The $125 billion budget bill California lawmakers passed Thursday gives a state-funded program an extra $15 million to help those facing deportation amid widespread fears of heightened immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.The program, One California, is overseen by the state’s Department of Social Services. It was created in 2015 to provide naturalization services and help young, undocumented immigrants apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program created by former President Barack Obama for the so-called Dreamers.
One California is now expanding its services to include deportation defense for both legal residents and undocumented immigrants, most of whom would otherwise have no legal representation during deportation proceedings.
In May, Gov. Jerry Brown proposed the expansion of services to include deportation defense, but kept the program’s funding flat, at $30 million. The bill passed by the Legislature gives the program $45 million. The measure now heads to Brown’s desk.
“It makes an incredible difference in people facing deportation to have an attorney when 68 percent of immigrants in detention facilities in California don’t have access to a lawyer,” said Maya Ingram, a legislative attorney for the ACLU of California. “When immigrants have an attorney by their side, their chances of winning the case increases tenfold.”
Extending legal help to the undocumented is just one of numerous attempts by Democratic lawmakers to shield undocumented immigrants from deportation and push back against Trump’s immigration policies. A pending bill, by Senate Leader Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, would create sanctuary policies throughout the state and limit communication between California police and federal immigration agents.
