Title
Approving the execution of the Joint Powers Agreement for Immigrant and Refugee Services.
Body
Whereas, In the past several months, residents and community members have met with the City of Saint Paul and Ramsey County to discuss the impact that current federal immigration policies are having on immigrant and refugee communities. Federal policies are resulting in uncertainty, fear, anxiety, and family disruption that impact the wellbeing, prosperity, and overall opportunity of residents, businesses, and families in the City of Saint Paul;
Whereas, There has been a significant increase in immigration enforcement resulting in individuals being put in removal proceedings under the jurisdiction of the United States federal government. Because removal proceedings are civil - not criminal - the constitutional guarantee of the right to counsel is not applied to immigrants facing deportation;
Whereas, The Vera Institute of Justice's evaluation of universal representation in New York City, where all indigent immigrants are provided an attorney, projected a 1,100 percent increase in success rates compared to unrepresented individuals. Many of these clients were parents (primarily of children who are citizens of the United States) with longstanding ties to the United States. This success rate was further projected to result in $2.7 million annually in local, state, and federal tax revenue for the cohort of clients studied in the evaluation see Vera's full evaluation of the New York City program at
);
Whereas, According to the Vera Institute, only thirty-three percent of immigrants were represented by attorneys nationwide in 2017. Sixty-one percent of immigrants were represented by attorneys in Minnesota during the same period (see Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse [TRAC], "Individuals in Immigration Court by Their Address" at
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