Baltimore To Provide Legal Help For Immigrants In Deportation Cases
BALTIMORE (WJZ)– Baltimore will now increase its support for immigrants facing deportation proceedings. That's according to our media partners at The Baltimore Sun.
Mayor Catherine Pugh made the announcement on Thursday. The city is one of 11 jurisdictions that have joined to form the SAFE Cities Network, a group that provides publicly-funded legal representation for immigrants threatened with deportation.
Prince George's County is also part of the national network. The group is supported by grant money from the Vera Institute of Justice.
Under the initiative, Baltimore will provide money for attorneys to represent detained Baltimore residents during deportation hearings. Officials say the city will put up $100,000, which will be supplemented by matching funds collected by the Vera Institute. The money could help about 40 people obtain legal representation.
The Vera Institute will also provide the mayor's office with technical assistance and support, including help with identifying lawyers, providing research and data support and sharing best practices.
This all comes as President Trump has made calls for more aggressive immigration enforcement. He hopes to cut back the population of undocumented immigrants in this country. The Pew Research Center estimated around 11.3 million undocumented immigrants live in the U.S.
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