REGION — A proposal by San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson to end taxpayer-funded deportation defense for non-citizens with certain types of criminal convictions failed to gain any support at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Oct. 10.
Neither Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer nor Chairwoman Nora Vargas would second his motion to put the proposal forward for a vote, which Anderson requested as a courtesy. Supervisor Jim Desmond was absent from Tuesday’s meeting due to a family commitment.
Anderson’s proposal would have directed the chief administrative officer to look into the county’s Immigrant Rights Legal Defense Program and report back in 120 days on:
• specific criminal convictions that would disqualify a person from becoming a U.S. citizen either temporarily or permanently,
• if any Immigrant Rights Legal Defense Program participants have any such convictions on their record, and
• prepare a list of the exact convictions those program participants have.
The proposal also would have directed the CAO to suspend any and all work on immigration case assistance for those people with criminal convictions or pending charges.
An initial report on the IRLDP showed that county funds are being used to provide free legal defense in immigration court for 34 non-citizens “with very serious criminal convictions,” such as drug trafficking, money
laundering and “aggravated felony convictions which could include drug offenses, murder or rape,” according to the board’s agenda.
In a statement after the vote, Anderson said he had hoped his colleagues would at least allow a vote on his proposal, which wouldn’t obligate them to support it.
“I’ve always been proud of the work I do to represent my constituents, and I’ve never shied away from a vote,” he said. “I’m saddened my colleagues chose to avoid voting on the merits of my board letter. Due to their lack of action, the county will continue to spend our limited resources to help convicted rapists, murderers, and human and drug traffickers circumvent federal immigration law.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Anderson said his proposal was not about whether the county should have the $5 million-per-year defense program, given it was approved over two years ago. But he said there are criminals who prey on asylum seekers, and he doesn’t believe the county should pay for that.
Anderson added that guidelines are needed to help the county stay in line with Biden administration immigration policies. During a public comment period, numerous immigrant-rights advocates opposed any changes to the program that offers all people the right to a fair deportation hearing.
Monika Y. Langarica, a senior staff attorney with the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA, said lawyers provide a critical check on the system.
Langarica, a San Diego resident, said she has observed courts make routine mistakes in immigration cases.
“An attack on this program is an attack on due process,” she added.
Anderson has criticized the county for footing the bill for non-citizens with criminal records, citing an estimate from the Department of Public Works that $250,000 was going toward representation for those with
criminal convictions.
Anderson “discovered that funding is going to provide free legal defense for non-citizens with very serious criminal convictions,” a statement from his office read. “In response, (he) wrote a board letter to direct the county to suspend any and all work on immigration case assistance to any individual with a criminal conviction or charge that would disqualify an individual from becoming a U.S. citizen.”
Lawson-Remer, who authored and supported the immigrant-defense program in 2021, said it is working as intended and has provided “free, constitutionally afforded access to an attorney to represent them in removal
proceedings,” according to a statement from her office. Nearly 800 people have been provided representation through the program with case results ranging from dismissal to deportation, she said.
“Our Constitution guarantees the right to representation and a fair day in court. The Immigrant Legal Defense Program is successfully achieving its purpose,” Lawson-Remer said. “We help everyone, including women who fled their country because they were being trafficked, refugee children and people unfairly targeted by their country’s military. We’re offering free representation, and leaving it to the judges to
make the right call on each case.”
The San Diego County Public Defender Office operates IRLDP in collaboration with ABA Immigrant Justice Project and Immigrant Defenders Law Center and 23 panel attorneys.
According to Anderson, taxpayer-funded attorneys have represented convicted felons with rap sheets including drugs and/or trafficking, aggravated felonies, crime involving moral turpitude, money laundering and other convictions. He said the county has more pressing needs than defending convicted felons.
Earlier, Lawson-Remer said Anderson and Desmond were resorting to dirty tactics and ignoring the fact that just 34 people with convictions – around 5% of the total – have been defended under the IRLDP.
“We are a country of immigrants, but somewhere along the way they forgot their families are also not originally from here,” she said. “Their comments are akin to the racist remarks made by Donald Trump, who has called Mexican immigrants drug dealers and rapists, said Haitian immigrants have AIDS and told Nigerian immigrants to go back to their huts.
“I’m really disappointed they would take such a divisive stance,” Lawson-Remer added. “They should be ashamed.”
