Long Beach budget hearing draws hundreds; residents press council to fund immigrant legal aid, tenant counsel and community land trust

Long Beach — Hundreds of residents turned out at the Sept. 2 Long Beach City Council budget hearing to press the council for direct, structural investments in programs they said protect immigrant families, prevent evictions and preserve long‑term affordable housing.

Hundreds of people signed up for public comment during the multi‑hour hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget. A coalition of community groups and nonprofit providers urged the council to allocate $2,200,000 in new city funds to a Long Beach Justice Fund to provide legal representation in immigration cases; $2,000,000 to expand the city’s tenant right‑to‑counsel program; and $400,000 for the Long Beach Community Land Trust (CLT). Organizers said the request was based on thousands of petition signatures and a wave of recent immigration enforcement actions that have affected local workers.

“These crises are connected,” organizer Eric Garcia told the council. “Immigration raids tear apart our families and workforce. We need real investment in the people who make this city run.” Garcia, reading on behalf of the community group ORALE, called the amount in the current draft budget “mostly carryover” and said the community needed new, structural funding, not one‑time dollars.

Speakers from Legal Aid Foundation, neighborhood groups and immigrant‑serving organizations recounted recent enforcement activity and court appearances that, they said, underscored…