This month, ICE agents have shown up to Fresno County farms, construction sites, and have been making traffic stops across the city.
On Monday, Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias stood alongside activists to announce a response.
“The one way we can act, and we can help is by making resources available to those impacted by these immigration raids,” said Arias.
Arias wants to bring back Fresno’s immigration legal defense fund.
The city previously allocated $200,000 for the fund back in 2021.
If approved, the new resolution would allocate another $1 million to provide immigrants with outside attorneys for detention and deportation defense.
“These funds would be from the general fund, from salary savings of positions that are not filled,” Arias said.
Arias wants to see those savings reallocated to the proposed defense fund during the city’s midyear budget review in January.
Mayor Jerry Dyer says the proposal is premature because there’s no way to know what the budget will look like until then.
And while he understands the need for legal defense for immigrants, he says other local groups already provide those services.
“I try not to replicate or duplicate what other government entities are doing, like the county, the state or the feds, or nonprofits,” Dyer said.
The city council will consider the proposal during their meeting Thursday.
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