Tuesday 12/6 @ 12pm
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B Goodlett Place, San Francisco
Press Conference & Rally
San Francisco Access to Counsel Talking Points & Fact Sheet
The San Francisco Access to Counsel Program: Community based organizations and the public defender have come together to request $5 million for legal representation, education, and outreach for the immigrant community.
Lead with our values: Humanity, family unity, and fairness
Topline Messages:
- The Access to Counsel proposal recognizes immigrants’ humanity and reinforces San Francisco’s commitment to due process: the idea that everyone deserves fair treatment in courts.
- No other area of American law allows us to lock people up and make them fight against trained government lawyers without assistance of an attorney.
- The time is now for San Francisco to stand in unity to uphold and defend our immigrant communities.
- The time is now for San Francisco to uphold our values as a Sanctuary City.
- San Francisco should stand by its most cherished values of fairness and due process
- San Francisco should stand by the 44,000 undocumented immigrants that call San Francisco home.
Facts:
- Immigrants are deeply rooted in our lives and communities. Yet, they are cut off from loved ones and communities, locked away in detention centers, and have to navigate the deportation system alone, unless they can find an attorney.
- 68% of immigrants detained immigration detention centers in San Francisco don’t have an attorney representing them.
- In San Francisco, 83% of immigrants facing deportation with lawyer won their immigration cases, compared to 11% of immigrants without a lawyer.
- Immigrants in immigration detention centers that had help from an attorney were more than 5x as likely to win their cases than immigrants that did not.
- Now more than ever, San Francisco must fortify its commitment to ensure that everyone gets a fair shot at fighting their deportation case.
San Francisco Access to Counsel Q & A
How many people would the Access to Counsel Program help per year?
o 400-600 detained immigrants will receive legal representation
o 300-400 non-detained immigrants will receive legal representation
o 1,800 community members through education and outreach
o There will be a 24/7 multilingual legal advice line, case workers, and emergency services
What will be the role of the Public Defender in this joint effort with Community Based Organizations?
o The PD will represent mostly immigrants in detention, while CBOs will provide services for non-detained immigrants in removal proceedings in San Francisco.
Why are community based organizations and the public defender working together?
o We’re all in this together, and we need to come together to advocate for a better world. CBOs and the PD are stronger in partnership and plan to holistically meet the needs of the community that will be facing increased detentions and deportations.
How will the community benefit from the support of the public defender?
o The PD also has strong support network and infrastructure for quick scale-up to provide the community high quality services it urgently needs.
o The San Francisco PD has expertise working with individuals in detention, including those in civil immigration detention. The PD has also worked in other civil areas such as mental health conservatorship.
o Institutionalizing detention representation for the immigrants most in need in our community will be a great benefit for all in the long-term.
Why are refugees and other immigrants detained or placed in deportation proceedings? Why should they have a right to stay here?
o People navigating the immigration labyrinth alone are largely long-time Lawful Permanent Residents, asylum-seekers, veterans, and other community members
o Immigrants often have strong defenses against deportation and avenues to citizenship under existing law, but they are detained and deported without due process and access to counsel.
o When we transfer people to ICE without review from a judge, we violate our values of due process and open the door to painful mistakes. We need to remember that ICE’s detention and deportation system could target anyone without citizenship.
Shouldn’t we wait and see what the administration wants to do first?
o Detentions and deportations are already happening. The appointment of a White Supremacist as Senior Advisor and planned nomination of a hardline, anti-immigrant, anti-gay Senator for Attorney General are clear indications of the assault on civil rights this administration is planning. We need to get ready now.
What about the pier 14 shooting?
o The shooting was a terrible tragedy. It’s irresponsible for anti-immigrant forces to exploit this isolated tragedy to drum up support for mass deportations of millions of people. When police and ICE are entangled, that undermines community confidence in law enforcement and puts even victims and witnesses of crimes at risk.
What about other communities and other funding priorities?
o We’re all in this together, and we need to come together to advocate for a better world – one without exploitation and abuse, one based on our values of equality and justice. Immigrants are first on Trump’s list-an attack on immigrants will pave the way for attacks on other communities.
Isn’t this a federal matter? Why have localities like New York created immigration public defenders?
o The federal government has failed to provide legal help to most immigrants facing deportation. Local programs have to step in to heal this injustice and protect our community.
o 3 years ago, New York created a similarly cutting-edge immigration public defender program to ensure that no family can havea loved one locked up and deported simply because they can’t afford an attorney. San Francisco could be next!