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Council is asked to clarify immigrant legal assistance grant; city attorney says funds are city dollars and grantee is nonprofit Justice Matters
Summary
A resident questioned whether $450,000 of an immigrant legal assistance grant had been spent and whether North Carolina Central Law School was involved; Attorney Hernandez said the funds are city dollars carried into FY26, not yet spent, and that Justice Matters (a nonprofit) will operate the program.
A resident, Victoria Peterson, asked for clarification about an immigrant legal assistance grant (item 3) and whether $450,000 had already been spent and an additional about $200,000 will be added. She also asked whether North Carolina Central Law School was involved with the grant.
Attorney Hernandez (City Attorney's Office) replied that these are city dollars being carried into FY26; to date the funds have not been spent. Hernandez said his understanding is that North Carolina Central Law School is not involved and that the program will be run in-house by the nonprofit Justice Matters to provide legal defense and assistance for immigrants in removal proceedings. “These are city dollars... The funds have not been spent yet... I don't believe Central's Law School is involved in the program. This is in house to Justice Matters, which is a nonprofit organization,” Hernandez said.
Council members asked follow-up questions and expressed support for using local tax dollars to expand legal support for immigrants facing immigration proceedings. The clerk noted that the grant item had been pulled for resident comment; staff answered resident questions in the meeting record.
What happens next: staff will proceed with the grant item as presented unless council directs otherwise; questions raised by the resident were addressed by the city attorney in the meeting. The staff record notes the funds are city carryover dollars and the grantee is Justice Matters, not North Carolina Central Law School.
