ICE Funding Request: Alameda County Advocates Seek Support
Alameda County faces a critical juncture as increased ICE activity fuels widespread fear among its immigrant population, straining the county’s immigration defense role. While supervisors allocated $3.5 million for immigrant services, advocates contend it’s insufficient.The county’s immigration enforcement hotline struggles to meet community needs. This surge in enforcement is placing meaningful pressure on advocacy groups and public defenders.The limited hours of the ICE hotline and the broader scope of ICE’s actions are causing heightened anxiety. News Directory 3 reports on the ongoing discussion about additional funding. Will the Board of Supervisors allocate more resources for immigration defense? Discover what’s next for Alameda County’s immigrant community.
ICE Enforcement Strains Alameda County’s Immigration Defense role
increased ICE activity across California is causing widespread fear among Alameda county’s immigrant population. this surge in enforcement is stretching the resources of advocacy groups and public defenders who are tasked with providing crucial support.
In March, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors allocated $3.5 million to bolster immigrant services. The funds were intended to re-establish an immigration enforcement hotline, expand the number of immigration public defenders, and conduct ”Know your Rights” training sessions. Though, advocates argue that the needs of the immigrant community are far outpacing their ability to respond effectively to the federal government’s intensified immigration enforcement efforts. The county’s immigration defense role is being tested.
monique Berlanga, executive director for Centro Legal de la Raza, a legal defense nonprofit, emphasized the limitations of the current funding. “We’re very grateful for the county’s investment to date, but I think we all know $700,000 is not enough to set up an infrastructure that covers an entire county,” Berlanga said.”Everything we’ve built so far can and will be tested in the upcoming months.”
The stepped-up ICE activity has heightened anxiety for the more than 100,000 undocumented immigrants residing in Alameda County. On June 6,Miguel Lopez,a father who had lived in the U.S. for 29 years, was deported to Mexico from Livermore. This occurred just hours before a judge issued a temporary restraining order aimed at preventing federal officials from removing him from the country.
While ICE enforcement in the Bay Area has been less extensive compared to metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, were confrontations occurred during operations, the agency appears to be broadening its scope. Despite the Trump administration’s stated focus on deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records, ICE’s actions suggest a wider net.
Raha Jorjani, deputy public defender and supervisor of the office’s immigration unit, criticized the agency’s approach. “When a federal agency shows no respect for due process, violates domestic and international laws, ignores court orders and strikes access to counsel, offers zero openness when it matters the moast and engages in brute and excessive force against unarmed civilians, it fosters no confidence that that said federal agency’s intention is to act justly and humanely,” Jorjani said.
Berlanga noted that these enforcement actions have placed a notable strain on community partners like Centro Legal de La Raza. The county’s ICE hotline, which operates in partnership with Centro Legal de la Raza, is available only on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., making it difficult to respond to calls during weekends.
“Last week, there was some FBI activity at the NewPark Mall in Newark, and the hotline was getting calls, frantic calls, thinking that this was going to be another LA,” Berlanga said. “We’re not necessarily sure that our advice would be to commit to a 24/7 ongoing call line, but what we do need is additional funding or flexible funding to allow us to adapt with enforcement patterns.”
Supervisors Elisa Marquez and Nate Miley, members of the Public protection Committee, expressed interest in providing additional resources during a recent meeting. As the Board of Supervisors prepares to plan the county’s budget for the upcoming year on Monday, they will need to assess how much more the county can allocate to immigration defense, considering that approximately 60% of its budget is derived from state and federal sources.
“We don’t know when or if raids will come to us, but we need to be prepared,” Marquez said.
What’s next
The alameda County Board of Supervisors will discuss budget allocations for immigration defense at their upcoming meeting, determining the level of support available to the county’s immigrant population in the face of ongoing ICE enforcement.