Community groups and supervisors press Alameda County for $500,000 to make immigrant rapid‑response hotline 24/7

The Alameda County Public Protection Committee heard repeated calls on Tuesday for the county to fund a round‑the‑clock immigrant rapid‑response hotline to help residents facing intensified U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity.

Monique Berlanga, executive director of Centro Ligas de la Raza and a representative of the Alameda County immigration legal and educational partnership (ACLIP), told supervisors the county program launched on Feb. 17 and "We fielded, over 1,000 hotline calls" while distributing "over 7,000 red cards" with ACLIP phone numbers. Berlanga said the program has trained hundreds of volunteers, provided emergency legal interventions, and mounted multilingual outreach, but said county seed funding and philanthropic support alone do not cover the scale of need.

"The amount of resources that it would take to operate a 24/7 hotline . . . is difficult to even quantify right now," Berlanga said, adding that ACLIP needs flexible county funding to staff weekend openings, deploy legal "first responders," run technology to broadcast verified alerts, and provide mental‑health supports for frontline staff.

Why it matters: Speakers said last‑weekend text messages and off‑hours ICE activity left families frightened and without verification systems. Multiple educators and union leaders described students and families hiding or avoiding routine activities when they could not reach a hotline or confirm whether a reported ICE presence was real.

Lisa Knox, co‑executive director of the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, described coordinated legal plans to increase representation and reduce duplicative intakes by using a universal intake and shared referrals across organizations. "If we can all just have a universal intake and share that information," Knox said, "it will save time . . . and agencies won't have to be doing multiple intakes."

Community pressure: More than two dozen public commenters — including teachers, Oakland Education Association representatives and volunteers — urged the county to provide roughly $500,000 to make ACLIP's hotline operate 24/7. Sam Reagan, a teacher and member of a local ICE rapid response team, told the committee, "It is essential that Alameda County is equipped with a well‑functioning 24/7 hotline to meet this historic moment of ICE activity." Others described recent calls that came outside ACLIP's current hours and said ad hoc weekend openings created confusion.

Officials' response and next steps: Chair of the committee said she would consult with colleagues about the funding requests and options for next steps. Supervisor Miley told the room she is "prepared to support additional funding" and urged moving in stride with neighboring counties that already operate 24/7 hotlines. The chair said the committee will meet again on July 24; she also noted forthcoming agenda items related to sheriff oversight (AB 1185).

What was not decided: No formal vote or appropriation happened at this meeting. Presenters asked for a combination of county support and continued philanthropy; union speakers offered volunteer backup for near‑term weekend coverage but said sustainable 24/7 service requires budgeted staff.

Voices and evidence: The article relies on committee introductions and direct quotes from Monique Berlanga, Lisa Knox and multiple public commenters during the informational item and the public comment period. Presenters provided counts and program details on record: more than 1,000 hotline calls, 7,000 red cards distributed, and an earlier fundraising total of $1.4 million cited as start‑up core funding for ACLIP partners.

What comes next: Committee members indicated they will discuss funding options. Advocates asked for an immediate commitment to the roughly $500,000 figure to stabilize 24/7 coverage; supervisors said they will consult internally and return with possible steps at a future meeting.