The District will award $2.5 million in grant funding to provide legal help to undocumented residents and, for the first time, assist those detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Tuesday that funding will be awarded to 22 local organizations that offer legal services for immigrants in the District. Last year, D.C. provided $900,000 in funding to organizations that provide services and resources to the District’s immigrant population, but it didn’t apply to immigrants who were detained. This year, the grant program will help immigrants who are in the process of being deported and weren’t detained for serious criminal offenses.
“Washington, D.C. remains committed to protecting our residents, and this year’s expanded investment allows us to partner with more community organizations to assist residents with a wide range of issues,” Bowser said in a statement. “The IJLS grant program advances our D.C. values as a proud sanctuary city as we continue to help hundreds of Washingtonians become US citizens.”
Immigrant rights advocates have called for the city to increase funding as they’ve seen more people detained by ICE. They applauded the Bowser administration’s recent announcement.
“From our perspective, it’s crucial that detained immigrants receive representation. They are the most impacted,” said Kelly White, director of the Detained Adult Program at the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights coalition.
She said three grantees, including CAIR, will provide direct legal services for detained immigrants.
In 2018, the group identified 90 D.C. residents who were arrested and detained by ICE but couldn’t afford legal representation.
Immigration proceedings are civil, not criminal, so detainees are not guaranteed an attorney. White says that people who have representation in the D.C. area’s immigration courts are four times more likely to win their cases than those who don’t have attorneys.
According to CAIR, many undocumented residents in the District are at risk of losing their legal status due to recent actions by the Trump administration to roll back the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and Temporary Protected Status for several countries. The group said by January 2020, more than 4,000 resident could lose their DACA or TPS status.
The District’s grant program will also fund services including “know your rights” workshops and legal help for green card holders and victims of domestic violence.
D.C. joins local governments like Montgomery County, which voted to fund legal help for immigrants facing deportation last year.
This story originally appeared on WAMU.
