In the wake of recent mass immigration raids executed by the Trump administration, the Los Angeles City Council is grappling with a dual crisis: a pressing immigration situation and a precarious budget.
Councilmember Ysabel Jurado is seeking financial resources to support undocumented residents.
On June 10, she proposed a motion requesting at least $1 million for RepresentLA, a program that offers legal services to undocumented Angelenos facing deportation.
However, within a week, representatives from City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo’s office indicated they were unable to find suitable funding sources for the additional $1 million, which would augment the $1 million already allocated for this fiscal year.
As the summer progresses in Los Angeles, the intersection of an immigration crisis with the city’s budget constraints has left some council members exasperated.
While federal agents continue to detain thousands of immigrants, Los Angeles officials feel limited in their capacity to respond effectively.
The city has taken legal action, joining an ACLU lawsuit to temporarily prevent federal agents from utilizing racial profiling during immigration arrests.
Furthermore, Mayor Karen Bass launched a program providing immigrants with gift cards funded by private donors, acknowledging many residents’ fear to attend work.
Nevertheless, determining how to allocate an additional $1 million to immigrant legal defense services has been challenging, particularly after city officials successfully tackled a nearly $1 billion budget deficit through significant cuts and planned layoffs.
During an Aug. 1 Civil Rights, Equity, Immigration, Aging, and Disability Committee meeting, Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez expressed frustration, questioning why finding funds for critical immigrant services was so difficult.
“It appears that level of urgency is not being transmitted through this report,” he stated, emphasizing that funding is often found for other pressing issues.
Councilmember Jurado echoed his concerns, describing the situation as an immigration legal crisis.
She conveyed her disappointment and anger regarding the failure to secure funding for immigrant communities, expressing disbelief that the CAO could not identify any financial resources.
RepresentLA, collaboratively operated by L.A. County, the city, the California Community Foundation, and the Weingart Foundation, has experienced a significant surge in demand for its legal services since the onset of the raids.
Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesperson for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), which oversees RepresentLA, highlighted that the demand far exceeds current capacity.
“The need is higher than the needs being met,” Cabrera stated, underscoring the urgency of the situation.
Since its establishment in 2021, the city has consistently allocated funding to RepresentLA, initially providing $2 million each fiscal year before reducing it to $1 million for the current fiscal year, part of a total budget of $6.5 million.
The remaining $5.5 million is sourced from L.A. County.
RepresentLA has aided nearly 10,000 people by offering free legal representation for undocumented immigrants embroiled in removal proceedings, as well as assistance with asylum applications.
Its staff comprises both in-house attorneys and outside legal counsel.
In April, during her State of the City address, Mayor Bass asserted the city’s commitment to protecting all Angelenos, regardless of their origins.
She emphasized that immigrants contribute significantly to Los Angeles and pledged steadfast support for these communities.
However, behind the scenes, the city’s financial difficulties put even the initial $1 million designated for RepresentLA at risk, with the mayor previously proposing to eliminate it entirely for the upcoming fiscal year.
Angelica Salas, CHIRLA’s executive director, recounted the tough negotiations required to restore the initial $1 million funding.
“Getting the initial $1 million back was quite a battle,” Salas said, noting that the funding had been reduced to zero.
“We managed to secure just enough funding to continue serving those already enrolled in the program.”
In response to the city’s budget challenges, the City Council recovered the $1 million during budget negotiations by reducing hiring at the LAPD and identifying duplicative spending, according to Naomi Villagomez-Roochnik, a spokesperson for Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who is on the budget committee.
However, both the mayor and Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson have since mentioned efforts to restore the hiring slowdown.
Hernandez characterized the allocated funds as merely a small concession in light of the city’s vast budget.
RepresentLA currently employs 23 attorneys handling deportation cases, with each representing about 35 clients simultaneously.
Salas noted that securing an additional $1 million would significantly enhance their capacity to accommodate the influx of new clients affected by the immigration sweeps.
At the recent committee meeting, Councilmember Monica Rodriguez urged her colleagues to explore potential savings in other areas to support essential programs like RepresentLA.
“Next time the city attorney requests outside counsel funding, you could say ‘No’ and redirect those resources.
When the mayor requests resources for Inside Safe or other discretionary funds, we could say, ‘No, we’re taking $1 million for RepresentLA,’” Rodriguez advocated.
The committee directed the city administrative officer’s team to investigate alternative funding for RepresentLA, including potential grants or reallocations.
In a follow-up, Szabo confirmed that the situation is evolving.
“Our next report will provide options to fund RepresentLA at the level requested,” he informed The Times through a text message.
In a related development, labor unions and business organizations are embroiled in a heated dispute over various ballot measures following the City Council’s recent increase in the minimum wage for hotel and airport employees.
Each faction is jockeying to position measures on the ballot with far-reaching implications, including one that would require a citywide vote on the minimum wage hike.
Unite Here Local 11, representing hotel and restaurant workers, has proposed four ballot measures facing critique for their potential negative impact on the city’s economy.
Meanwhile, business groups have initiated a petition for a ballot measure to repeal the city’s $800-million business tax—an action condemned by city officials who argue it would severely undermine funding for essential services, including law enforcement.
In another noteworthy account, a staffer for Councilmember Jurado, who was arrested during an anti-ICE protest in June, informed her supervisor about her plans to attend the demonstration via text messages obtained by The Times through public records.
“Going to the protest at [City Hall] fyi,” Luz Aguilar wrote to Chief of Staff Lauren Hodgins.
Hodgins responded with precautionary advice, reiterating that participation in the event was voluntary and advising Aguilar to ensure her safety and that of those around her.
Aguilar did not respond.
Subsequently, she faced arrest during the demonstration and was charged with resisting arrest after allegedly assaulting a police officer.
Continuing with legal woes, prosecutors have filed two additional corruption charges against City Councilmember Curren Price this week, linked to votes he cast related to funding for the city housing authority and L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority—both of which were compensating his wife, Del Richardson.
Price’s attorney criticized the new charges, labeling them as an effort to build on an already weak case.
Sources revealed that prosecutors sought to compel Richardson to testify before a grand jury concerning Price’s case, although she ultimately did not do so.
Additionally, in a recent ceremony, Mayor Bass, L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, and City Councilmember Traci Park gathered in the Palisades as Horvath pledged $10 million from her discretionary funds towards the refurbishment of the Palisades-Malibu YMCA.
In reviewing public records about gifts received by Bass in the past year and a half, the findings largely comprised ceremonial exchanges with global counterparts.
These gifts included chopsticks and a teacup from the mayor of Sejong, South Korea, valued at approximately $32, and a scarf and hat from Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, estimated at $45.
Among the more notable gifts, Bass received flowers valued around $72 from Kimberlé Crenshaw, a prominent race and gender scholar, who coined the term intersectionality.
Additionally, there were Dodgers tickets and meals amounting to approximately $590, marked as “paid down,” from her long-term attorneys at Kaufman Legal Group, along with various trips related to two speaking engagements.
On a broader political note, when Bass appeared on the podcast “Lovett or Leave It,” host Jon Lovett floated the audacious idea of Los Angeles possibly breaking away from L.A. County to form its own city-county.
Bass responded that such a proposal “wasn’t that crazy” and jokingly inquired whether Lovett would consider spearheading the complex ballot initiative.
Nonetheless, she returned to her standard message emphasizing the necessity of intergovernmental collaboration.
Furthermore, Bass noted the ongoing efforts to create an exemption to Measure ULA taxes for victims of the Palisades fire selling their properties, as the city continues the search for its promised film liaison.
Beyond these happenings, Governor Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers recently initiated a special election campaign, urging California voters to support new congressional districts intended to reduce the Republican representation in the state.
If successful, the plan could lead to the establishment of an additional district in southeast Los Angeles County, stirring political maneuvers in advance of the 2026 elections.
Names such as L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis are already emerging as potential candidates, although her office has not responded to multiple inquiries.
Lastly, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto has taken a stand against SB 79, spearheaded by state Sen. Scott Wiener, which relates to housing density.
Now, both advocates and critics are left wondering whether Bass will take a definitive stance on this controversial legislation.
Despite inquiries, Bass and her team have not yet provided comment on the matter.
In the interim, it’s worth noting that the mayor’s key homelessness program, Inside Safe, has faced a hiatus, showing no new operations this week.
The mayor’s Shine LA initiative, aimed at cleaning city streets and sidewalks, is scheduled to resume on Aug. 23.
A previous miscommunication conveyed that Shine LA would return on Aug. 21, which was incorrect, for which an apology has been issued.
Looking ahead to next week, the Charter Reform Commission plans to hold two meetings at City Hall to discuss planning and infrastructure on Monday, as well as government structure on Friday.
image source from：latimes
