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County describes $8M-plus investment in immigration legal services and rapid-response work, urges regional coordination
Summary
County staff told the committee the board's recent investments brought more than $8 million for immigration legal services this year, expanding rapid response and outreach; staff emphasized flexibility for contracted providers, the need for regional coordination, and evaluation plans to measure outcomes and impacts.
County officials told the Finance and Government Operations Committee on Sept. 9 that Santa Clara County has stepped up emergency and ongoing funding for immigration legal services and rapid-response work, and staff asked the committee to support continued coordination as enforcement risks rise.
Deputy County Executive David Campos and Division of Equity and Social Justice (DESJ) staff described a multiyear county effort that now exceeds roughly $8 million in legal-service investments and about $10 million in related immigration-community investments when all funding streams are included. "You're talking about more than $8,060,000 in immigration legal services," Campos said, adding the total investments including other supports exceed $10 million.
Julie Ramirez, program manager for DESJ's Office of Immigrant Relations, outlined contracting strategies used this year. The county ran an accelerated competitive process to distribute board-approved funds, executed 33 contracts in the current fiscal year and emphasized five service categories: rapid emergency response and direct legal services (affirmative and defensive), outreach and education, community clinics, and network-strengthening functions.
The county said it standardized service-level definitions to make quarterly reporting comparable across vendorsdefining, for example, what constitutes an initial consultation versus extended representation. Staff also described a multifaceted evaluation plan that combines standardized quarterly metrics, monthly vendor check-ins, site visits and qualitative "stories behind the numbers" to explain impact and operational challenges.
Speakers highlighted urgency after a U.S. Supreme Court decision discussed during the meeting and flagged the potential for intensified local enforcement and racial-profiling concerns. "What this decision does... it allows ICE under the Trump administration to use racially racial profiling for purposes of immigration enforcement," said Dr. Aaliyah (Analilia) Garcia, chief equity officer and director of the Division of Equity and Social Justice (paraphrased from presentation remarks for context). Staff urged flexibility so CBOs can reallocate funds among service categories as needs shift.
Committee members pressed DESJ on outcome measures beyond headcounts. Vice Chair Ellenberg asked for impact measures such as how many people avoided deportation or achieved other case-level outcomes as a result of funded services. County and DESJ staff said impact measurement is more complex and longer-term than counting consultations but committed to developing outcome metrics with partners and told the committee an upcoming regional convening of Bay Area counties is planned to coordinate capacity, approaches and leveraging of private bar resources.
The committee voted to receive the report. Committee members encouraged staff to pursue regional coordination, partner with other funders and explore innovative ways to expand legal capacity, including trainings and private-bar partnerships.
