"The Alameda County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an additional $3.5 million toward immigrant and refugee defense on Wednesday to support the expansion of the county's rapid response hotline, deportation defense, legal services and Know Your Rights training programs. The funding represents a doubling down of resources to defend Alameda County's sizable immigrant and refugee population amid escalating Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations nationally in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, in addition to recent calls by President Donald Trump to send the National Guard into the Bay Area."
"By reinforcing our rapid response and legal service network, we are charting a path towards establishing an Alameda County Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs to ensure we have the necessary infrastructure to protect and serve our community, regardless of who occupies the White House, said Supervisor Elisa Marquez, Chair of the Public Protection Committee."
"In June, representatives for the county's immigration hotline told the Alameda County For All committee about the limitations of the organization in responding to the rapidly changing needs of the county's immigrants. Monique Juanita Berlanga, a representative for the Alameda County Immigration, Legal and Educational Partnership, said the hotline was only funded to operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; however, staff had been stretched to work on the weekend amid ICE operations in Los Angeles. At this point, we are not necessarily sure that our recommendation would be to commit to a 24/7 ongoing call line, Juanita Berlanga said, but what we do need is additional funding for flexible funding to allow us to adapt with enforcement patterns and changing community needs as they come."
Alameda County unanimously allocated an additional $3.5 million to expand rapid response hotline capacity, deportation defense, legal services, and Know Your Rights training for immigrants and refugees. The funding increases resources amid nationwide escalations in ICE operations and political calls to deploy additional federal forces in the Bay Area. Supervisors emphasized building a legal and response infrastructure and pursuing an Alameda County Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs to protect the community. County hotline representatives reported current funding only covered 6 a.m.–6 p.m. weekdays and called for flexible funding to respond to shifting enforcement patterns and weekend needs.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]