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 Márquez, Chair of the Public Protection Committee.
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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.”
In the appropriation on Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors tapped on Measure W, a ballot measure originally billed as funding for homelessness, to provide funding to various immigration groups. The Oakland-based nonprofit Centro Legal de la Raza for preemptive legal services, “Know Your Rights” trainings and a Rapid Response Hotline. Trabajadores Unidos Workers United was given an additional $541,375 to prepare immigrant and refugee communities with training and mutual aid. And the California Collaborative for Immigrant Rights received a supplemental $1 million for legal services.
“As Trump escalates his mass deportation machine, we must escalate our community defense and protect the rights and safety of all our residents,” said Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas, chair of the Alameda County Together for All Ad Hoc committee
