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The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors agreed to beef up funding for emergency legal representation and deportation defense services for immigrants, following signs of heightened immigration enforcement by federal officials.
Supervisors unanimously agreed at the Sept. 25 board meeting on a nearly five-fold increase in funding for the so-called Rapid Response Network — from $100,500 to $550,000 — which provides a raft of support services deployed when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is sighted in the community and detains immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally.
Among those services, the Rapid Response Network has a 24-hour hotline for residents to report ICE encounters or sightings; a “rapid alert” messaging system for advocates to monitor ICE activity and act as recorders; and most importantly, attorneys availabl to provide same-day legal representation for anyone transported to an ICE processing center. All of these services have been provided to date on a shoestring budget, kept afloat only through “redirected” funds and volunteer work, according to a letter by Akemi Flynn, executive director of People Acting in Community Together.
“Our staff has contributed extensive ‘volunteer’ time during our intense start up phase, and we benefited from training and technical infrastructure from a RRN partner’s statewide and national network,” he said. “But now we need the funding to sustain a strong rapid response network for our community across Santa Clara County.”
From July 1, 2017 to the end of July this year, the network’s hotline received more than 3,000 calls, sent out 94 ICE raid alerts and dispatched attorneys for emergency representation 47 times. The biggest spike — more than half the calls and two-thirds of the raid alerts — occurred in the early months this year. This was the same period ICE officials were reportedly checking local 7-Eleven stores for the immigration status of employees, and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf publicaly warned residents of imminent ICE raids.
An alert last year followed reports that ICE was conducting a sweep at the Park Vista apartments in Mountain View. Local ICE officials declined to name the location, but confirmed a young man was detained. The family was subsequently provided legal representation.
Luis Angel Reyes Savalza, a removal defense attorney at Pangea Legal Services, thanked the board for “standing with immigrant communities in these difficult times.” He said arrests by ICE have been up 40 percent in the last year in the United States, and arrests of immigrants with no criminal convictions have more than doubled. He said the Rapid Response Network’s ability to provide legal representation within hours of an arrest makes a big difference when it comes to deportation proceedings.
“The first hours of someone’s arrest can mean the different between an immediate deportation or having an opportunity to go in front of a judge,” he said. “It can mean the difference between prolonged detention or being released on an ICE bond. It can mean the difference between being transferred to an out of state detention facility or being kept in a local detention facility where we can provide full scope representation.”
Along with heightened enforcement, Savalza said ICE has “become accustomed” to using deceitful and coersive tactics to get detainees to waive their rights on the first day of arrest, or sign a deportation order before they are able to see an attorney.
Shouan Riahi, the legal services director at SIREN, thanked the board for the ongoing investment, but said a series of policy decisions by the Trump administration means more funding will be needed to ensure immigrants have access to removal defense attorneys. Along with the attempt to repeal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which is still playing out in court, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is reportedly reviewing whether immigrants facing expedited removal proceedings can seek bond, and weighing whether asylum seekers should be entitled to bond hearings or should remain in detention until a hearing.
ICE officials reported last week that the agency arrested dozens of potential sponsors of undocumented migrant children, after background checks determined a majority of the people who came forward willing to take the children were in the U.S. illegally.
County supervisors took up the item late in an eight-hour meeting and approved the item with little discussion, with Supervisor Cindy Chavez making the motion for the increased funding with a few strings attached. She requested that the county take measures to ensure the nonprofits are able to “absorb the financing” and actually carry out the work being asked, and verify that the the county isn’t duplicating funding for the same services.
The Santa Clara County Rapid Response Network was
officially launched last August with the full support of elected officials from both the county and the city of Mountain View. The network relies on a network of several hundred volunteers who are mostly tasked with sending out alerts and keeping an accurate record of what transpires during an ICE sweep — particularly if ICE officials tread on the constitutional rights of detained immigrants.
Are you kidding me? Why are my tax dollars spent on this crap? If county has a huge budget surplus, they are welcome to lower the taxes instead of finding some inventive ways to waste the money.
Your sanctuary state tax dollars hard at work…
It is crazy that our tax dollars are going to this. I came here legally and went through all the requirements to become a citizen. There weren’t any groups willing to help me break federal laws back then. Mike Wasserman, Cindy Chavez, Dave Cortese, Ken Yeager & Joe Simitian should all be forced to step down from their positions and pay for this funding themselves, maybe even serve jail time for interfering with an investigation since the money will go towards ICE alerts.
If you think this is wrong, remember these names so they can no longer be put in charge of you tax dollars.
P.s. I’m sure there will be people that will think of my words as being hateful and you have every right to think what you want as do I, but I am against our tax dollars going towards funding illegal activity. I’d have less of a problem if the county said they were going to help undocumented immigrants become legal residents or citizens.
I know this doesn’t really matter to you, psr, but unlawful presence is not a crime, so your premise is false.
psr, walk us through what happened to Kate Steinle. Why is it that the person you claim murdered her was found not guilty?
You said,
“psr, walk us through what happened to Kate Steinle. Why is it that the person you claim murdered her was found not guilty?”
Why you ask? because people like you where on the jury.
This illegal, who had been deported multiple times, shot Kate and killed her with a stolen handgun from a federal officer. The Democrat party protects illegals over US citizens. The jury ruled the illegal shot her, but they made an excuse for him and called it an accident. Ask Kate’s father how he feels about that, he held Kate in his arms when she was shot and Kate said to her Dad, “Help me Daddy”.
It’s always fun when someone substitutes their judgment for that of a jury. I guess presumption of innocence (and even being acquitted at trial!) doesn’t apply if your skin is brown… At least we get people like you putting their unhinged anger on display for everyone to see.
It’s really a sight to behold. You can almost feel the spittle flying at you as you typed “this illegal” further dehumanizing a person. Keep it up, you’re really helping your side seem cool and level-headed, not at all motivated by racism and fear.
I moved away a few years ago, but still remember the sting of the taxes in CA. A friend once suggested allowing people to vote on how 50% of their federal taxes should be spent and I wonder how many would approve of this funding. I have lived and worked in 4 countries and in 3 out of 4 cases I was there legally. Had I been caught working illegally, I would have expected a rapid deportation, not free legal counsel.
Unlawful presence is a civil violation. I don’t really care how much you feel like it’s a crime, it’s a simple matter of fact that it isn’t. Unfortunately, facts don’t care about your feelings. At least you stated your feelings with certainty and avoided looking like a fool…
The NOLO website offers clarity on the issue of civil and criminal penalties for illegal or “improper” entry into the United States. The website is helpful for anyone who might need so,e clarity, and has links to statutes, etc.
http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/us-immigration/crime-enter-illegally.html
Is it a Crime to Enter The U.S. Illegally?
“Illegal entry (or “improper entry”) to the US carries criminal penalties (fines and jail or prison time), in addition to civil penalties and immigration consequences (deportation and bars from future entry).”
… more…
Criminal Penalties for Improper Entry
“For the first improper entry offense, the person can be fined (as a criminal or civil penalty), or imprisoned for up to six months, or both. This is considered a misdemeanor under federal law (18 U.S.C.A. § 3559).
For a subsequent offense, or a reentry (or attempted reentry) after exclusion or deportation, the person can be fined or imprisoned for up to two years, or both. (See 8 U.S.C. Section 1325, 1326, I.N.A. Section 275, 276.) This is considered a low-level felony under federal law (18 U.S.C.A. § 3559).”
You’re pointing to improper entry, not unlawful presence. People in Santa Clara County are unlikely to be charged with improper entry, given that there aren’t any borders here. While you claim to provide clarity, you’re simply obfuscating to further your agenda.
I find it hard to believe that the county is funding an “ICE Alert” system where the lawful presence of Immigration agents is broadcast. Is it so that recipients can make sure that their green cards are on their presence?
It is outrageous that our tax dollars are being spent to defend criminals who have no business in this country at all, but to have a system in place to warn those same criminals about their impending potential arrest is beyond all reason. It is an offense to all law-abiding citizens and a slap in the face to immigrants who have followed the law and come to this country the right way – the legal way.
I don’t care if they “haven’t broken any laws” while they are here, as Nancy Pelosi is so fond of saying. Their very presence in this country is a crime, since they are not abiding by the immigration laws that we have in place. It is not the place of any community to pick and choose which laws to enforce and which to ignore. If it’s a law, it should be enforced. You don’t like it? Then change the law by the proper process.
If you want to waste tax money on something related to immigration, then spend the money to support the families of citizens who have been harmed by criminal illegal aliens. Where were you when Kate Steinle was murdered by an alien who had be deported 5 times previously? What about her rights? What about Molly Tibbets? What about the scores of other citizens harmed or killed because immigration laws were ignored?
The bottom line is that anyone in this country without proper documentation is breaking the law and they should apprehended and dealt with according to the law. Also, any city, county or state who refuses to enforce those laws, which exist to protect the citizens, should be subject to prosecution should a citizen be harmed by their failure to enforce those laws. We have enough native-born criminals. We don’t need to allow more to enter the country illegally. Any person who is robbed, molested, assaulted or killed by an illegal alien is a person who has been needlessly harmed. To say otherwise is to ignore reality.
@LOL
“Unlawful presence is not a crime”
Really? Then why is it called UNLAWFUL? If it isn’t a crime, then why are MY tax dollars being wasted to defend these people when they aren’t breaking the law?
The reality is that it is, in fact, a crime to be in this country illegally. Just because you and other illegal immigrant apologists have decided it isn’t and you have a governor in this state that thumbs his nose at federal laws doesn’t mean that they are not breaking the law.
Why don’t we ever blame the farmers and big agra for continuing to demand low wage workers and hiring undocumented people. OK Americans, now is your chance to go to the valley and pick fruit! Not one of us will do the work and we know it.
Wage theft is real, the rich don’t rally want to change the system, they like us fighting each other.
Santa Barbara Avocado farmers need workers- so send your sons and daughters to take those jobs now!