Two Cities Boost Spending for Illegal Alien Defense Funds
While Denver, Colorado and Seattle, Washington may be separated by thousands of miles, they are nevertheless joined together by a shared goal to provide legal representation to illegal aliens.
On November 15, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock (D) announced that the city will expand its legal defense fund servicing illegal aliens. The legal defense fund, formally known as the Denver Immigrant Legal Services Fund (ILSF), was created through Mayor Hancock’s Executive Order 142, which he signed on August 19, 2017.
In his FY2019 budget proposal, Hancock earmarked $365,000 for the ILSF, which the city council passed unanimously on November 13. The spending item will supplement the $200,000 already apportioned from the city’s general budget bringing the city’s total investment to $565,000.
Hancock praised the budget vote, saying that he has “no greater responsibility as mayor than to keep residents of Denver, undocumented or not, safe and secure … and is proud to support [illegal aliens] by promoting due process,” according to a press statement.
The Seattle City Council also passed its $5.9 billion budget on November 19, which included a spending item authorizing the city to contribute an additional $785,000 towards the Seattle-King County Immigrant Legal Defense Network (LDN). The city has already allocated $1 million towards the LDN and is projected to spend another $810,000 in 2020. These funds are leveraged against King County’s own contributions, which is reported to total $4.6 million by 2023.
The monies are disbursed to attorneys who are contracted by the defense funds for certain legal services, including but not limited to: representation for illegal aliens in detention or under removal orders, and legal support for asylum-seekers, refugees, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applicants, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients, certain Visa holders, and permanent residents.