Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael Callagy, Assistant County Manager
Subject: Funding for Removal Defense Legal Services Supporting immigrant residents
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution waiving the request for proposal process and authorizing an agreement with Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County to provide removal defense legal services supporting immigrant residents of San Mateo County for the term of September 1, 2018 through August 31, 2019 in an amount not to exceed $764,750.
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BACKGROUND:
The federal government has recently increased the extent of immigration enforcement in San Mateo County, resulting in more immigrant residents of the County being placed in removal proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Many immigrants in such proceedings lack the resources to secure legal representation in such proceedings.
The Migration Policy Institute estimates that about half of the 114,000 residents of San Mateo County who are foreign born and not naturalized United States citizens are lawful permanent residents or have visas. The other half are unauthorized immigrants. Of these 57,000 unauthorized residents, more than half have lived in the United States for more than 10 years. More than 70% of the adults are employed, and many have U.S. citizen children. These San Mateo County residents are our neighbors and co-workers, members of our congregations; their children learn alongside ours at local schools. They are part of the social, economic, and cultural fabric of our community.
According to Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse
(TRAC) Immigration Project, 4,009 San Mateo County residents are currently in removal proceedings. Of those immigrants, 1,372-more than a third-are unrepresented. Non-profit immigration legal services agencies serving San Mateo County currently employ a total of about seven ful...
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