Immigrant defense funds slashed in San Jose budget cuts - San Jose Spotlight

"San Jose is planning to slash its funding for immigrant protection services in half amid a budget deficit, while immigrants continue to face fear of federal enforcement. The city's proposed operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year allocates $500,000 for legal defense services and education - half of what the city allocated last year. Immigration advocates said it isn't enough to keep up with the demands of providing free legal services to a local population worried about being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. They want the city to restore full funding."

""We still need that $1 million. The threat hasn't gone away in a year," Maritza Maldonado, executive director of nonprofit Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment, told San José Spotlight. With the $1 million San Jose allocated to immigrant services last year, the Rapid Response Network - a coalition of nonprofits and volunteers working to protect immigrants that includes Amigos de Guadalupe, Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN), Asian Law Alliance and more - hired attorneys to help people detained by ICE."

"The network also documents ICE activity, dispatches observers during ICE arrests, accompanies people to court appearances and runs a 24/7 hotline. Money from the city helps keep the hotline staffed, Jeremy Barousse, policy and organizing director at Amigos de Guadalupe, said. "It's made a huge impact in these political times," Barousse told San José Spotlight. "Just historically, we've been short of having enough immigration attorneys to be able to effectively serve the immigrant population here in San Jose. A million dollars out of a $6 billion budget is really a sizable investment in our city's most vulnerable population.""

San Jose plans to reduce funding for immigrant protection services by half due to a budget deficit. The proposed operating budget allocates $500,000 for legal defense services and education, down from $1 million the previous year. Immigration advocates say the reduced amount cannot meet demand for free legal services for residents worried about detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. With the prior $1 million allocation, the Rapid Response Network hired attorneys for people detained by ICE, documented ICE activity, dispatched observers during arrests, accompanied people to court, and operated a 24/7 hotline. Advocates argue the threat persists and that the funding level is a significant investment in vulnerable residents.

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