Immigrants Built San Francisco

In San Francisco and across the country, we are seeing the brutal impact of President Donald Trump’s cruel immigration tactics. Just in October in the Mission District, an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, who was not wearing any identification, ran across the street with his gun drawn, terrifying neighbors and violently detained a man on our streets.

Unfortunately, this is not unique to San Francisco, nor was this a unique event in San Francisco. But we can fight back. Last month I joined D-9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder to announce a $1.8 million budget supplemental to bolster immigrant legal defense and support services in the face of this increased ICE activity.

This funding continues to build on what we have previously invested in legal services for our immigrant community. Last fall when Trump threatened to send the National Guard to our City, I introduced and passed an emergency supplemental for $3.5 million to expand access for legal defense and community services in order to fight against federal detentions and unjust deportations. These investments deliver real results – according to the Bay Area Habeas Network, in the past six months alone, they have successfully helped over 50 individuals illegally detained by ICE return home to their family and friends.

I am grateful for the leadership of Supervisor Fielder for advancing this most recent funding boost and for the unanimous support by the Board. I am also heartened by the broad coalition of people who have come together to support our immigrant community. But most importantly, I am grateful for the advocates and service providers. Whether they are immigrants themselves, or they have been doing the work to protect the immigrant community, they have been tireless in their fight for individuals who are afraid to go to work or school or who are hiding because they are worried about their safety, and their children’s safety.

The Trump administration is trying to drive people into the shadows and to prevent us from exercising our rights, but we cannot let them win. We must get ICE out of our communities and affirm San Francisco as a sanctuary city and California as a sanctuary state. To build a better future for our families, we must continue this fight together. Because immigrants are the backbone of our community. Immigrants built our City, they built our state and they built our country. They are our neighbors, they are our friends and they are us.

If you are in need of support services, there are organizations who can help. If you need legal assistance for your immigration case or to report ICE activity in San Francisco, call the Rapid Response Hotline at 415-200-1548.

Connie Chan represents District 1 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She can be reached at 415-554-7410 or chanstaff@sfgov.org.