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This article was originally published by KQED<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday afternoon to approve a $3.57 million emergency allocation to dramatically scale up legal services, community outreach and rapid response networks for the county\u2019s immigrant and refugee residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sourced primarily from the Measure W Essential Services Fund, the allocation<\/a> includes $2.5 million for immigrant and refugee support and an additional $1 million for a flexible contingency pool. The funds will extend and increase contracts for three frontline community coalitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These funds extend the county\u2019s initial $3.5 million emergency package approved on March 11, which helped establish the rapid response services now facing critical demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spearheaded by Supervisors Nikki Fortunato Bas and Elisa M\u00e1rquez, the action is a direct response to what county staff reports describe as \u201cexponentially more attacks\u201d and \u201cunprecedented levels\u201d of federal immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Never miss a story.<\/strong> Sign up for The Oaklandside\u2019s free daily newsletter.<\/strong>Email<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is about real-time response and building an infrastructure that will continue to educate and empower our communities to withstand this escalation of threats and attacks,\u201d M\u00e1rquez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the new federal budget, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is set to receive an additional $75 billion<\/a> over four years, representing a more than 300% increase in enforcement and detention capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bas said that residents demanded greater support after a recent Supreme Court ruling that allows federal ICE agents to conduct stops based on perceived ethnicity, raising concerns about heightened racial profiling. The move also follows an incident last month where federal immigration officers detained a man inside an Oakland courthouse<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith the surge in ICE arrests again, the targeting of our immigrant communities, the community has come to us to say it is urgent that we boost our capacity,\u201d Bas said. \u201cThis will allow us to expand the rapid response hotline into the weekends and continue defending immigrants in our legal system to ensure they have due process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The six-month funding extension is designed to fortify the local safety net in a county where one in three residents is foreign-born and half of all children live in a mixed-status household, according to a letter<\/a> from Bas and M\u00e1rquez to the board recommending adoption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enforcement data for what ICE refers to as the San Francisco \u201cArea of Responsibility,\u201d which stretches from Kern County to Hawaii, Saipan and Guam and includes Alameda County, showed that immigration arrests doubled in early 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This spike disproportionately impacts working-class families, particularly nationals from Mexico, Guatemala, India, El Salvador, and Honduras, according to the supervisors\u2019 letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rapid response hotline run by ACILEP, the Alameda County Immigration Legal Education Partnership, documented a 500% surge in monthly call volume since its relaunch earlier this year, receiving over 1,300 calls between March and October 2025. At Tuesday\u2019s meeting, ACILEP said during the weekday, one person currently staffs the phone at a time, highlighting the group\u2019s limited capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The $3.57 million will support the county\u2019s three core partners in scaling their services:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The board also designated $50,000 for the Alameda County Public Defender\u2019s Office. This funding will help offset skyrocketing immigration application and litigation fees for low-income clients, such as the recent significant increase in costs for asylum applications and green cards following the passage of President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cOne Big Beautiful\u201d budget bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike all three of its neighboring counties \u2014 Contra Costa, San Francisco, and Santa Clara \u2014 Alameda County does not currently operate a dedicated office of immigrant and refugee affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe definitely have to do more strategic planning and develop stronger infrastructure for the long term,\u201d M\u00e1rquez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alameda County Together, an ad hoc committee prioritizing equity and inclusion for residents, recommended that the county establish such an office, which would be tasked with coordinating resources, overseeing immigrant-serving programs, and advising the board of supervisors on responsive policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n County staff have been directed to return to the board on Oct. 21 with a comprehensive coordination plan, and again on Oct. 28. The county is engaging with philanthropists, including the San Francisco Foundation\u2019s new initiative, the Stand Together Bay Area Fund, to support these initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s really important that people have a sense of belonging in this county,\u201d M\u00e1rquez said. \u201cBy us investing in these services, to acknowledge the challenges that are occurring and finding a way to mitigate that, just reaffirms our commitment to being a space and inclusive community for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The measure follows a 500% spike in calls to ACILEP, a county hotline. It will expand the hotline hours and fund more legal aid for immigrants. by\u00a0Ayah Ali-Ahmad Oct. 15, 2025 (Oaklandside.org) This article was originally published by KQED. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday afternoon to… Continue reading Bay Area immigration arrests have doubled<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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