500,000 to the Chinese Progressive Association, the fiscal sponsor of Trabajadores Unidos Workers United, to provide training and mutual aid to immigrants and refugees; and $1 million for California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, a legal advocacy group offering due process services for detained immigrants.
Bas and Supervisor Elisa Márquez formed the Alameda County Together for All ad hoc committee in January to spearhead a “proactive response” to the Trump administration’s efforts to police vulnerable Alameda County communities – specifically, immigrants and the LGBTQ community.
President Donald Trump has called for the mass deportation of any immigrant living in the country illegally beyond those that pose a security threat. He also has threatened to punish “welcoming counties” like Alameda by withholding federal funds, and sought to end the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship — though those efforts have been blocked by the courts.
Supervisor David Haubert said at Tuesday’s meeting that the resources allocated to community outreach via know-your-rights trainings and immigrant defense are vital to local law enforcement efforts to coordinate with the local community.
“People have constitutional rights whether they are undocumented or not,” Haubert said, defending Alameda County’s “welcoming county” designation. “If they don’t feel safe, then they don’t report crimes that they see, and they may not report crimes that have been perpetuated against them.”
The public echoed Haubert’s argument about the importance of the county to work with and protect its immigrant community to facilitate cooperation with law enforcement instead of fearing deportation.
Juana Flores, co-director of Mujeres Unidas y Activas, a rapid response network providing legal assistance to migrants facing immediate deportation, expressed gratitude to the board on Tuesday for providing funding that would protect Alameda County’s immigrant community.
“It gives the opportunity for these people not to be frightened because they will know what their rights are,” Flores said through an interpreter at the meeting. “Thank you for being on our side.”