LA to expand deportation defense services through RepresentLA

By Jose Herrera

The City Council Wednesday authorized funds Wednesday to expand deportation defense services through RepresentLA, a $14 million program aimed at providing free legal representation for the city and county’s immigrant community.

The council voted 10-2 to authorize the use of funding to provide deportation defense services for detained and non-detained immigrants through the program. According to a report from the Community Investment for Families Department, the move will allocate city funds for “crucial” legal representation for immigrants with prior convictions, spanning a wide ride range in terms of severity and scope.

Council members Traci Park and John Lee voted against the recommendation, while council members Bob Blumenfield, Paul Krekorian and Monica Rodriguez were absent during the vote.

Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, who introduced the motion on April 19 to expand legal services through RepresentLA, said prior to the vote that the recommendation is about “putting us in alignment with our county partners, supporting our immigrant neighbors, making sure that these polices are practical, and benefit as many people as possible.”

The RepresentLA program is a public-private partnership involving the city, the county’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, Office of Immigrant Affairs, California Community Foundation and Weingart Foundation.

“We cannot and should not be leaving people behind,” said Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, who voted in favor of expanding the program. “We are making Los Angeles a more inclusive place that builds up our residents instead of harming them when they are already down.”

Previously, Council members Krekorian, Rodriguez, Blumenfield and Park voted against the motion when it moved through committee.

In a prior meeting, Rodriguez stated she could not support the policy because “I can’t let it be a catch-all to supporting or potentially serving any individuals that perhaps are engrossed in, charged or convicted of any violent felonies that hinder our public safety.”

Councilman Curren Price, who co-authored the motion, said RepresentLA and its predecessor program the LA Justice Fund, which started in 2017, have been a crucial source for the city’s undocumented community facing deportation.

“More than $59 billion in Los Angeles County’s GDP comes from undocumented immigrants, yet more than two-thirds of people who appear in immigrant court in LA County face a judge or prosecutor with no lawyer to represent them,” Price said. “There’s a huge need for legal help in immigration courts across the country for due process because it should belong to everyone.”

Krekorian added at the time, “They are entitled to representation. But the city’s taxpayers aren’t the ones who should be the primary funder of that representation.”

According to the report from the Community Investment for Families Department, the county has contributed $8 million, the California Community Foundation and nonprofit Weingart Foundation each contributed $1 million and the city contributed $4 million — for a total of $14 million.

The funding provides resources for victims of labor trafficking, workplace exploitation, immigrant youth and veterans. A minimum of $250,00 has been allocated to serve veterans.

From April 1 to June 30, 2023, RepresentLA assisted a total of 467 clients, with 55% of these clients, 259 individuals, residing in the city of L.A. — the remaining 208 individuals live in the county of L.A.

The Community Investment for Families Department’s report states that “regardless of the gravity of their convictions, immigrants lack a constitutional right to legal counsel.”

Immigrants stand five times more likely to secure relief from deportation and less susceptible to unscrupulous immigration practitioners when they have a qualified attorney advocating for their rights, according to the Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) 2020 report.

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