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San Francisco supervisors back $1.8 million boost for immigrant legal aid
Supervisor Jackie Fielder says six colleagues and the mayor support a proposed $1.8 million increase for immigration defense, including $125,000 for a Bay Area habeas network. The announcement followed two ICE arrests in San Francisco and a rally at City Hall.
San Francisco plans to add $1.8 million to immigrant legal defense and support services, Supervisor Jackie Fielder announced at a City Hall rally on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
Fielder said she will introduce the funding request to the Board of Supervisors and that it has unanimous support from the board’s members and Mayor Daniel Lurie. Board President Rafael Mandelman waived the usual 30-day waiting period for the measure; it could come before supervisors as soon as Nov. 4, according to Fielder’s legislative aide, Jennifer Ferrigno.
The proposed funding would support immigration legal services strained by an increase in arrests, including a Bay Area network of attorneys who challenge detentions through habeas corpus petitions. The network is slated to receive $125,000. Other support would go to groups that accompany immigrants to ICE appointments and the city’s rapid-response hotline for immigration arrests.
The announcement came a day after video showed immigration agents surrounding and arresting a man in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. Another person from Nicaragua was arrested during an ICE check-in that same day. A regional analysis found 3,870 known arrests across 18 major Bay Area cities from the start of President Donald Trump’s second administration through the end of July.
“We cannot wait for things to get worse in San Francisco,” Fielder told more than 100 supporters and elected officials gathered outside City Hall. “We will defend our sanctuary city. Not just in words, but in action.” Six supervisors stood with her.
Jennifer Friedman, who manages the San Francisco Public Defender’s Immigration Defense Unit, said demand is outstripping available resources. The additional city funding may take a couple of months to work through the process, but service organizations can begin planning to hire staff, said Hillary Ronen, executive director of La Raza Centro Legal and a former supervisor.
“I am elated. It is an unprecedented win,” Ronen said.
The funding announcement followed a two-month delay in responding to an emergency funding request from the Bay Area Habeas Network, according to prior reporting. The network’s attorneys have helped secure the quick release of dozens of immigrants from detention, organizers said.