California immigration groups brace for Trump administration; requesting $15M

OAKLAND, Calif. - Even before Donald Trump was elected president, California's immigrant rights advocates were bracing for his return.

In fact, members of more than 250 organizations held 15 members between August and October, planning and prepping for Trump's campaign promises of mass deportations. 

"We wanted to be prepared this time around," said Masih Fouladi, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center in Los Angeles. "We've been having these conversations to make sure that our communities were protected." 

In order to do so, Fouladi said he and other immigrant rights advocates plan to ask Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators for at least $15 million on Dec. 2 during a special session to "protect California values." The "Trump-proofing" session, as some have nicknamed it, will focus on beefing up the state Department of Justice to protect civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action and immigrant families. 

Trump's calls for deportations are popular among many in the United States, according to some polls and how the questions are asked, including in California, where a large swath of third-and fourth-generation Latinos voted for the former president. 

It's unclear what will come of this request and Fouladi realizes that $15 million isn't enough – even though it's a good start. 

He said he'd like to spend the money on supporting families if their providers are detained or deported, funding hotlines to be able to monitor and report ICE arrests, and hiring immigration lawyers if they are needed. He also wants to pour money into immigration rapid response networks, which have actually been up-and-running since the Bush administration. 

Plus, Fouladi wants to send resources to isolated and rural areas, where finding lawyers and assistance might be more of a challenge. 

"So, our ask of state leaders is a minimum of $15 million that is allocated immediately, so that on Jan. 20, when Trump is sworn into office, immigrant rights organizations have the ability to make sure legal services, family planning, coordination, to respond to raids, to detention as possible," he said. 

Hamid Yazdan Panah, co-executive director for Immigrant Defense Advocates in Richmond, has noted that community groups on the ground are "gearing up right now." 

However, Panah said he didn't want to share too many specifics on how he and others are preparing for the Trump administration. 

"We're a little bit reluctant about how much concrete information we share about what our plans are logistically," he said, "because honestly, we have a huge target on our backs."

The last time Trump was president, Panah said the former president and ICE "unleashed" their fury on Northern California in particular.

"We're going to speak in broad generalities at the moment because it doesn't necessarily benefit us to put out all of our concrete plans," he said. "But I will say, people are mobilizing very seriously." 

Lisa Knox, co-executive director at the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice in Oakland, also wanted to keep some plans under wraps in order not to sow panic.

She pointed out that immigrant rights advocates are not in the same place where they were during the first Trump administration.

"It's not 2016," she said. "People have already organized in California. We're not starting from scratch. There are already structures in place." 

Her strategy is to prepare undocumented immigrants for what might happen and educate them about their rights and who they can call, but she doesn't want to feed into sensationalism or "what Trump may or may not do. It's not helpful to communities to feed into that." 

Both she and Yazdan are highly critical of the private companies running the country's immigration detention centers, and they want to amplify the voices of those going on hunger and labor strikes to bring attention to what they describe as horrific conditions there. 

It's unclear at this point if the state will release the funds to the immigrant rights advocates, but Fouladi said it's imperative that California helps out a crucial part of the social and economic fabric of society. 

"We underestimate how crucial immigrants are in California," Fouladi said. "There are regions in the state where we have immigrant workers, and if they aren't able to get to work, our business, our infrastructure is going to crumble."