Rahm creates $ 1M legal fund to help immigrants
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Friday took $ 1 million earmarked for a widely ignored property tax rebate and used it to create a “Legal Protection Fund” for immigrants living in “anxiety and uncertainty” and threatened with deportation after the election of Donald Trump.
The mayor upped the ante in his immigration war of words with Trump by forging a partnership with the National Immigration Justice Center and challenging the private and philanthropic communities to join the effort and provide legal resources to immigrant families living in fear.
The city’s contribution will come from the $ 20 million set aside by the City Council to inoculate the mayor and aldermen from some of the political fallout from a record $ 588 million property tax increase.
With two days to go until the deadline, only 11,000 or 7 percent of the 155,000 eligible homeowners had applied for the break, prompting Emanuel to extend the deadline until Dec. 30. Nearly $ 19 million remains unclaimed.
The $ 1 million will allow the NIJC, which is based in Chicago, and its law firms to consult and represent more than 3,000 additional people. According to the center, roughly 150,000 Chicago- area residents are not legally permanent U. S. residents. Thousands more are worried about their immigration status.
“We’re putting our money where our mouth is as the city of Chicago,” the mayor told an unrelated news conference Friday at Curie High School.
“I want them to know that the city of Chicago — your children, you and your family — are safe, secure and supported. And we’re gonna put resources to ensuring that you’re safe, secure and supported. It builds on all of the other things we’ve done as a welcoming city.”
Access to legal services can have a “life- changing and sometimes life- saving” impact for immigrants and their families, according to Mary Meg, executive director of the NIJC.
“Legal counsel ensures that immigrants … can defend their rights and live their lives here in safety and security and with a sense of control over their destinies.”
Rookie Ald. Carlos Ramirez- Rosa ( 35th) applauded Emanuel for adopting the “concrete” protections that he championed along with immigrant groups to make certain Chicago “continue to be an immigrant- friendly city during these trying times.”
“Today’s announcement demonstrates that he is listening to our community,” Ramirez- Rosa was quoted as saying in an emailed statement.
But, Ramirez- Rosa questioned whether $ 1 million would be enough to assist “all Chicagoans in deportation proceedings, and those President- elect Trump is targeting.”
“I remain hopeful that we are on the right path, but we still have a lot of catchup work to rival New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco’s immigration efforts,” the alderman said.
Trump campaigned on a promise to build a wall along the U. S. border with Mexico, target illegal immigrants and cut off federal funding to Chicago and other “sanctuary cities” where undocumented immigrants can access city services and live without fear of police harassment.
The president- elect has since said he plans to begin by immediately deporting as many as 3 million illegal immigrants with criminal records, then make a decision about the “terrific people” who account for the rest.
Emanuel said last month he doesn’t believe Trump actually will cut off federal funding to Chicago and other “sanctuary cities” because he will have “bigger fish to fry” as president. The mayor spoke from his experience as the first White House chief of staff under President Barack Obama.