HomeMy WebLinkAboutCorrespondence - #24
May 18, 2021
Mayor Sarmiento and City Council Members
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza
Santa Ana, CA 92701
Re: Item 24- Draft Revive Santa Ana and Draft Fiscal Year 2021-2022 City budget
Dear Mayor Sarmiento and City Council Members,
We would like to thank the City of Santa Ana for all your efforts in addressing the
effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our community. This past year has been
particularly difficult for our families and further revealed the inequities that our
community faces on a daily basis. As we move toward the recovery phase of the
pandemic, the City has an incredible opportunity with the adoption of the Fiscal Year
2021-22 Budget and the receipt of $128 mill
well as the long term recovery of our most vulnerable families.
As you know, Latino Health Access has been at the forefront of the COVID-19
response, and providing direct services to the most impacted Orange County
communities. Santa Ana was amongst the most affected with high transmission, case,
and death rates, and we have been working hard to address the factors that were
making our community hot spots for transmission. The support and collaboration
with the City, the Orange County Health Care Agency, community clinics, SAUSD and
others were key in bringing mobile testing sites followed by vaccine clinics to the
neighborhoods. We also established a bilingual COVID-19 Call Center that continues
to operate 7 days a week to connect residents to much needed services. Many of
these services are directly related to COVID-19 and requests for basic needs services,
with the top three services requested in 2020 being food, financial assistance and
mental health (compared to mental health, health education and prevention
programs in 2019).
Moving forward, it is important that we analyze the factors that put our community at
such high risk and vulnerability in the first place as well as the services requested by
the community, and use it to plan for recovery and improvement. This will require
investment in the following:
Addressing short-term needs: establishing and sustaining a safety net for
families to work towards a fully recovery financially and improving food and
housing security (e.g., rental assistance, universal income regardless of
immigration status, free child care). We have seen families fall further into
poverty, lose wealth, and fall further into debt with looming evictions.
Long-term solutions to address the compound effects of the pandemic:
o Chronic disease prevention and management. We know that the
prevalence of chronic diseases in our community was high prior to
COVID-19 and the number of people at risk has likely increased.
o Access to long term health care and services, especially for those that
are more likely to be uninsured due to immigration status or job-loss.
o Emotional wellness and mental health services for our children,
youth, and adults. Santa Ana families have faced an increased year of
individual and collective grief and loss, and based on our data, we
anticipate that the need for emotional wellness services will skyrocket
over the next 18-24 months.
o Community-centered community development and revitalization that
prioritizes opportunities for the most vulnerable and low-income
neighborhoods to thrive and be healthy. This includes re-imagining
the use of land and activating and protecting spaces that are
underutilized to maximize access to housing that is affordable, open
space for families to be active, and alternative economic models that
are sustainable especially for undocumented families.
o Protections and resources for tenants. Santa Ana has a majority
tenant population, a large percentage of which have experienced
significant loss of income or financial hardship and have accumulated
rent arrears or housing situations that could be cause for eviction,
despite the statewide eviction moratorium and rental assistance
programs. The city must support its residents by increasing the tenant
legal assistance fund and enacting a citywide moratorium on all
evictions.
We are ready and eager to partner with the City and other local partners to focus the
conversation on an equitable recovery for Santa Ana, especially our most vulnerable
families.
In Solidarity,
Nancy Mejia, MSW, MPH
Chief Program Officer
Orozco, Norma
From:Georgia Simmons <georgiacolleen31@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, May 18, 2021 6:48 PM
To:eComment
Subject:Public comment for tonight’s city council meeting
Hello,
My name is Georgia and I want the city of Santa Ana to use funds from the Biden relief bill to support the
houseless community and to not put any more money into the police department. Everyone has a right to
housing and food! Just last week the police destroyed the homes and threw away the belongings of the
houseless folks staying near El Centro in Santa Ana. The system of policing is extremely cruel and racist and I
demand the city to end programs that displace and terrorize the community. Housing for all! Food sovereignty
for all! Abolish the police!
1
Orozco, Norma
From:Dorian Romero <dorian@saascoalition.org>
Sent:Tuesday, May 18, 2021 5:17 PM
To:eComment
Subject:Item 24- City Council May 18th
Please use portions of the 143 million of federal stimulus funds for investment into community land
stewardship, low barrier shelter for houseless folks, youth led programming, and other needs that have long
been named by the community. If we work together to build our community, we will plant seeds to bloom into a
healthy and striving Santa Ana. Our youth need enriching places to hang out when they are out of school like
community centers that are educational and offer sports and activities. The open lots could be used for
community focused purposes vs. for profit and gentrifiers. We need --solutions for our houseless community.
They are people too, with minds and hearts. We can't be giving them a bad name or criminalizing them
because of their living situation. We need compassion and viable solutions to this quote on quote "problem."
Low barrier shelters for houseless folks would be a start. Instead of criminalizing folks, help them out. Reach
out to community organizations who know first hand what the community needs are because they are in close
connection with those directly in need and affected by lack of resources for youth, houseless folks, seniors, low
income families, and the list can go on. please consider these proposals for federal stimulus funds.
Thank you
3
Orozco, Norma
From:Manuel Escamilla <manueljescamilla@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, May 18, 2021 1:47 PM
To:eComment
Subject:Item 24. Fiscal Year 2021-22 Budget Workshop Session
Dear Mayor and Council,
Regarding tonight's budget discussion. The American Rescue Plan is an opportunity for transformative
investments that will help the City reach the long term goal of efficiently delivering services within a sustainable
budget.
The language of the American Rescue Plan’s Interim Final Rule indicates that
“\[T\]hese resources lay the foundation for a strong, equitable economic recovery...by addressing the
systemic public health and economic challenges that may have contributed to more severe impacts of
the pandemic among low-income communities and people of color.”
To this end I have listed below 6 items that I believe are worth considering.
1. Public Banking Study & Seed Funding
The City should conduct a feasibility study to identify ways in which Santa Ana might benefit from the creation
of or joining with a publicly owned municipal bank. Potential benefits include the elimination of existing bank
fees, increased local access to start-up capital, the ability to loan funding gaps for development proposals that
meet local public benefit thresholds, and other targeted investments reflecting the City’s priorities.
2. Communication infrastructure - Constituent Management Service or other equivalent software to CRM
programs used in the private sector to centralize communication across the agency. Contact information,
language preference, and record of contact among specific groups remains scattered and unorganized. Each
time a staff member leaves or retires, their network of contacts is effectively lost to the City and must be
rebuilt.
https://civicrm.org/cs/new-york-state-senates-bluebird Project Blue Bird from the NY Senate is an open source
example of this type of software.
3. Per acre parcel analysis of tax revenue. The City should invest in a more detailed understanding of how
much different properties bring in revenues and incur costs to the budget. This analysis can be done by adding
the locally allocated portion of local property taxes divided by sq footage of each parcel to individualized sales
tax data available from CDA.
Additional analysis would look for correlations between land use types, allowable density, tenure type, and
other factors to identify any statistical patterns that the City may be able to address using its land use
authority.
4. Beginning effort to revise the Midtown Specific Plan (North Main) and potential Civic Center
revitalization efforts. The Midtown Plan remains the most difficult to read, inflexible, and out of date area plan
within the City. It does not accurately reflect the Council's current support for adaptive reuse, supporting an
active street life, and serving as a connection between Downtown and Main Place.
1
The Civic Center remains a predominantly single-use district that should be redesigned with mixed-use
principles to avoid the \[pre/post-covid\] dead zone that is created after government offices shut down for the
day.
Both long term visions require funding to get started but would potentially bring in significant additional
revenues if done properly.
5. SARTC Masterplan
The long term fiscal viability of SARTC depends on creating a true regional node. This can be done by
pursuing Transit Oriented Development within publicly owned surface parking lots and adjacent County of
Orange facilities. I believe that long term land leases will be the most effective way to ensure the fiscal
sustainability of SARTC.
6. Ending the certificate of occupancy process in favor of an over the counter zoning clearance form.
Under the current process the same office building can have multiple inspections per year. This process is
unique to Santa Ana and leads to higher start up costs to businesses moving in along with the serious delays
to schedule inspections and pass.
Inspections should be prioritized based on the potential for loss of life and other threats to public safety.
Revenue losses could be offset by a general business inspection fee if needed for long term operational
costs.
Regarding City Proposals
I am supportive of direct stimulus funds either through the State rebate or some sort of Santa Ana Benefits
Card.
I am supportive of working with SAPD to identify and purchase blighted hotel/motel properties starting with
lower cost conversions of existing structures and suitable additional construction as funding is made available.
I am supportive of developing a local Health Care Agency.
I oppose the expansion of the jail as it appears to remain an annual $2.5 million budget hole regardless of the
extra module.
Stay golden,
2
Manny Escamilla
bcc: Mayor and Council
3
Orozco, Norma
From: Carlos Perea <carlos@harborinstituteoc.org>
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2021 3:47 PM
To: eComment
Cc: Sabrina Rivera; Lisa Okamoto; Allison Vo; Katie Traverso
Subject: [Agenda Item 24] Re: Make Santa Ana's Deportation Defense Fund a Permanent
Program for FY 2021-2022
Attachments: Letter to SA City Council - Deportation Defense Fund.pdf, Santa Ana annual report
FINAL.pdf
Categories: Correspondence
Dear Mayor Vicente Sarmiento and Santa Ana City Council Members,
Attached is a letter on behalf of the Orange County Justice Fund (OCJF), Immigrant Defenders Law Center
(ImmDef), Vera Institute of Justice, Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice, VietRISE and the 32
organizations signed below. We urge you to expand and make sustainable the city's Deportation Defense
Fund by allocating funding every year at the level of $300,000 starting in this FY 2021-22 budget.
We have also included the Restoring Due Process in Santa Ana Report by Vera Institute which highlights the
successes and unmet needs of the program.
If you have any questions please contact Sabrina Rivera at srivera(a ociusticefund.orQ.
Thank you.
Letter signed by the following organizations:
Orange County Justice Fund
Immigrant Defenders Law Center
Vera Institute of Justice
VietRISE
Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice
UCI Law Immigrant Rights Clinic
UFCW Local 324
Public Law Center
Orange County Mobile Home Residents Coalition
Orange County Civic Engagement Table
Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA)
Orange County Congregation Community Organization (OCCCO)
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)
Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus
California Immigrant Policy Center
California LULAC
National Immigration Law Center
Haitian Bridge Alliance
Resilience Orange County
Orange County Rapid Response Network
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice
Korean Resource Center
California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance
The LGBTQ Center of OC
Orange County Environmental Justice
Chispa
Irvine United Church of Christ (IUCC) Advocates for Peace and Justice
AMU for Justice
Freedom For Immigrants
Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition
Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA)
Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants
Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice
Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Collective
Al Otro Lado
Espacio Migrante
Haven Law Group
Carlos Perea
Harbor Institute
for Immigrant and Economic Justice
culos@,huborinstituteoc.org
In AN HARBOR
j IMMIGRANT Vera INSTITUTE INSTITUTE
DEFENDERS OF JUSTICE 1J'
Ut C,,,,, v 1201 FOR IMMIGRANT B ECONOMIC JUSTICE
Attn: Mayor Vicente Sarmiento, Mayor Pro Tem David Penaloza, Councilmember Thai
Viet Phan, Councilmember Jessie Lopez, Councilmember Phil Bacerra, Councilmember
Johnathan Ryan Hernandez, Councilmember Nelida Mendoza.
Monday, May 17th, 2021
Santa Ana City Council
20 Civic Center Plaza,
Santa Ana, CA 92701
Re: Make Santa Ana's Deportation Defense Fund a Permanent Program for FY 2021-2022
Dear Mayor Vicente Sarmiento and Santa Ana City Council Members,
On behalf of the Orange County Justice Fund (OCJF), Immigrant Defenders Law Center
(ImmDef), Vera Institute of Justice, Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice,
VietRISE and the 32 organizations signed below, we urge you to expand and make sustainable
the city's Deportation Defense Fund by allocating funding every year at the level of
$300,000 starting in this FY 2021-22 budget.
According to Vera Institute of Justice in its Restoring Due Process in Santa Ana Report, the
program, since its establishment in 2017, has provided critical legal defense to 46 Santa Ana
residents facing detention and deportation. Collectively they are parents to 53 children under the
age of 18, most all of whom are U.S. citizens.
The expanded funding will help address the following unmet needs of the program, which is
at the current level of funding of $200,000:
Additional funding and permanent support will allow the program to increase
immigration direct legal services and outreach to Vietnamese residents and other Asian
communities in the city.
It has been a challenge for the legal provider (ImmDef) to build up and maintain their
referral, intake, and case opening systems without any funding for administrative work,
like what they get from the state of California for other types of cases. The paralegal
assigned to the program has been working overtime to cover these administrative tasks on
top of her legal duties.
• ImmDef's legal services include access to a Case Manager who connects clients to
life-saving social services such as food assistance, housing, healthcare, mental health
support, childcare, clothing, life skills, education, transportation, employment, substance
abuse support, and post -release planning helping clients to recover faster once released
back into their community. Currently the position is funded by the city at 30%, not
enough to cover the full position.
• Although ImmDef provides zealous representation to each of their clients, this fund does
not have the financial resources to ensure that all clients have what they need to fight
their case, such as expert testimony on country conditions and psychiatrists to do mental
health evaluations, which are often critical for proving their claims for relief from
deportation. At a cost of $1,000 or more, families cannot afford to pay for these types of
evidence themselves.
• The current funding level is not sufficient to serve all Santa Ana residents in need of
deportation defense.
Santa Ana resident stories:
Client story: Mateo*
Mateo* is a long-time resident of Santa Ana who was detained by ICE in December 2019 and
subject to mandatory detention. Using a creative argument based upon a class action decision by
a federal court in Los Angeles which held that certain immigration detainers unconstitutional,
ImmDef fought to terminate his case by arguing that his due process rights were violated when
he was jailed by ICE on such a detainer. While the immigration judge ultimately rejected this
argument, his attorney successfully argued for release on bond, and Mateo was granted a $23K
bond. He would have never been able to afford such bond; however, Mateo raised enough to pay
his bond through community donations and was released from Adelanto in July of 2020.
Client Story: Juanita* and Abel*
In July of 2020, Juanita* and Abel* and their two children aged 10 and 12, had tested positive
for COVID-19. Shortly after, Abel was hospitalized due to the severity of his symptoms, and
Junita was home with her children, all three of them sick as well. Neither of the two providers
could work during this time, and did not have enough food in the house to last them past the
week Immdef's case management team and development team connected the family to a donor
who could organize a grocery delivery for the family to have enough food to last throughout their
recovery. The family was also very concerned about getting behind on rent payments so the case
manager filled out an application for relief funds available to Orange County residents through
the Orange County Justice Fund, where the family qualified for $2000 in assistance.
Additionally, the donor who assisted with grocery deliveries began a fundraiser within their
personal circles and raised another $1,000 for the family. Once home the case manager
connected them to Santa Ana clinics where they could get tested again for COVID-19 to show
their results were negative and begin to work again.
The Deportation Defense Fund has broad support from residents in the city. A survey conducted
in April 2020 by Vera found that 79% of respondents in Santa Ana support government -funded
attorneys for immigrants facing deportation. In addition, our congressional representative Lou
Correa has called on the city to continue its commitment to our immigrant community in an
opinion article published in the Orange County Register in 2020.
We urge you to expand and make sustainable the Deportation Defense Fund at $300,000 a year
to ensure due process and access to legal representation for Santa Ana immigrant and refugee
communities.
If you have any questions please contact Sabrina Rivera at srivera@ocjusticefund.org.
Sincerely,
Orange County Justice Fund
Immigrant Defenders Law Center
Vera Institute of Justice
VietRISE
Harbor Institute for Immigrant and
Economic Justice
UCI Law Immigrant Rights Clinic
UFCW Local 324
Public Law Center
Orange County Mobile Home Residents
Coalition
Orange County Civic Engagement Table
Orange County Asian Pacific Islander
Community Alliance (OCAPICA)
Orange County Congregation Community
Organization (OCCCO)
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights
(CHIRLA)
Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus
California Immigrant Policy Center
California LULAC
National Immigration Law Center
Haitian Bridge Alliance
Resilience Orange County
Orange County Rapid Response Network
Clergy and Laity United for Economic
Justice
Korean Resource Center
California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance
The LGBTQ Center of OC
Orange County Environmental Justice
Chispa
Irvine United Church of Christ (IUCC)
Advocates for Peace and Justice
AHRI for Justice
Freedom For Immigrants
Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition
Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance
(KIWA)
Center for Empowering Refugees and
Immigrants
Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice
Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Collective
Al Otro Lado
Espacio Migrante
Haven Law Group
Restoring Due Process in Santa Ana:
SAFE Initiative Annual Report (Data February 1, 2018 — February 28, 2021) April 2021
The SAFE Initiative is a growing movement of communities convened bythe Vera Institute of Justice
(Vera) that are dedicated to publicly funded, universal representation for immigrants facing detention
and deportation! Universal representation advances a public defender system for people facing
deportation, one in which every person facing deportation is represented by a lawyer regardless of
income, race, national origin, or history with the criminal justice system.
Immigrants facing deportation do not have the right to a public defender if they cannot afford a lawyer.
Yet, the government trying to deport them always has counsel.
The obstacles facing unrepresented immigrants are substantial. Immigration law is among the most
complex areas of American law —it has been described by federal courts as "labyrinthine" with one
former immigration judge saying that an immigration case "often involves life and death consequences
[that] amount to death penalty cases heard in traffic court settings:'z Immigrants in detention, like
those served by the Santa Ana SAFE program, are particularly defenseless —detained immigrants are at
an increased risk of contracting COVID-19, the least likely to secure representation, and the most
vulnerable to deportation.' The loss of liberty and free movement that characterize detention introduce
additional obstacles into the already daunting process of an individual trying to represent themselves
effectively. Especially amid the current public health crisis, the stakes for immigrants in detention could
not be higher.
As a result, most people fighting for their lives in immigration court —including 70 percent of people in
detention nationwide —navigate the complexities of immigration law alone.' At the Adelanto
Immigration Court, which hears the cases of SAFE's Santa Ana clients, 74 percent have gone
unrepresented over the last five years. Over the past 20 years, this number is even starker, with 86
percent of cases in Adelanto lacking representation.5
In response, communities like Santa Ana are advancing universal representation through the SAFE
Initiative and are leading the way toward restoring fundamental fairness and dignity to everyone facing
deportation.
Vera Center on Immigration+Justice
1. Map of the SAFE Initiative
Safety and Fairness for Everyone (SAFE) Initiative Members
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Lan, Bnoch, CA
OaNand. CA
Sacramento, CA
San Ftonokoo, CA
Santo Ano. CA
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Chloteo, IL
Cook Co.. IL'
Baltimore, MD
Ponoe Gearye'a",MD
Romeo, Ca.. MN
R Paul, MN
Columbus, OH
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Done Co.. WI
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Background
The Santa Ana SAFE program
Santa Ana is the first and only city in Orange County —and one of only a handful of cities in California —providing
legal defense to immigrants facing deportation though a merits -blind, universal model. For almost fouryears, it
has been a leader in the SAFE Initiative.
One of the original SAFE Initiative cities, Santa Ana voted to create a legal defense fund for immigrants in July
2017. It officially joined the SAFE Initiative in October 2017 when it signed a Memorandum of Understanding
with the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera). Vera contributed $100,000 in one-time catalyst funds in the first year of
the program. Since then, the funding has been entirely from the City, most recently at $200,000 per year.
Immigrant Defenders Law Center's Three Years in SAFE
In October 2017, after Santa Ana signed its first agreement with the Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef)
to provide legal services to immigrants through the fund, ImmDef moved swiftly to open a new office in Santa
Ana. They began taking on clients starting in February 2018 and became fully staffed and operational in March
2018. Santa Ana renewed its contract with ImmDef for the first time in October 2018, and a second time in
January 2020 after running a second request for applications. On March 16, 2021, the City renewed its $200,000
per year contract with ImmDef through March 2023.
Initially, ImmDef provided services to immigrants detained in Orange County's Theo Lacy Detention Facility
(Orange, CA) and James M. Musick Detention Facility (Irvine, CA). When Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) stopped using those facilities in 2019, ImmDef shifted to providing services to immigrants detained in the
Adelanto Detention Facility (Adelanto, CA). ImmDef also began accepting cases on the non -detained docket to
address needs of the community for representation of released people.
Vera Center on Immigration + Justice
ImmDef identifies prospective detained and non -detained clients through a referral system where partner
organizations can refer prospective clients. These partner organizations include current legal service providers
conducting Know Your Rights presentations at Adelanto as well as community -based organizations serving the
needs of immigrant communities living in Santa Ana.
ImmDef has dedicated substantial efforts to outreach and collaboration with various leaders of the Santa Ana
community, including Mayor Sarmiento, the Orange County Justice Fund, the Harbor Institute, the Orange
County Rapid Response Initiative and Resilience OC.
Figure 2. SAFE Initiative Program Description
Legal Service Provider: Immigrant Defenders Law Center
Populations Served: Residents of Santa Ana (priority) or Orange County with income
below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level
Detention Centers Served: Adelanto Detention Facility (Adelanto, CA)
Method of Identifying Clients: Community referrals; Legal Orientation Programs (LOP) at
Adelanto Detention Facility
Unmet Need in Santa Ana
While ImmDef is committed to representing as many Santa Ana residents as capacity allows though the SAFE
Initiative, it reports unmet needs at the current level of funding of $200,000 a year:
• The current funding level is not sufficient to serve all Santa Ana residents in need of deportation
defense.
• Although ImmDef provides zealous representation to each of their clients, they do not have the
financial resources to ensure that all clients have what they need to fight their case, such as expert
testimony on country conditions and psychiatrists to do mental health evaluations, which are often
critical for proving their claims for relief from deportation. At a cost of $1,000 or more, families cannot
afford to pay for these types of evidence themselves.
• It has been a challenge for ImmDef to build up and maintain their referral, intake, and case opening
systems without any funding for administrative work, like what they get from the state of California for
other types of cases. The paralegal assigned to the program has been working overtime to cover these
administrative tasks on top of her legal duties.
• ImmDef employs a privately funded case management associate because there is not public funding for
this critical work. To fully support clients and ensure holistic, person -centered representation, social
workers or case managers should be integrated into legal teams, to strengthen the client's chance of
being granted the desired legal outcome and address the harms they have experienced throughout the
detention and court process.
• The program's immigration legal services and outreach has not reached Santa Ana's Vietnamese and
other Asian communities in the City.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on the clients (and potential clients) served by the Fund
and representation. From March through September 2020, the Los Angeles non -detained courts shut down,
Vera Center on Immigration+Justice
delaying cases into 2023. As a result, non -detained intakes have slowed down because potential clients are not
seeking representation for court dates so far into the future. The lives of clients detained at Adelanto are at
stake due to repeated COVID-19 outbreaks at the facility —likely exacerbated by a lack of testing and proper
health care, the inability to social distance in crowded dorms, and no or limited personal protective equipment
and soap.' In response, ImmDef has spent considerable time and resources trying to get clients out of
detention. ImmDef attorneys have limited access to their clients due to COVID-19 restrictions at Adelanto, often
preventing them from meeting with their clients in person, and instead forcing them communicate with them by
phone, if at all, despite clients sometimes lacking confidential phone access for weeks on end.
II. SAFE by the Numbers
The statistics in this report cover clients represented under Santa Ana SAFE program from February 1, 2018 (the
beginning of data collection in Santa Ana) to February 28, 2021. These statistics should be considered
preliminary, based on just three years of data and a limited sample size.
Leveling the playing field
By advancing the universal representation model, the city of Santa Ana and ImmDef help to ensure that
everyone has an equal chance of being represented by an attorney, regardless of their background.
> Since the inception of the SAFE program in Santa Ana, ImmDef has represented 46 clients with Santa
Ana residency, helping to level the playing field for immigrants who otherwise would have gone to court
alone.
> The 46 clients represented in Santa Ana hail from four countries —primarily Mexico (70 percent), as well
as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Universal representation helps ensure that people from
diverse backgrounds are equally eligible for representation and given the opportunity to have a fair day
in court.
Santa Ana clients as community members
SAFE clients and their families are part of the fabric of Santa Ana communities. Representation through SAFE
has radiating impacts that extend beyond those directly represented.
> Like the nationwide trend in the SAFE Initiative, the 46 clients represented in Santa Ana have had
longstanding ties to the United States.' On average, clients have lived in the country for 12 years; 22
percent of clients have been U.S. residents for over 20 years.
> Many clients first came to the United States as children or young adults. Sixty-five percent of clients
arrived before their 251h birthday and 49 percent arrived when they were 18 or younger.
> Almost half (46 percent) of Santa Ana's SAFE clients are parents. Collectively, Santa Ana clients are
parents to 53 children under the age of 18 living in the United States, most all of whom are U.S. citizens
(60 percent).
> Forty-seven percent of clients with families are the "breadwinners," responsible for at least half of
theirfamily's income.
The road to freedom
Representation through the SAFE program in Santa Ana helps people secure release from detention and
reunite with their families and communities.
> Since the inception of the program, 32 percent of clients whose cases began in detention were
released from custody, either on bond or at the conclusion of their legal cases. Because some people
Vera Center on Immigration+Justice
are subject to mandatory detention —meaning they are not eligible for bond and must remain in
detention while removal proceedings are pending against them —this statistic should be viewed in that
context and could never be 100 percent.
> People in immigration court face steep costs to obtain release from custody, even if granted bond. For
Santa Ana clients granted bond, the average bond amount was $7750, although bonds were set as high
as $10000. On average, ImmDef clients were asked to pay 28 percent of their annual household incomes
in exchange for the right to fight their cases from outside of custody.'
> Attorneys help clients receive lower bonds. Among Santa Ana clients who were granted bond, all were
either granted a bond when one had not originally been set or were granted a lower bond amount
after the attorney's intervention.
> Attorneys support continued appearance in immigration court. All Santa Ana clients released from
custody have continued to appear for their scheduled court hearings, underscoring the senselessness
of civil detention, particularly for those who have legal counsel. By contrast, those without counsel to
help them navigate the process are far less likely to appear in court.'
The impact of due process on case outcomes
Representation ensures that clients have a chance to advance a defense and that an immigration judge can
evaluate the merits of their cases.
> Over the course of the program, 24 percent of Santa Ana SAFE client cases have completed in
immigration court. Although the immigration court backlog has now surpassed one million cases
nationwide, cases involving people who are detained move more quickly. if attorneys do not intervene
quickly, cases could end with people being deported without any opportunity for legal access.
> Half of clients (52 percent) have pursued some legal defense against deportation through motions or
applications. Many of these cases remain pending. Other clients have either opted to pursue voluntary
departure or accept an order of removal or may be preparing applications that have not yet been filed.
Of those clients who are pursuing some legal defense, most (67 percent) are pursuing protection -based
claims such as asylum.
> It is too soon to meaningfully estimate outcomes for all of Santa Ana's SAFE clients. To date, 36 percent
of the cases completed in immigration court (4 of 11) have achieved outcomes that allow the client to
remain in the United States. These outcomes should not be considered representative of all SAFE Santa
Ana cases given the very small number of cases that have completed thus far and the fact that cases
involving the pursuit of legal relief typically take longer to complete.
> Attorneys matter even when clients are unable to remain in the United States. In Santa Ana, five clients
accepted voluntary departure. Although voluntary departure does not allow for clients to remain in the
country, it is a more favorable outcome than receiving a removal order because it does not carry the
same penalties and leaves opportunities for the client to more easily return to the United States lawfully
in the future. The Santa Ana SAFE clients who accepted voluntary departure determined that it was
preferable to fighting their cases after an informed conversation with their attorney regarding the
options available to them.
> Although it is too soon to estimate the "win" rate for all Santa Ana clients, these preliminary outcomes
surpass those of unrepresented people at the Adelanto Immigration Court that serves Santa Ana clients,
where only 3 percent achieve outcomes allowing them to remain in the United States.10
Vera Center on Immigration+Justice
The figure below depicts the current case status and outcome of cases for all of Santa Ana's SAFE clients.
Figure 3. Case Status and Outcomes
Number of
Clients
Pending Cases
33 (72%)
Currently Detained
8
Currently Released
25
Cases that Began Non -Detained
21
Released from Detention
4
Closed Cases
13(28%)
Cases Completed in Immigration Court
11 (24%)
Relief Granted
4
Voluntary Departure
2
Order of Removal
5
Other Closed Cases (e.g., Attorney Withdrawal)
2
Total Cases
46 (100%)
Zealous representation enhances due process and fairness for people facing a system that is unbalanced and
unjust. The result of the legal case —whether the client wins the right to remain in the United States or must
return to their country —is just one of many important factors in measuring the impact of programs like SAFE.
> As important as "winning" can be for clients, it is not the only goal of representation. An important goal
is to level the playing field so that everyone has equal access to justice, regardless of their background.
When measuring the impact of representation through a due process lens, universal representation
achieves success for everyone by ensuring justice is equally available to all.
> Clients who receive free universal representation through SAFE and similar programs report that their
attorneys treat them with respect and dignity, help them regain trust in public institutions, and restore
fairness to an inhumane and unjust system.
III. Client Stories
Mateo* is a long-time resident of Santa Ana who was detained by ICE in December 2019 and subject to
mandatory detention. Using a creative argument based upon a class action decision by a federal court in
Los Angeles which held that certain immigration detainers unconstitutional, ImmDef fought to terminate
his case by arguing that his due process rights were violated when he was jailed by ICE on such a
detainer. While the immigration judge ultimately rejected this argument, his attorney successfully
argued for release on bond, and Mateo was granted a $23K bond. He would have never been able to
afford such bond; however, Mateo raised enough to pay his bond through community donations and
was released from Adelanto in July of 2020.
After a referral from the Orange County Rapid Response Initiative, ImmDef took the case of Alejandro,*
a resident of Santa Ana since 1995 and the main breadwinner for his family of five U.S. citizen children
Vera Center on Immigration+Justice
and a U.S. citizen wife. Alejandro had a traumatic childhood: he never knew his father and spent his
childhood working on the streets in Mexico, trying to support his mother. When he came to the U.S., he
was 19 years old, became addicted to drugs, and was convicted of a felony after selling drugs to an
undercover police officer. Years later, after turning his life around, Alejandro was having a loud
argument with his wife. The neighbor called the police and Alejandro was arrested, even though his wife
insisted that there was no physical harm. He was transferred to ICE custody from criminal custody,
where he remained in detention for several months without counsel. Eventually, he found his way to
ImmDef, which fought for his case by filing several motions for relief. During his immigration hearing,
the immigration judge denied Alejandro's application while being hostile to Alejandro. The ImmDef
attorney made sure to note that behavior on the record, so that Alejandro could raise it on appeal.
ImmDef is now working to get him released on bond so that he can be home with family and work while
his case is on appeal.
*Names have been changed to protect clients' privacy.
Endnotes
'The Safety and Fairness for Everyone (SAFE) Initiative includes Alameda County, CA; Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Baltimore,
MD; Chicago, IL; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Dane County, WI; Denver, CO; Long Beach, CA; Madison, WI; Oakland, CA;
Philadelphia, PA; Prince George's County, MD; Ramsey County, MN; Sacramento, CA; San Antonio, TX; San Francisco, CA;
Santa Ana, CA; and St. Paul, MN. Cook County, IL and New Haven, CT are also partnered with SAFE and striving towards
public funding for removal defense. For additional information, see Vera Institute of Justice, "Safety and Fairness for
Everyone (SAFE) Initiative," vera.org/safe-Initiative. For more on universal representation, see Vera Institute of Justice,
"Advancing Universal Representation: A Toolkit for Advocates, Organizers, Legal Service Providers, and Policymakers,"
https://www.vera.org/advancing-u niversal-representation-toolkit.
z On the labyrinthine nature of immigration law, see Drax v. Reno, 338 F.3d 98, 99 (2d Cir. 2003). See also Noel Brennan, "A
View from the Immigration Bench," Fordham Law Review 78, no. 2 (2009), 623-31, 624,
http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent. cgi?article=4479&context=flr. To read the remarks from Immigration Judge
Dana Leigh Marks, see Dana Leigh Marks, "Immigration judge: Death penalty cases in a traffic court setting," CNN (June 26,
2014), https:Hperma.cc/SXV6- BKZN.
3 Ingrid V. Eagly and Steven Shafer, "A National Study of Access to Counsel in Immigration Court," University of Pennsylvania
Law Review, 164, no. 1 (2015), 1-91, 22, https://perma.cc/82F5-WE2D
4 The representation rate in immigration court fluctuates slightly over time. Historically, 81 percent of detained immigrants
have lacked representation —between October 2000 and November 2019, 81 percent of all people in
detention had never been represented (1,237,252 of 1,526,419 cases). The rate has improved slightly over the past two
decades, with approximately 70 percent unrepresented in recent years —between October 2012 and November 2019, 70
percent of all people in detention had never been represented (327,828 of 466,756 cases), with the exact percentage
varying slightly from year to year. See Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), "Details on Deportation
Proceedings in Immigration Court," accessed January 13, 2020, https://trac.syr.edu/phptools/immigration/nta/.
5 Of the nearly 9,000 detained cases (N=8,920) heard before the Adelanto Immigration Court over the previous five fiscal
years (FY15 through FY19), over 6,500 (or 74 percent) were without the assistance of counsel (N=6,576). These numbers do
not include individuals whose cases have been re -categorized as "released" after being granted bond. See Transactional
Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), "Details on Deportation Proceedings in Immigration Court," accessed March 22,
2021, https://trac.svr.edu/phptools/immigration/nta/.
e Erica Bryant, "Detention May Become Death Sentence for Vulnerable Detainees." Vera Institute of Justice, March 25,
2020, https://www.vera.org/blog/covid-19-1/detention-may-become-death-sentence-for-vulnerable-detainees.
Vera Center on Immigration+Justice 7
For nationwide statistics and success stories from the most recent year of the SAFE Network, Due Process forAll: Evidence
from Year 2 of Being SAFE (New York: Vera Institute of Justice, 2019), https://www.vera.org/publications/a-year-of-being-
safe.
'To be eligible for representation under SAFE, a client's household income cannot exceed 200 percent of the federal
poverty level.
9 For a summary of this research, see Karen Berberich and Nina Siulc, Why Does Representation Matter? (New York: Vera
Institute of Justice, 2018), https://www.vera.org/publications/why-does-representation-matter.
io Of the more than 9,800 completed cases (N=9,821) with access to legal representation in the Adelanto Immigration
Court, 28 percent (N=2,712) had successful outcomes that allowed them to remain in the United States —either by being
granted relief, having their case terminated, or being closed by prosecutorial discretion. In contrast, of the nearly 57,000
completed cases without representation (N=56,979) heard before the Adelanto Immigration Court over 1,600 (or 3 percent)
were successful (N=1,625). See Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), "Details on Deportation Proceedings in
Immigration Court," accessed March 22, 2021, https://trac.syr.edu/phptools/immigration/nta/.
Vera Center on Immigration+Justice