Why CA cities are spending more to protect migrants

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As the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement, several California city and county governments are setting aside public funds for help immigrants and to the rapid response networks that support them to ensure they have access to legal protection.

San Francisco and Alameda County are among the latest to allocate additional funds to immigrants to protect themselves against deportation. In October, when President Donald Trump threatened to increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Bay Area, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously bolstered its defense fund with $3.5 million. In March, Alameda County doubled the original fund to $3.5 million.

Richmond, Los Angeles and Santa Clara County have also created immigration defense funds. And Bay Area cities joined forces to create the Stand Together Bay Area Fund, a legal resource funded entirely by philanthropy.

Santa Clara County Executive Susan Ellenberg said it is in the county’s best interest to protect immigrants, who make up 40 percent of its population.

“We have a direct connection and concern for the people who work, live, raise families, pay taxes, participate in our community and keep our economy and social fabric strong,” Ellenberg said. “Therefore, our local funds go to protect local interests.”

Caitlin Patler, an associate professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, said the funds are needed given the large immigrant population in the United States and the punitive nature of immigration courts.

“I don’t think anybody should represent themselves in any court when the government comes with a lawyer every time,” he said.

Unlike criminal cases, deportation proceedings are held in civil courts, meaning those defending themselves against the federal government are not entitled to a free court-appointed attorney. However, these cases have a huge impact on people’s lives.

“Immigration judges have said these cases are like looking at life sentences in traffic court,” Patler said.

Legal funds predate Trump’s election

Investments by local governments in immigrant defense funds are not new and predate the Trump era.

In 2013, New York became the first major city to introduce a pilot immigrant legal defense fund after the Obama administration stepped up enforcement of immigration laws. San Francisco launched a similar program the following year.

and 2014 study conducted by the Northern California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice found that immigrants represented by attorneys from several Bay Area nonprofits won 83 percent of their deportation hearings, significantly more than those without legal representation. However, two-thirds of detained immigrants did not have access to legal aid.

California created a Immigrant Assistance Program in 2015, shortly after the Obama administration expanded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, allowing more immigrants who came to the United States undocumented as children to live and work legally. Known as “One California,” the $45 million fund supports nonprofit organizations that provide services to immigrants, including legal aid. The program prohibits the use of funds for people convicted of serious crimes.

The fund is part of the annual budget year after year, although debate has arisen over whether the funds can be used by immigrants with felony convictions. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a budget bill that some immigrant advocates criticized as too restrictive because it appeared to expand the number of serious crimes that disqualify a person from state legal aid. Newsom’s position matched that of Republicans who wanted to limit access to the fund.

While immigrant advocacy funding began more than a decade ago, the trend accelerated in late 2016, following Trump’s first election. That year, Trump campaigned to tighten border controls and discourage immigration across the country.

Shortly after Trump’s inauguration in 2017, Los Angeles became one of the cities to create funds for immigrants to use against deportation.

It was the start of a $10 million public-private fund launched by former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. The Los Angeles Justice Fund, expanded in 2022 to create RepresentLA, is an ongoing investment by the city, county and philanthropic organizations.

More funding after Trump’s re-election

A month into Trump’s second term, Santa Clara County allocated $5 million to support response efforts related to Trump’s crackdown on immigrants. He has since increased that allocation to $13 million.

Santa Clara’s fund is broader than most, Ellenberg said, and supports a variety of immigration resource organizations, including the Rapid Response Network, as well as legal advocacy, outreach, education and prevention efforts.

In September, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie appeared at a press conference with the mayors of Oakland and San Jose to announce the United Bay Area Fund, to raise $10 million to help immigrant families affected by detention and deportation. The cities have not allocated public funds for this fund, which is administered by the nonprofit San Francisco Foundation.

“I understand their role is to support fundraising,” said Rachel Benditt, a foundation spokeswoman. “I don’t think they will donate money from the municipal budgets.

In a news release about the fund, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said it will bring together resources from individuals, corporations, the faith community and philanthropic partners to support nonprofit groups working with immigrant communities.

Three Alameda County leaders are using public funds to support the initiative. These funds will come from the so-called discretionary budgets they receive to finance activities in their areas. Supervisor Nikki Fortnato Bass announced she would donate $50,000 to the cause.

“These dollars are just part of a much bigger fight,” he said press release . “Fighting for dignity, for rights and for the future of our democracy.”

This story is part of “The Bets”, UC Berkeley’s journalism project on executive orders and actions affecting Californians and their communities.