| 7/6/2021 |
Clark County Board of Commissioners
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Agenda note: DOCUMENT(S) SUBMITTED:
1. UNLV Immigration Clinic Edward M. Bernstein & Associates Children’s Rights Program PowerPoint (11 pages) submitted by speaker
SPEAKER(S): Present
DISCUSSION: The Director of the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Immigration Clinic, Michael Kagan, provided a summarization of the services provided by the UNLV Immigration Clinic (the Clinic), and introduced Assemblywoman Selena Torres, who advised that the Clinic provided deportation defense services for children and detained adults, and requested that the Board approve an appropriation of $250,000 each year for the next two years which would support the efforts of the Clinic which provided deportation defense services for children and detained adults, and additionally urged that Clark County apply to join the Vera Institute SAFE (Safety & Fairness for Everyone) Initiative, which would provide an additional $100,000 to the cause; stated that during the 2021 legislative session, the Nevada Hispanic Legislative caucus advocated for Nevada to become one of the first states to appropriate funding for deportation defense through the allocation of $500,000 to the Clinic; advised that with the assistance of a lawyer, individuals had a greater chance of avoiding a deportation order; that the additional funding would help Nevadans get out of detention, back to work, kept families together, and demonstrated that Nevada and Clark County stood by immigrants in the community; shared that State and County funded deportation defense reduced the financial public burden of separated families on Social Services and Child Welfare programs; ensured that the most vulnerable Nevadans had access to legal representation; advised that from 2020 to 2021 there were 898 children and 588 adults unrepresented in immigration courts; and that the UNLV Immigration Clinic was the only institution that provided free deportation defense to those in detention.
The Board then received a presentation from UNLV Immigration Clinic Director Kagan regarding the UNLV Immigration Clinic Edward M. Bernstein & Associates Children’s Rights Program which included history of the origin of the clinic that dated back to 2014; details on the services provided by the Clinic included deportation defense for children and detained adults, as well as free immigration legal assistance to students, staff, and family members of the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) or UNLV through University Legal Services; that the focused efforts for children’s deportation defense was provided by the Edward M. Bernstein & Associates Children’s Rights Program; during fiscal year (FY) 2020 and 2021, there were 898 deportation cases filed against juveniles with no lawyer, with 305 in FY 2021 alone; there was some pro-bono work provided by attorneys; shared images of handprints on display that were created during a ceremony that was performed for every child who had received asylum or legal residency; regarding detention cases, two years ago the Clinic entered into a partnership with a New York organization, Immigration Justice Courts, where adults in immigration detention were defended for free; 176 new cases were started this fiscal year for adults in detention; approximately three out of four people in detention did not have legal representation; AB376 appropriated $500,000 funding over a period of two years to the Clinic which was to be used to open a new office and expand partnerships; the Clinic needed to relocate from the UNLV campus due to challenges with logistics and the increased benefit of relocation to areas where the most people would be served; UNLV was in negotiations with the City of Las Vegas for reasonably priced office options; announced the formation of a Community Advisory Committee comprised of community leaders that would guide the expansion of the Clinic and included Amey Evaluna, Program Coordinator for Community Engagement & Diversity Initiatives at Nevada State College (NSC); Ozzie Fumo, Senior Partner, Pitaro & Fumo Law Firm; Paloma Guerrero, Clark County Public Defender; Martha Menendez, Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow, UNLV Immigration Clinic Staff, LaLo Montoya, political director at Make the Road Nevada; Maria Nieto, Nevada State Coordinator, Mi Familia Vota; Esther Pla-Cazares, Counselor, School of Business Hospitality & Public Services, CSN; Mariana Sarmiento Hernández, Resource Coordinator at UNLV Office of Diversity Initiatives; and Assemblywoman Selena Torres; a County match of the $250,000 State AB376 appropriations would be applied towards the funding of approximately five attorneys and three paralegals, depending on office space budgets; and that more than 40 local governments nationally had contributed to deportation defense.
Commissioner Tick Segerblom spoke in support of providing the match to the AB376 funding; confirmed that it was the intent for the overage of cannabis taxable revenues to be used for this type of project; that there currently was no process in place for distribution of those funds; and that staff should move forward to create the processes necessary for fund distribution.
Commissioner William McCurdy expressed appreciation to everyone involved with this effort and urged colleagues to support this critical step towards supporting community members.
Commissioner Ross Miller shared an experience while working on a pro bono asylum case with the UNLV Immigration Clinic for two young girls from El Salvador who were being detained and threatened with deportation; and expressed support for the initiative.
Commissioner Jim Gibson reflected on participation in an informative meeting at a Latter Day Saints (LDS) Chapel with the Centro Hispano organization that dealt with multiple significant and oppressive issues to people in the Hispanic community including immigration; and directed staff to further research the matter and report back to the Board on how Clark County may further engage in the efforts. | |
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