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t5o W Vrcnmuw Avv. ANAWAIM, CATAFUnNIA 91805 Cn A 11MAN.F.1)1111 AW June 6, 2017 ttcoc & Wylie Aitkcn Family Proicetion Clinic (71 •t) 765-15'79 • Caa%: ( 714) 991-1776 PROr. WENDY M. $EDEN, CO-DwrcTOit PRMJUL1E NIARZOUK, CO-DutccTOR RE: Support for City of Santa Ana Inclusion in Vera Institute of Justice SAFE Cities Network and Universal Legal Representation for Detained immigrants To whom this may concern: The Betteand Wylie Aitken Family Protection Clinic at Chapman University Fowler School of Law is pleased to submit this letter supporting the City of Santa Ana's proposal for one-time matching funds and inclusion in the Vera Institute of Justice's SAFE Cities Network, a program designed to encourage localities to fund universal legal representation for detained immigrants facing deportation. The Aitken Family Protection Clinic is an academic program of Chapman University's Fowler School of Law, Each semester law students provide free legal advice and representation to low-income and indigent survivors of domestic violence in immigration and protective order matters, The Clinic specializes in the representation of individuals and families in petitions for immigration relief under the Violence Against Women Act and Victims of Trafficking Protection Act. We provide legal representation to 150 low-income and indigent survivors of family violence and related crimes on an annual basis. The Clinic also provides extensive legal training, to victim advocates, social workers, and lawyers who represent immigrant victims of crime. We routinely conduct know your rights presentations in the community and work in local collaborations to improve local, state, and national policies that affect immigrant victims of crime. The Aitken Family Protection Clinic and other current non-profit legal service providers in Orange County cannot currently meet the need for immigration removal defense. We routinely receive calls from Santa Ana residents seeking representation in removal proceedings. Our Clinic does not provide ANY representation to detained immigrants and does not routinely engage in removal defense. Most of our clients are mothers, and many are child victims of abuse or violence. These victims face uncertain futures and potential separation of their families due to deportation or because their abusers withhold immigration benefits, Our clients or their family members are routinely detained and deported and simply tack the funds to pay for counsel. Legal representation for these clients could mean the difference between separation or deportation and family unity and security. When an individual is detained or deported, the entire family suffers. We see families that are separated after decades of life together in the united States„ breadwinners who are forced to leave their families behind, and children who are traumatized without the love and support of a parent who has been detained or deported. The Santa Ana Universal Representation Fund would provide a critical first step in providing access to justice for immigrants who have been detained and face deportation. Current local legal nonprofits provide some legal representation in immigration, but do not have the capacity to provide detained removal defense. This gap in services devastates our local communities. The Aitken Family Protection Clinic enthusiastically 20A-30