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Immigrant legal defense fund expired, advocates tell Bexar County to restore funding immediately
Summary
Advocates and nonprofit leaders urged the county to put the Immigrant Legal Defense Fund back on the agenda and renew it immediately, saying the program has lapsed and leaves immigrant families without counsel; commissioners did not take immediate action during the meeting.
Community leaders and nonprofit representatives urged the Bexar County Commissioners Court on April 14 to immediately schedule and renew the Immigrant Legal Defense Fund (ILDF), saying the program has expired and hundreds of families are at risk without legal representation.
Ananda Thomas, executive director of ACT for SA and a member of the SA Stands Coalition, said the fund helped “hundreds of families and children impacted by ICE arrests” secure due process and keep families together. “We are here today to demand that the ILDF be put on the next agenda and that you each vote for its renewal,” she said.
Erica Quiros, a San Antonio resident and certified accepting agent for the IRS, described clients who have been detained and urged the court to restore the fund to protect due process for immigrants. “I urge this court to put the LDF renewal on the agenda immediately,” she said.
Speakers including activists and lawyers cited court rulings in the county that rejected Attorney General Paxton’s lawsuit challenging the fund’s constitutionality but said the ILDF contract remains expired. Priscilla Olivares of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center told commissioners the fund had expired as of February and that nearly 84% of individuals in deportation proceedings nationwide lack representation; she said locally the county now ranks among the top counties for ICE arrests and that the program has represented dozens of children and primary breadwinners.
Speakers asked commissioners to increase funding, not just renew it, to meet growing legal needs. Officials did not take immediate action to renew the contract during the meeting; the court recessed to executive session for other matters and later resumed with a slate of motions on property, grants and contracts.
What happens next: Advocates said they will press commissioners to place the ILDF renewal on a future agenda; the transcript does not record a vote or scheduled date for renewal during this session.
