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Advocates press board to fund immigrant legal services; county holds reserve for rapid response and seeds regional habeas strategy
Summary
Advocates urged the Board of Supervisors to allocate the full $8 million for immigrant services; county staff said the allocation stands but a $1.2M reserve will remain flexible while $200,000 is proposed to seed a regional habeas‑corpus strategy and bolster rapid‑response capacity.
Advocates, legal observers and nonprofit leaders told the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Monday that immigrant families face growing enforcement risks and that the county must keep funding steady for rapid legal assistance.
Hui Tran, executive director of CYREN, urged the board to maintain $8,000,000 for immigrant services and to activate a $1,300,000 reserve the county set aside for emergency response. "We need to expand our capacity to do habeas petitions," Tran said, citing the rapid‑response network’s recent growth and need for more attorneys.
Deputy County Executive David Campos and staff told the board the administration intends to preserve the full $8,000,000 allocation but to hold a portion in reserve while assessing regional needs. Campos said staff identified an additional $400,000 and proposed allocating $200,000 to a regional habeas‑corpus strategy and the other half to strengthen the rapid‑response network immediately.
Assemblymember Ahrens called in from Sacramento and said the state budget — then being considered in the legislature — included protections and allocations to help counties preserve safety‑net services and to support public hospitals.
Why it matters: county staff and community advocates said legal representation at the point of detention or court check‑ins is critical. Staff pointed to the Concord "safe center" and other regional coordination efforts as places where funding and legal staffing can make a direct difference for detained residents.
Board action: Vice President Sylvia Arenas moved to refer item 15 (immigrant‑services funding) for final consideration on Thursday; the board approved the referral 5–0. Administration and staff committed to return with more detail about how the reserve will be used and with planning for transportation, warm handoffs at Concord and regional coordination with neighboring counties.
Key quotes
"One out of four individuals detained by ICE are eligible for habeas corpus relief," Deputy County Executive David Campos said as he described the rationale for a regional habeas strategy.
"The rapid response network is one of the beneficiaries and has grown to over 2,700 responders," Hui Tran said, asking for sustained funding to keep legal teams stable and responsive.
Next steps: administration to return Thursday with a written plan describing how the reserved funds would be allocated, what the regional habeas network would look like, and what operational supports (transportation, on‑site staffing at Concord) will be provided.
