25I - IMMIGRANT DEFENDERS LAW CENTER

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Approve an Agreement with Immigrant Defenders Law Center January 21, 2020 Page 2 ImmDef opened their Santa Ana office, located at 2121 N Tustin Avenue, and began operations in March 2018. Since then, ImmDef has initiated the representation of 44 Santa Ana residents in removal proceedings. Eleven cases have closed so far, which includes three Santa Ana residents who obtained relief from removal. The other 33 cases remain pending on both the detained and non - detained dockets. ImmDef s clients represent a wide cross- section of Santa Ana residents, including single mothers, fathers, homeless individuals, youth, older adults, and victims of domestic violence. Client examples include a long-time Santa Ana resident single mother fleeing domestic violence, a father of six U. S. citizen children, and a young man fleeing his abusive father in his home country. Since its inception in 2017, the SAFE Network has grown to a total of 18 jurisdictions across 11 states. Network members, including the City of Santa Ana, have committed public taxpayer dollars toward legal representation for immigrants in their communities facing deportation. During its first two years, the SAFE Network has represented 744 clients with deep roots in the United States. Drawing on program data, the findings from year two of the SAFE Network demonstrate the program's success in ensuring due process and maximizing successful outcomes in deportation proceedings. At the October 16, 2018 meeting, the City Council amended the agreement with ImmDef to extend the term for an additional year, from November 1, 2018 through October 31, 2019, increasing the amount of the agreement by $80,000 to continue to fund immigration legal defense services to Santa Ana residents. On November 5, 2019, the City Council amended the agreement with ImmDef to continue to provide immigration legal defense services on a month -to -month basis, until a competitive Request for Proposals process was completed. DISCUSSION As part of the Fiscal Year 2019-20 Budget, the City Council appropriated $200,000 to continue funding immigration legal defense services to Santa Ana residents. To ensure the success of this program, City staff partnered with representatives from the Vera Institute of Justice to execute a Request for Proposals process to solicit, review, evaluate, and recommend a legal service provider to provide immigration legal defense services. On November 18, 2019, the Vera Institute of Justice released a Request for Proposals, entitled Santa Ana Deportation Defense Fund, to invite applicants to serve as the City's legal service provider (Exhibit 1). The Request for Proposals was shared with more than 85 organizations, including organizations based in Santa Ana and the surrounding greater Los Angeles area. The Vera Institute of Justice and the City received two proposals by the due date of December 9, 2019: one from ImmDef and one from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA). The proposals were reviewed and evaluated by a committee of representatives from the Vera Institute of Justice, along with City staff. On December 20, 2019, Vera and the City selected ImmDef to continue to be the City's legal service provider for immigration legal defense services. In addition to their performance in providing immigration legal defense services under the existing agreement with the City, ImmDef was selected due to their extensive experience in providing immigration legal defense using the universal representation model. ImmDefs proposal includes serving 30 new clients, with an estimated cost of $6,000 per case. ImmDef proposes to continue receiving clients through the following means: a 251-2