Thread: LA County leaders may spend millions to defend immigrants facing deportation

LA County leaders may spend millions to defend immigrants facing deportation



06/19/17, 2:41 AM PDT

Six months after Los Angeles city and county leaders proposed a legal defense fund to help people facing deportation, the Board of Supervisors is expected to vote Tuesday to authorize contributing $3 million to the collection over the next two years.

The Board almost voted on allocating county money to the LA Justice Fund in April to help undocumented immigrants and others threatened with deportation. But they postponed their decision after questions were raised within the motion, including who would benefit from the fund. One pending concern was if the money should go toward defending undocumented immigrants with criminal records.

The California Coalition for Universal Representation, which includes members from the American Civil Liberties Union, had called for universal representation, including those with criminal backgrounds.

“The coalition believes that everyone caught up in the deportation system – even those convicted of serious crimes – deserves legal representation,” according to a group statement in April.

The contract agreement set before the Board on Tuesday states that legal services paid by the fund “shall not be provided to individuals who have been convicted of, or who are currently appealing a conviction for a violent felony,” including murder, rape, inflicting bodily harm, sexual assaults, carjacking, extortion and threats to victims or witnesses, and other crimes listed under the state’s penal code known as section 667.5, subdivision c.

But the agreement does have a breakdown of who would qualify, including residents of Los Angeles County who are at risk of removal and whose income falls below 200 percent of federal poverty level, or $49,000 for a family of four. Those with close ties to Los Angeles County whose family members are U.S. citizens, or who are lawful permanent individuals with community ties, or those who are deferred action for childhood arrivals or DACA recipients will be given preference. Also, those who are heads of a household with one or more dependent family members, unaccompanied children and minors, veterans, and victims of domestic violence or human trafficking, also will be considered, according to the agreement.

The fund was proposed in December by members of the Los Angeles City Council and the Board of Supervisors in response to President Donald Trump’s pre-election remarks about deporting people who live in the country illegally. Los Angeles city and county leaders unveiled plans to contribute $5 million to the proposed $10 million fund, with local nonprofit organizations providing the rest.

The Los Angeles City Council earlier this month adopted a budget that sets aside $1 million to L.A. Justice Fund, but have yet to vote on moving it forward, prompting criticism from some advocates for immigrants. The county plans to allocate $1 million for the 2017-18 fiscal year, and $2 million in the next fiscal year. So far, $2.2 million from philanthropic and non profit organizations has been collected for the L.A. Justice Fund, which is overseen by the California Community Foundation.

Tuesday’s consideration by the supervisors comes just days after U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly announced that the department has chosen to rescind President Obama’s 2014 memorandum that created the program known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans or DAPA. However, Obama’s policy that created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA program will remain in effect, according to a statement from Homeland Security.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis called Trump’s decision to end DAPA “heartless” and said his decision will allow the federal government to rip apart families and separate over 5 million immigrants from their loved ones.”

“Trump’s cruel actions will harm those who are simply trying to make better lives for themselves and their families,” she said in a statement.

Tuesday’s motion to authorize the county’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs to allocate the money must include three votes to pass.

“It is my hope that the County’s contribution to the LA Justice Fund will prioritize funding for legal representation for individuals with community ties to LA County, including family members who are U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents, and DACA recipients,” Solis said.

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Waste of money...there are too many of them and the Lawyer's will use that up in NO time.

Drop in the bucket!

Stupid fools.

Originally Posted by lorrie

LA County leaders may spend millions to defend immigrants facing deportation

Again, they're NOT immigrants! They're illegal aliens. There's a big difference in the two. Don't you just love it when these defenders of illegal aliens use trickery in their wording to try to gain sympathy from the average American.

Someone needs to tell these people that write these articles with the wording "immigrant" that they are wrong, because it's impossible to deport an immigrant, because immigrants legally acquired the required paperwork to gain citizenship.

So we should ask these people next time they use the word "immigrant" how it's possible that they will be deported when immigrants come here through a legal process. Let's force them to say the word "illegal". And then we can say...yes, ILLEGAL! Didn't they break our laws to come here ILLEGALLY?!

WE NEED TO CALL THEM OUT ON THIS WORDING WHENEVER POSSIBLE. BECAUSE ILLEGALS ARE NOT IMMIGRANTS.