Santa Barbara City Council voted 5-1 in approval of the plan to distribute $500,000 for immigrant support services, with the money being split between the Immigrant Legal Defense Center and the Fund for Santa Barbara.
On July 31, the city council gave direction to set aside half a million dollars from its flexible housing fund to support organizations providing services directly to those impacted by recent federal immigration enforcement operations. The decision was made partly in response to the flood of community concerns about immigration enforcement that boiled over at an Emergency Town Hall meeting a few weeks earlier.
On Tuesday, the council worked out the details of how the $500,000 would be distributed. In a 5-1 vote, with Mayor Randy Rowse opposed, the council went with administrative staff’s recommendation to apportion $130,000 to the Immigrant Legal Defense Center to provide legal representation, case management, and mental health support for up to 40 new clients within the city of Santa Barbara.
The Fund for Santa Barbara will facilitate the grant program to give out the remaining $370,000 (with 10 percent set aside for administrative costs) to immigrant-serving organizations who prioritize “transparency, accessibility, and accountability,” according to the staff report.
One of the requirements of the plan is that the city’s Finance Committee must determine a way to replenish the $500,000 that was taken from the city’s housing and homelessness fund. “I look forward to rolling up our sleeves to figure out how that can happen,” said Councilmember and Finance Committee Chair Eric Friedman.
