Richmond’s undocumented residents may get a new legal resource amid increased immigration enforcement threats by the Trump Administration.
The Richmond City Council plans to discuss allocating $1 million for immigrant legal resources and services, according to the Tuesday agenda.
The proposal, which was authored by District 6 council member Claudia Jimenez, Vice Mayor and District 2 council member Cesar Zepeda and District 3 council member Doria Robinson, aims to divert city surplus funds to “ensure that immigrants have access to the legal assistance they need to navigate complex systems and safeguard their rights.”
Jimenez initially publicly shared her intentions to create the fund while speaking at a recent interfaith vigil for undocumented people held at St. Mark’s church.
If approved, $1 million would come from the city’s $13 million 2024-25 fiscal year surplus. The money would also fund a public awareness campaign to help immigrants in Richmond understand their constitutional rights. The city would hire a fiscal sponsor organization to distribute the money to local nonprofit organizations.
Rhea Elina Laughlin, executive director of Rising Juntos, which works with families and children in Contra Costa County to advocate for racial justice and immigrant rights, said she was pleased to hear that the city is exploring the option.
“We are thrilled the Richmond City Council is considering allocating funds for needed immigrant legal support services,” Laughlin told Richmondside Monday. “Legal representation is not a privilege — it’s a necessity. Immigrants with legal counsel are far more likely to be protected, remain with their families, and contribute to their communities. Now more than ever, we must expand legal services and help residents navigate a complex system that often works against them.”
Jimenez told Richmondside Monday that nonprofit allies, such as Rising Juntos, and other county-based organizations have told her and other council members that the local undocumented community lacks the financial resources needed to get legal help.
“These are things that the community says they need like, for instance, legal support and a lot of education and information because in the federal government there have been changes and people are confused,” she said. “We have had conversations with Ryse Center, Contra Costa Immigration Alliance, Reimagine Richmond, Faith in Action and all of these organizations that are really working to support the immigrant community.”
Jimenez has previously touted her role in helping the city increase its financial reserves since 2020. According to city budget records, the city’s financial reserves grew from 12% of its overall operating budget in 2020 to 21% in 2024.
She hopes that Richmond can now use some of that money to fill this financial need. The intent, she said is to provide legal aid, education and information so that residents don’t feel like they are on their own while navigating which resources are best for them.
“We have a surplus of $13 million in the budget and I saw the opportunity to use those resources to start doing the work,” she said. “The reserves are at 26.5%. Our reserve policy is 21%. I think instead of hoarding that money … we should be using it to support our community — like these funds.”
Jimenez said that the city’s approach to COVID, which was via a rapid response coalition, will be used as a template for whichever local community-based organization is chosen to administer and distribute the money and services.
“It’s a singular approach that we have done before with issues like rent assistance,” she said. “Right now the idea is to have an open (request for proposal) process for an organization that has the experience to help the city to redistribute the funds.”
The goal, Jimenez said, is for Richmond to “lead the way” among local cities in offering such services to residents.
“We need other cities and the county to step up too. We need our county to do what Alameda County did in looking at putting $3.5 million for similar support,” she said. “We are showing leadership to other cities and (Contra Costa) county.”
I think that surplus should be used to help the citizen of Richmond with improved public safety, additional police officers, fixing our bad roadways, making residential streets safer for people, traffic calming, and many other improvements.
Not opposed to supporting undocumented residents, but I am opposed to spending money on it when we seem to have no money for essential services in Richmond.