{"id":190345,"date":"2026-02-23T19:28:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T19:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/190345\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T19:28:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T19:28:54","slug":"why-these-california-counties-are-directly-funding-immigrant-legal-defense-amid-trumps-crackdown-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/190345\/","title":{"rendered":"Why these California counties are directly funding immigrant legal defense amid Trump\u2019s crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was originally published by CalMatters<\/a>. Sign up<\/a> for their newsletters.<\/p>\n

With the Trump administration escalating immigration enforcement, a number of California municipal and county governments are setting aside public money to help immigrants<\/a> and rapid response networks build legal defenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

San Francisco and Alameda County are among the latest to designate\u00a0 additional money for immigrants to defend themselves against deportation. In October, when President Donald Trump threatened to increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Bay Area, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors beefed up its defense fund by a unanimous vote with $3.5 million. In March, Alameda County doubled the fund it had started with $3.5 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Richmond, Los Angeles and Santa Clara County also have established immigration defense funds. And Bay Area cities have joined forces to create Stand Together Bay Area Fund, a legal resource completely funded by philanthropy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said it\u2019s in the county\u2019s best interest to protect immigrants, who make up 40% of its population.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aWe have a direct nexus and concern to people who are working, living, raising families, paying taxes, participating in our community and keeping our economy and our social fabric strong,\u201d Ellenberg said. \u201c\u200aSo our local dollars are being spent to protect local interests.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Caitlin Patler, associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Goldman School of Public Policy, said the funds are necessary, given the large immigrant population in the United States and the punitive nature of immigration courts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that anyone should be representing themselves in any courtroom when the government comes with an attorney every time,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unlike criminal cases, deportation proceedings are in civil court, which means those defending themselves against the federal government do not have a right to a court-appointed lawyer free of charge. But the cases have an enormous impact on people\u2019s lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cImmigration judges have said these cases are like adjudicating life sentences in a traffic court setting,\u201d Patler said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Legal funds precede Trump\u2019s election<\/p>\n

Local government investments in defense funds for immigrants are not new, and they precede the Trump era.<\/p>\n

In 2013, New York City became the first major city to implement a pilot legal defense fund for immigrants, after the Obama administration ramped up enforcement. San Francisco launched a similar program the following year.<\/p>\n

A 2014 study<\/a> by the Northern California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice found that immigrants represented by a lawyer from a number of Bay Area nonprofits won 83% of their removal hearings, substantially higher than those who had no representation. But two-thirds of detained immigrants didn\u2019t have any access to legal counsel.<\/p>\n

California established an Immigrant Assistance Program<\/a> in 2015, shortly after the Obama administration expanded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, enabling more immigrants who came to the U.S. undocumented as children to legally live and work. Known as \u201cOne California,\u201d the $45 million fund supports nonprofits that serve immigrants including with legal help. The program prohibits funds to be used for those convicted of a serious felony.<\/p>\n

The fund is part of the annual budget year after year, although debates have emerged on whether the funds can be used by immigrants with felony convictions. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a budget bill that some immigrant advocates criticized as too restrictive because it appeared to expand the number of felony offenses that exclude someone from state-supported legal support. Newsom\u2019s stance aligned with Republicans who wanted to tighten access to the fund.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While immigrant defense funds started more than a decade ago, the trend picked up in late 2016, after Trump\u2019s first election. That year, Trump campaigned on toughening border enforcement and discouraging immigration throughout the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Los Angeles soon after Trump\u2019s inauguration in 2017 became one of the cities to set up funds for immigrants to use against deportation.<\/p>\n

It was the start of a $10 million public-private fund launched by former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. The Los Angeles Justice Fund, which was expanded in 2022 to create RepresentLA, is an ongoing investment by the city, county and philanthropic organizations.<\/p>\n

More funding after Trump\u2019s re-election <\/p>\n

A month before Trump\u2019s second presidency, Santa Clara County allocated $5 million to support response activities related to Trump\u2019s targeting of immigrants. Since then, it has increased that allocation to $13 million.<\/p>\n

Santa Clara\u2019s fund is more expansive that most others, Ellenberg said, supporting an array of immigration resource organizations including the Rapid Response Network, as well as\u00a0legal defense, outreach, education and prevention efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ProtestersDemonstrators chant during a protest against recent federal immigration enforcement efforts, outside Super Bowl LX at Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara on Feb. 8, 2026. Photo by Jungho Kim for CalMatters<\/p>\n

This year, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stood at a news conference <\/a>with the mayors of Oakland and San Jose to announce the Stand Together Bay Area Fund, with a goal of raising $10 million to support immigrant families impacted by detentions and deportations. The cities have not allocated any public dollars to this fund, which is being managed by the nonprofit San Francisco Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aMy understanding is that their role is to support fundraising,\u201d said Rachel Benditt, the foundation\u2019s spokesperson. \u201cI do not believe that they will be donating money from the city budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a news release about the fund, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said it will pool resources from individuals, corporations, the faith community, and philanthropic partners to support nonprofit groups working with immigrant communities.<\/p>\n

Three Alameda County supervisors are using some taxpayer money to support the effort. It will come from the so-called discretionary budgets they receive to support activities in their districts. Supervisor Nikki Fortnato Bas said she will donate $50,000 to the cause.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThese dollars are one piece of a much larger fight,\u201d she said in a news release<\/a>. \u201cA fight for dignity, for rights, and for the future of our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story is part of \u201cThe Stakes,\u201d <\/a>a UC Berkeley Journalism project on executive orders and actions affecting Californians and their communities.<\/p>\n

CalMatters<\/a>\u00a0is a Sacramento-based nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. It works with more than 130 media partners throughout the state that have long, deep relationships with their local audiences, including Embarcadero Media.<\/p>\n

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