FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — The Fresno City Council voted Thursday to re-establish the city’s immigration legal defense fund amid what officials describe as increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in recent weeks.
Councilmember Miguel Arias said demand for legal assistance has increased significantly.
“We’ve seen in these recent ICE raids, citizens and legal immigrants have also been picked up and victimized, including those who are undocumented. They have a right to due process. The defense fund is designed to help residents’ constitutional rights that have been violated by ICE,” Arias said.
According to city officials, funding for the program would come from salary savings generated by keeping vacant city positions unfilled.
Opponents of the proposal argued that taxpayer dollars should not be used to benefit a single group of residents.
“If the real concern is due process when government acts badly, the answer is simple make the fund available to any Fresno resident harmed by government or political abuse,” Fresno resident Niel O’Brien said.
Arias defended the proposal by comparing it to legal assistance provided in eviction cases.
“Eviction is a civil matter. Immigration is a civil matter. We have invested more than $6 million representing those who are legally evicted who are residents of Fresno. This is no different,” Arias said.
The city has previously funded immigration legal defense efforts. In 2022, Fresno spent $200,000 on 18 immigration cases. Of those, eight remain open, and 10 were completed successfully.
In 2023, the city spent $100,000 on 17 cases. Sixteen remain open, while one was completed successfully.
In 2025, the city budgeted $100,000 for the program, but legal staff were instructed not to open any new cases.
The city attorney’s office said there are several reasons many of the cases remain unresolved. In some instances, outside legal counsel is still awaiting documents. Other cases remain pending with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, while some hearings are scheduled years into the future.
As the council meeting continued inside City Hall, demonstrators gathered outside. State Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria joined the protest following her announcement of $3 million for Central Valley community organizations that support immigrant families.
“We’re saying ICE out. We want them to stop doing what they’re doing. They are racially profiling people regardless of if they are citizens are not. And our families are scared,” Soria said.
The vote could still face a challenge from Mayor Jerry Dyer, who has the authority to veto the measure. Dyer has previously described the proposal as premature.
“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.
This fund will only apply to those with no criminal convictions, and they must be residents of Fresno.
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