San Francisco lawmaker works to help undocumented immigrants
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A San Francisco lawmaker has introduced the first proposal of its kind in California, a measure that calls for spending millions of dollars in tax payer money to help undocumented immigrants who could face deportation during President-elect Donald Trump's administration.
"It wasn't really that fun being alone without my mom," Ilicio Matamoros said.
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Ilicio's mother is an undocumented immigrant from Nicaragua who was detained two years ago on fraud charges. "I had a suicide attempt. I lost my children, I lost my home," Isolda Matamoros said.
She explained to a crowd gathered at San Francisco City Hall that she was fortunate enough to eventually get a lawyer and got out of jail.
And that's exactly what San Francisco Supervisor David Campos is proposing. He wants the city to spend $5 million to provide legal help to undocumented immigrants through the public defender's office and non-profit law firms. The effort is in response to Trump's threats of mass deportations.
"It's a shame there are 1,600 people in deportation proceedings right now in San Francisco and thousands across the country that don't have a right to a lawyer," San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi said.
After Trump's election, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee renewed his support for San Francisco as a Sanctuary City, meaning it doesn't cooperate with federal immigration agents.
Campos is challenging him to support this budget proposal. "You can't say you're a sanctuary if you are unwilling to make the investment needed to protect the 44,000 undocumented people who live in the city and county of San Francisco," Campos said.
The mayor is out of town, but his spokesperson said his office met Monday with community based legal groups and the public defender's office and will deal with the funding issue over the next two weeks.
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