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