Item 28 - Immigration Legal Defense Services

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EXHIBIT A 3 is one of largest legal service providers working with the Adelanto detention facility. We are well-known to facility staff, immigration judges, and trial attorneys that work at the facility. 3. Describe your proposed program model for representing detained immigrants. Please specify how you plan to serve eligible clients and how your organization will provide competent and effective representation for the entire scope of the case, including for clients who are released from detention and whose cases may be pending beyond the current grant year. Please also describe how you will address the needs of clients beyond the scope of their legal cases, including social services, housing, education, healthcare, and other needs and/or how you plan to address these needs when the program is at full scale. Finally, please describe how you will conduct intakes and work with clients who speak a language for which you do not have in-house capacity. lmmDef's representation model is based on a universal model of representation. ImmDef has never denied representation to anyone based on their lack of eligibility for relief, complexity of issues, or for any other reason. Because of lmmDef's universal representation model, ImmDef staff has extensive experience representing detained individuals in removal proceedings. ImmDef attorneys are in immigration court on a near-daily basis and are adept at handling all types of cases, including working with clients who have extremely complex immigration and criminal histories. Additionally, ImmDef is very familiar with the realities and constraints of representing individuals detained at Adelanto because many of our clients are currently detained there. Given lmmDef's experience in deportation defense, ImmDef is well-positioned to continue its universal representation program for Santa Ana facing imminent deportation. Upon receipt of a referral for a case, lmmDef's staff attorney will conduct further screening of the client to ensure eligibility. Screenings at this time are being done remotely until COVID-19 reduces. If the client is eligible under the agreement, the attorney will offer representation on the spot. Priority will be given to Santa Ana residents but if Santa Ana residents have not been identified or decline representation, then ImmDef will represent persons with a strong connection to the City of Santa Ana. lmmDef anticipates that our staff attorney will spend 2 to 4 days per month to follow-up on referrals and screen clients. We anticipate that we will accept approximately at least 2 new cases for each month during the contract year. This number will of course vary according to the specific circumstances presented in each case. We expect and understand that many cases will require representation beyond the contract period because of the immigration court backlog for individuals who are released from detention but whose cases are still pending final adjudication. For these clients, ImmDef is committed to continue our representation of them beyond the contract period and until final adjudication. ImmDef will address the needs of clients beyond the scope of their legal cases including social services by utilizing a Case Management Associate from our privately-funded Family Unity Project to assist our Santa Ana-focused team. Most of our clients from Santa Ana are Spanish-speaking, and all our legal staff for this program speak fluent Spanish. Occasionally we meet clients who only speak indigenous languages. In these cases we seek out either paid or volunteer interpreters from our large volunteer network. In the event we could not find a volunteer we would use Language Line at ImmDef’s expense. ImmDef has profound experience and a proven track record of serving clients from all over the world, with cultural competence serving Latin-American immigrants. Many of our staff members are immigrants themselves or the children or grandchildren of immigrants from Mexico and Central America. As such, our team can