Thank you for being here.

The meeting of the Alameda County Together for All Ad Hoc Committee will come to order.

Will the clerk please call our role?

Supervisor Marquez present.

Supervisor Fortunato Vass.

Present.

We have a quorum.

Thank you.

Thanks again, everyone, for being here.

We do have a Spanish interpreter.

Mr.

Norman, do you mind sharing instructions?

Hi, good afternoon.

Buenas tardes.

My name is Norman, and I'm here with interpretation in Spanish and English.

So we'll be the other people talking simultaneously.

We apologize for that, but we don't apologize for language access.

So Norman Alex y vamos a provider.

Okay.

Thank you, Norman and Alex, for providing Spanish interpretation today.

So again, welcome to the Alameda County Together for All ad hoc committee meeting.

Just as a reminder, this committee is a forum to coordinate a proactive response to protect, support, and lift up communities that are impacted by federal policies and budgets, as well as to ensure that we are all informed, prepared, and coordinated in protecting critical health programs, social services, and the constitutional rights of our Alameda County residents.

We usually meet monthly on the first Thursday of every month.

However, this is a special meeting because we have very important and timely information to share through a presentation today.

And to stay informed, please check out our webpage, which you can find at district 5.acgov.org slash act for all.

Given that this committee has focused on the impacts of the current federal administration, I did want to pause and acknowledge that we continue to be in turbulent and challenging times for our community, both locally as well as globally.

And just yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled to weaken the Voting Rights Act, making it easier for unfair maps to dilute the voices of communities of color and potentially leading to the disenfranchisement of black and brown voters.

So this underscores the need for Congress to restore strong federal voting protections.

In addition, the court is currently weighing a case that could allow the federal government to end temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants, raising serious concerns about due process, stability for families, and the scope of executive power over immigration policy.

So that's just a sliver of what we know is happening nationally.

Some of this is due to budget, some of this is also due to changes in work requirements or eligibility criteria.

We're also dealing with state impacts of Prop One.

So I do want to call your attention to the fact that in a number of our board committees, we are dealing directly with these impacts.

So I invite you to watch and participate in our board committees to track very closely the impacts of the federal as well as state impacts on our safety net services.

And I wanted to point out that our next budget work session is May 19th, and our county administrator will present the proposed budget on May 28th because of our community advocacy as well as board advocacy for more transparency.

That's actually two weeks sooner than it usually is to allow more time to digest that information and give feedback.

And for folks who are really interested in digging into the budget and the potential impacts, my office did host a budget webinar that you can find on my YouTube channel, and we'll be hosting a second webinar on June 11th in the evening.

And then finally, I wanted to share that here in Alameda County, we are very grateful to our community for really grounding in the solidarity, the strength that we have at the neighborhood level and with each other to organize to build power.

In addition to the work that we are doing here in the uh in the board of on the board of supervisors, myself and Supervisor Marquez have been engaging our colleagues across the Bay Area.

We have an opportunity to continue to build regional coordination to protect immigrants and refugees.

And we also know that out in the community there is a very caring presence, whether it's foot patrols or adopt a spot, adopt a workplace.

There's a just incredible love out there for everyone in our community, which is so important.

I know May Day is going to show more of that solidarity.

And in addition to that solidarity, there's also some bright spots I want to make sure that we point out.

We did have a work session earlier this week where we talked about Measure Widst everything that's happening that might tear away our safety net and cause fear in our communities.

Here at the county, we do have Measure W, which is supporting housing solutions as well as essential services, and some of that funding is supporting the things that we have talked about here in this committee.

We also have Measure C, which is supporting early child care.

And I was just at the first five commission board meeting where we heard 150 million has already been deployed into our community for early child care.

So that's just a little bit of what's happening in the community, both in terms of continued threats as well as opportunities.

And today we have a single agenda item, which is our Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs Implementation Study Presentation.

We will receive an update from our consultant team.

And I do want to thank my colleague for spearheading this particular effort.

We'll also hear public comment at the end of the presentation.

So please make sure that you sign up to speak if you wish to do so.

And if you're on Zoom, you'll have an opportunity to raise your hand.

And with that, I'll pass it to our vice chair for any uh comments she may have.

Thank you, Chair Fortunato Bass.

I want to welcome everyone.

Thank you for joining us today in person as well as those that are listening in remotely.

Um, this is a really meaningful and important day.

Many of you know that one in three of our residents here in Alameda County are immigrants or refugees.

And Supervisorial District 2, the one that I represent has the highest number of foreign-born constituents at 45.9%.

So today is a really important update to receive with respect to the implementation study.

We all know that this is our second round with the Trump administration, and the information that we're going to hear today is information that we've been needing desperately in this county.

So I want to ground us today in looking forward, not looking back in what hasn't been done, but really recommitting and reaffirming our faith our commitment to serve our community that desperately needs support at this time because of the constant attacks by this federal administration.

So before I continue my remarks, I just want to acknowledge this was a very very aggressive timeline.

You're going to hear from our consultants, but I just want to just start with giving them a huge round of applause for saying yes to this work and for putting your all into it and just really diving deeply into the needs of our community.

I can't wait for you to share how many interviews you had, how many conversations, but there were thousands of hours that went into the presentation you're going to see today.

So I want to just acknowledge our consultants and thank them for their commitment to doing this on behalf of our county.

So thank you.

Let's give them a round of applause.

And the work wouldn't have been possible without and want to acknowledge my chief of staff, Alex Boskowitz, who's been instrumental in leading these efforts.

Also want to acknowledge Director Ford and her team, Hannah and Charles, who have been part of the steering committee.

We've been meeting every Friday, I think, since the beginning of December to get to today.

So we are truly committed.

These philanthropy agencies invested the money to hire the consultants and to do this work.

I love serving in local government, but we know local government can be very bureaucratic and it takes a long time to get things done.

So having philanthropy partner with us and invest, they allowed us to fast track and accelerate this meaningful work.

So without further ado, we'll have plenty more to say later, but I think we're all here to hear from our amazing consultants.

So I would like to introduce Sangeeta Kumar, consultant with Be the Change Consulting, as well as Alex Deshinthal, consultant with Likewater Consulting Group.

They will be presenting the PowerPoint presentation.

It is 22 slides.

I believe we have extra copies in the chambers, or you can actually pull it up online.

But this is the packet, and we'll be viewing it on the large screen too.

So if you ladies would like to please um join us at the podium, we will hear the presentation.

They'll take questions and answers, and then we will have uh public comment.

And also just want to say this is the first time the community is hearing this information.

So please give us your feedback.

Tell us what you like, and if there is something missing, if there's any gaps, we really want to hear from the community.

So welcome and really excited to hear the presentation and just thank you for the incredible work you've done.

As I said, in less than six months.

Um, this is quite impressive.

So thank you so much and welcome.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for having us.

Hi, everybody.

Um, so my name is Sangita Kumar.

I am with I'm a founder and principal of Be the Change Consulting.

It is an honor to be here today representing the findings that our community advisory board put together, many of whom are in this room.

I think you all should come sit closer to the front.

So we're all together.

Um, but I'll we'll just introduce ourselves and then we'll get into the content.

So you want to say a little bit about yourself?

Hi, thank you so much.

This was a wonderful.

I think it's on.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um, thank you so much.

This has been a wonderful project and an honor to work on.

We're both Alameda County residents, and it is um really humbling to be able to contribute to this uh to this effort.

So thank you, everybody, and thank you both for your leadership and bringing it forward.

All right, so let's get into it.

So um, we're here presenting um a set of recommendations to create the Alameda County's Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.

So we can go to the next slide.

Um, there's some interesting stats on here, but we've already heard them.

What we want to start with is that this work, like we know, any movement is made up of many moments and moments are driven by people.

And so we have what is really working for us here in Alameda County is just a legacy of deep committed organizing from our leadership.

And we know that we could all dream of more, um, but there is there has been such a strong political will here that has seeded this work over over a decade.

So we have a timeline that kind of starts from 2016, where this ad hoc committee was established um way back by Supervisor Richard Valley, Will Machan, and Scott Haggerty.

They launched the ad hoc committee on immigrant and refugee rights.

And then as we kind of go through in 2021, a landmark report was published, um, the state of immigrant and refugee rights in Alameda County that we got to study.

We looked at like what was recommended then, so much of what was recommended then is still relevant now.

And a bunch of activities have actually taken place since then.

So we've um we got to sort of look at both what was recommended then, what has happened in Alameda County since then, and then um what are some of the uh advancements that have been made um according to the recommendations that were provided in that report.

And then from February to October 2025, we want to thank um Alex uh B.

Oh my god, what's your last name?

Boskowitz Boskowitz for digging up all this research and data on board letters and these these moments of um organizing and creating funds and pockets of supports and services that add up to over those months about seven million dollars to support immigrant and refugee legal defense, hotline services and community organizing.

Um just a couple other things.

In February 2025, the county invested another an additional 800,000 to stabilize refugee provider community.

If we go to the next slide, um in August of 2025, Oira was made as a um the recommendation to create OIRO was re-affirmed here at ACT.

And then since then Oh, we'll slow down for translation.

Sorry.

Okay.

And then just a pause for a second.

So Aura stands for Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.

That's the acronym we're using.

Thank you.

Okay, how will I know how fast to go?

You're gonna tell me.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

You'll keep an eye.

Okay.

All right.

So October.

I was trying to go fast through the boring bits, but they're not boring.

Excellent.

I'll watch you.

Um, October, um, the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs was authorized as an with an initial investment.

So we know what is what we're here to recommend is not that whether an office should be stood up or not.

That has already happened.

We're here to actually give some recommendations on how, where, what it should focus on.

So back in October, this office was approved.

Um, and then since then, December 2025 and in January, two really important priorities get set.

The language access commitment is affirmed, and ice-free zones and countywide immigration enforcement response plans were called for.

Um, and those two issues kind of set some of the priority that we think this office needs to continue to advance and support and build itself around because those are the biggest threats that are you know coming at our communities right now.

Um, so that just kind of gives you a sense of all the activities that have um been taking place to get us to this moment.

And so when this study was launched a couple months ago, um, we pulled together a five-part methodology.

So we can go to the next slide.

So there were five things that happened.

The first thing is there was um some of our consulting partners conducted a peer jurisdiction scan.

So there was a comparative analysis of several immigrant affairs offices across the country.

So we looked at some in California and some outside of California, some big, some small, some of all different um offices that have been around for different levels of tenure to assess um how are they staffed, what kind of budget do they have, where are they placed within the county ecosystem, and um models for community accountability.

So we studied that.

Uh we did several um county stakeholder interviews.

So we spoke with uh different county agency leaders, department heads.

We went um, we got to talk with the offices of uh I think all of the electives.

We spoke with philanthropic partners, and what that gave us was a landscape analysis that helped us surface what is the internal capacity, where are their gaps, what's the political landscape, what's the will, uh, what are people's ideas or recommendations or um their thoughts on bright spots or even their thoughts on what will, you know, there's like what sounds good on paper, and then given how things are actually running here in Alameda County, what will make things work better or worse?

So we heard we got a lot of anecdotal and like very useful um input from folks who work here in the county.

We also conducted community focus groups, um, so focus groups with immigrant community members and service providers was held.

Uh folks were invited to these focus groups based on a nomination from each of the five board supervisors, and the point really that was there was to center lived experience and the findings, and we'll share.

It was beautiful, it was tragic, it was sad, but we heard lots of stories from real people about what they need and what will make them come to a government office in these times to access services.

So that was very telling and compelling.

Um another major infrastructure that supported this work is the steering committee.

So a steering committee that was comprised of electeds, senior county staff, philanthropic partners provided ongoing guidance and feasibility input throughout the process.

And then last but not least, we have a community advisory board, who, as I mentioned, several folks are here in the room today.

This was a nine-member board that our body, sorry, um, with one representative per supervisorial district, plus the four coalition partners.

They reviewed all the research uh that we compiled from the different parts of the project.

Um we summarized that research, put it in front of them, and they kind of parsed it, they assessed it, they analyzed it, they grappled, they debated, and they developed recommendations for the office.

And it was a beautiful um process.

It was also short, as Supervisor Marquez has already said.

Um, and yeah, it gave us enough, I think, to get us started, and there's still more work um that to be done.

So we will continue to deepen that.

So let me go to the next slide.

I'll talk a little bit more about the advisory body.

So I think I've sort of described who they are.

The representatives, I'll just go to that second bullet in the middle there.

There was one representative from each of the county's rapid response coalitions.

So that was Asalep, Accord, Akkudir, as well as Apilo.

And we had people in that room who brought lived experience, direct service expertise, deep systems knowledge, and we also want to recognize it was a group that got pulled together quickly.

And there are, as with anything, lots of folks with lots of perspectives that were super important that we didn't get to bring into the to the process.

So what that group did, as I said, they reviewed these comparative models, they parsed these county stakeholder interviews and landscape scans, they analyzed our current state, and they developed every recommendation that's provided in this report.

And that happened over four facilitated sessions.

I don't think we need to go.

Let's keep moving.

So Alameda County has some real um, yeah, just like a legacy of strengths that we're building on top of.

So there's genuine political will, as we've mentioned.

There is that the county has already invested in immigrant and refugee services, so we're building on top of an existing infrastructure.

Um there are protective law enforcement policies in place.

I know there are many of us here who could see these protective policies go even farther.

And um we are working with partners who are closer to where we would like them to be than many of our sister and brother agencies out there in other counties.

Um we have a nationally recognized legal infrastructure from the public defenders immigration representation unit.

There is an existing rapid response infrastructure.

Um, and there's a very rich and capable CBO ecosystem that we have we're just very proud and lucky to have a group of folks who know how to organize, who are close to the community, who already have existing trusted relationships.

So this office can enter a space where community organizations have been convening and serving for years, and it really means partnership, right?

Versus top-down coordination.

Um, that so some of what we heard a lot from our both community and the focus group is how this office enters the county in partnership, you know, with that cultural humility will be really critical to to keep the vibe, you know, of Alameda County's stakeholders.

So here's a little more about what the county told us.

We can go to the next slide.

Uh maybe back one.

Oh, I'm back one.

Okay, got it.

So the community, sorry, I skipped a slide.

So the community um from our focus groups, these are a couple of just there were lots of important things that they talked about, but um some of the values that they brought that we thought could really lay down the um the baseline foundation of this office is to really center in trust and safety first and foremost.

That community members need to trust that interacting with county services will not expose them or their families to enforcement.

That there's legal services that provide access to qualified legal counsel.

Um, it's the single most consistent and urgent need identified across all groups.

That we continue to do this work with stability and dignity, that you know, acknowledging that community members are not only navigating legal status, they're facing housing.

It's many things, right?

Housing instability, health care gaps, workforce barriers.

So immigrants need all of these services.

Refugees need all of these services.

Um, and so the more we can think about this as holistic, um, the better we're gonna be able to design something that supports the people who most need this.

Um as we're already seeing modeled here.

Um where the services actually sit is a is a big question.

Um, what we know, what we heard from our focus groups is navigating government buildings is a barrier.

It can feel scary, it can feel confusing.

So it's um, and what we saw in a lot of the partner agencies that are out there is that services are delivered in very thoughtful partnership in community spaces and leveraging you know government supports.

So it's um and what we saw in a lot of the partner agencies that are out there is that services are delivered in very thoughtful partnership in community spaces and leveraging you know government supports, and that ultimately what we want, we know we're in a moment where our immigrants and refugees are under threat, but we don't want to only design to defend against the threats, but that we are leaning into surviving for folks, that they're thriving, that um that there's leadership, that the goal is not just that we're providing services to people who need services, but that we stabilize folks so that they can shape themselves into leaders who participate in our um democracy and help contribute to the communities around them.

Okay, now we can go to the next slide.

Okay, a couple of um couple of quotes.

So one interesting quote from a community focus group participant.

The county can create programs, but it is community organizations that breathe life into them.

Without them, many of these resources simply would not reach those who need them most.

So we loved that quote.

And then one more is in times of crisis, they have been the first to respond, distributing food, providing emotional support, and connecting families with vital resources, and that's speaking to our community partners.

So with that, we can go to the next slide.

Um a few more, and then I'm gonna pass to you, Alex.

Well, we learned from some of the other jurisdictions as we were parsing the research.

Um, this was really interesting.

Every office studied in this analysis was created because a small group of community members insisted it had to exist.

So it every or every office like this starts with organizing, and so here we are, um, starting in the same way.

Uh, some of the big questions that we realized we need to answer specifically to Alameda County is where should it where should this office sit with within the county structure?

Um, so we're gonna talk more about that.

So, like, is it a standalone office?

Is it embedded in an existing office?

This is is something that is still it's not quite figured out where it should go, but we have a lot of thoughts on how to think about it.

So that's what we'll provide with you provide to you today.

Um, we know we need to answer a question around what is this office's relationship to legal services.

Um, the best way to connect services and referrals, the best strategies for funding.

We know that we're in a hard moment for funding.

We know that there's a lot of um activities, services, projects that deserve to be funded, and then this is now a game of figuring out how do you get the right funding in the right way to sustain the work.

And then the last question that we want to answer is how does this office stay accountable to community, to the work that's already happening?

Um so those are some of the answers that you're gonna hear as we move through our proposal.

So the last piece on just kind of framing um the this work is that the challenge that we saw is um is not the challenge here in Alameda County is not that there's an absence of support or funding or resources.

We really are experiencing fragmentation.

Um so because there's no shared picture of community need, right?

Because the data um, the data analysis, the data sharing has has sort of a lot of the work has happened through emergency um responsiveness, which means less thoughtfulness, right?

Less evaluation.

Um it makes it hard to create a shared picture of what we're doing or a shared picture of what is working or what the need actually is.

So that's a fragmentation issue that we want to lift up.

That there's um there's a struggle to have c like cons continuous um seamless referral and navigation.

Uh so here's one quote that we heard in a hotline.

I continue to refer pe sorry, this is a quote we heard from a focus group where a focus group member said, I continue to refer people to a hotline that I know won't be manned, supported, you know, answered, because I don't have another resource.

Um there's a lot of political will here, and we need to support it, back it up with the the teeth for implementation.

Um we see that CBO CBOs that are providing these services because a lot of the grants have been made in uh in emergency response mode.

Um there's there isn't predictability, right?

Of the of continuity of services, and um law enforcement partnership needs care.

So we got to bring our sheriffs and our DA depart uh office, like they have to we have to all come along and kind of and be more closely on the same page.

So with that, I'm gonna turn it to Alex to give you some of our ideas for how to do this.

Okay, you want to you can take a breath.

No, I think can you this is amplified enough, right?

No, switch over.

Okay.

I'm getting the switch over.

Nod.

Okay.

That was a lot of information all in the setup.

And so what I'm gonna go over is the various different design kind of choices that we led the cab through.

Basically, the charge was we're gonna be standing up this office, help gather the community, like a community advisory board's best thinking about how to approach this task of setting up the office.

So we broke that down to into a couple of different components.

We have mission and vision, the core functions, where it will sit, the staffing model, the community accountability structure, and the budget.

Those are the kinds of design components that we went through.

And for each design component that we went through, we reviewed the information from the jurisdictions.

We have a big matrix about you know how what was the budget, how many staff, just to get a sense from other jurisdictions.

We reviewed the a synthesis because all of the interviews with county stakeholders were confidential.

We reviewed the synthesis of that information, what what are the key takeaways?

Um, both where was there like kind of convergence and where were there some outlying uh um perspectives, and then the group through different activities used that information to make recommendations.

And just to note that there was 13 peer jurisdictions that were interviewed and 22 county stakeholders, just so that's um clear.

Okay, so um the the mission and vision.

The CAB was really clear in our conversation that they wanted it to both be um you know aspirational but not unattainable, and so that's the balance that we tried to strike in this.

Um, the uh county where strong public infrastructure partnerships and data informed policies, programs, and strategies ensure immigrant communities are supported, protected from harm, and um able to fully participate in the social, civic, and economic life of the region.

The mission is to build and sustain the infrastructure that supports immigrant communities by convening partners, coordinating programs and services, analyzing data to identify gaps, and advancing policies and investments that strengthen outcomes for immigrant and refugee residents.

So the vision is an Alameda County where people are thriving.

The mission of this, and obviously that's the vision that would take many, many different organizations inside and outside of the county to move towards.

The specific mission of this um of this uh Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs is really to provide that core infrastructure that allows for the for the coordination of both implementation and implementation of policies, identification of problems, and um, and uh an action.

Okay.

The core, there were core functions, eight core functions.

There were many, many more, but we kind of when we brainstormed, but we were able to um consolidate them into eight core areas that the um that the office would be responsible for.

And just a thing to note this is kind of um to be considered kind of like a the job description, except for without the other duties as assigned, hopefully, aspect of the job description.

So this is really just what are the different big areas of work that this office would hold, and depending on staffing capacity and needs in the environment at the time, there would be different levels of emphasis and different parts uh on different core functions and different moments.

So, not all of this is file firing on all, however many cylinders things with cylinders have.

Um, so the first one is community partnership and engagement.

The next is population needs assessment, planning and evaluation.

Um, a note on this one was that to recognize that the county already has um infrastructure for needs assessment and planning, that the function of this office would actually just to be core to coordinate um needs assessment of immigrant and refugee um communities in partnership with CBOs that would really help determine and guide investment of county resources, clearing house and navigation hub, county referrals came up again and again in all aspects of the research as a as an area for improvement, public-private partnership, uh finding ways to take and um align private dollars with the incredible public investment is a um really exciting potential um function of this office.

Uh county coordination compliance and capacity building.

Like Sangita said, there's a lot of really good policies on the books right now, and each department is doing its best to implement them uh on their own, where at an ideal world they would be supported in that implementation, able to lead uh learn from each other, um, coordinate on training for staff, um, problem solve together, that kind of thing.

This office would do that kind of cross-departmental coordination, policy development and advocacy, communications and government intergovernmental affairs.

There were some people who have noted that at different times there's been different kinds of newsletters saying what's going on with the immigrant refugee communities.

This is something that people really want to see more from the county, and so this office would have responsibility for that.

And then learning and innovation.

Next slide, please.

Okay, so then the question is where should the office be placed?

When we started this process, the Board of Supervisors had already approved the two staff positions within the social services agency.

At the same time, as we looked at all of the different peer jurisdictions, as Sangita said, the where you place the office does have some implications for kind of what it ends up focusing on and prioritizing.

And so within a services agency, it it brings on more of a services function.

And within a within a more central kind of location, it plays a different kind of cross county implement implement policy implementation role and troubleshooting role.

So the the initially the CAB envisioned an independent entity within the county that would be launched within the two year incubation period.

And that's still what the recommendation is.

It should be a standalone office eventually, but also knowing that to have a standalone office, a lot of infrastructure needs to exist and the needs that the office should be responding to, the implementation of those really important policies, coordination if there were to be mass deportation events, things like that.

That that uh that that needs uh that the office needs some time to actually build the infrastructure, and so then the question is where should it be housed during that time?

Um, the preference of the CAB was to place it in a centrally um a central office, so that would be the county administrator's office, and if necessary, in another department.

Um at the end of the day, there was not enough information about the inside of the county and where there is capacity and exactly how things work to make a definitive recommendation.

And so, in lieu of that, what we did was take the um notes from all the conversations to pull out like what are some of the criteria that could be useful to the um this committee and the um full board of supervisors as you make a decision about how how and where to place this office during the incubation period at the very least.

The first is that the agency department head should be a champion for the work.

It's um it's it's not enough to just not block something with anything new and just starting to um you know learn to eat on its own and sleep and all of that, it needs a place where someone's gonna nurture it and help position it for the leadership role.

Um, also needs a county collaboration track record, a department that has some experience coordinating efforts across departments, um, would be a very useful uh level of experience to be building off of, and obviously trusted by the board of supervisors and CAO.

Hopefully, that's all the departments, but wanted to put that forward.

Incubation that supports the transition.

So and as much as we want to champion at the head of whatever wherever this office starts, it has to be someone who can hold it also loosely and not um and and position it to transition out of the office, not try and keep it if if the ultimate best place for it is a standalone um office, strong community connections, again, um a department with a track record of uh community collaboration, um, access to operational infrastructure, so contracting infrastructure, email addresses, just the normal things that you need to be able to stand up a new effort, and then finally um support for accountability mechanisms.

And I'll get more into that in a minute when it comes to the community accountability um recommendations.

Okay, the next slide goes to the pilot stay phase staffing model.

The um the CAV is the we talked about different options, doing one like a start like this and maybe work to this.

The CAV's recommendation was not to put forward what we thought would be most um easily decided on in this budget environment, but put forward what the community deserves.

So that's what is represented here.

It's a seven-person office with a director of immigrant and refugee affairs, a deck deputy director um that really holds the community-facing work, and then a deputy director of policy and planning.

And these all of these office titles are to give you a sense of what we think that they should kind of encompass, but are not obviously the types of classifications you probably use in the county.

So they're offered in that spirit.

Okay, the next one is the community accountability structures.

There is not a recommendation to have in perpetuity a community advisory board for this office, for the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.

That said, in order to sustain momentum past when the board makes a decision to go what to do, what to do next, the community advisory board did advise that the cab should continue.

That said, the community advisory board you know noted that there's that that doesn't mean that everybody on the board will want to continue.

So there should be a beat taken to look at the composition, look at any perspectives missing, kind of reaffirm commitment of those already there, and think about and um and finalize a new configuration.

But during this time that the community account, like the CAB exists to guide the pilot phase, as you know, these recommendations that are now on paper are taken and applied, and obviously things that we've thought of don't come up and new decisions need to be made, that cab will be there to kind of be an advisory board on and provide guidance where the rubber meets the road.

Um at the same time, the recommendation is to continue to invest in the the all existing infrastructure in the community, um, the collaborative infrastructure in the community.

So specifically to make sure that you're funding uh community collaboratives beyond those that were already at the table to ensure that they have capacity to be partners in accountability with the county, this this office and beyond well into the future.

Um so uh I've already touched on a lot of these recommendations, but extend and expand the cab, map before building the there's a lot of coalitions uh existing.

There's a lot of cities, and every city has its coalitions, and then there's um or like kind of incorporated areas have their coalitions.

Um, then there's uh coalitions for different um populations, for different um uh uh geographies.

A lot of mapping can be done to figure out and honor what's already been built and figure out ways to the for the office to articulate its its work and its public-facing um uh actions to those different structures.

Um another thing that came up that was that it would be useful to have county contractors um convened regularly.

Um you can, I think we wanted to um modify this slide and we'll make sure it's not in future versions, but take out the monthly or quarterly, it's a to-be determined, but just regular convenings for contractors to hear um updates from the county, what's coming, just for more communication around troubleshooting, transparency about upcoming opportunities, where there's going to be um uh different kinds of um requests for proposals put out.

It's not about compliance, it's really about fostering this environment of partnership rather than um than transactional kind of uh compliance.

Um there was a recommendation, slow down.

Okay, thank you.

There was a recommendation too around um countywide convenings, and this shouldn't this could be in partnership and should be in partnership with existing uh community organizations, but just spaces where all different providers and um other stakeholders can come together and learn from each learn together about different kinds of topics.

This could be everything related from you know language access topics to potentially talking about scenario planning for um for like how how different organizations are doing scenario planning for raids, things like that, but just county can play a convening role for more learning and that a benefit of that convening is not just the learning that happens, but also the relationships that are built by just being in space together and the strengthening of the ecosystem that comes along with it.

Um a couple of CAB members also pointed out that the county contracts are often structured based on uh activity, um, and those activities do not include participation and collaborations.

And so that becomes kind of like unfunded work of the county's contractors and um lifted up the opportunity to look at those contracts and revise them to see if there's ways to integrate into the deliverables uh some amount of time that can be spent in collaboration with other organizations.

That doesn't even necessarily, although I'm sure additional funding wouldn't uh be turned away, that doesn't necessarily require more funding.

It's just introducing some flexibility into the funding that exists.

And finally, um the investing community pilots, and I already kind of touched on this, but community collaboratives, the spaces where organizations are coming together to troubleshoot to problem solve, these are places that um that they that are critical to a healthy democracy.

And so beyond thinking about just accountability for this office, those are those are spaces that it is worthwhile for the county to continue to build the capacity of.

Okay, finally, the budget.

Good job.

I think that's my last one.

Yes, okay, the budget.

Okay.

So the recommendation is a 10 million dollar budget.

The first part of the budget recommendation regard is regarding contract renewals for a lot of organizations who engage, knowing that they would have funding beyond this period, assuming ongoing um compliance with the contract terms and and deliverables is really critical to sustaining their uh staffing that moving beyond a one-year contract cycle is really important for community stability.

That said, there are other needs that have continued to emerge, and um as the county, we're still in emergency response in many ways, but as there is time to consider what else we did uh include in this budget more than just the minimum amount for contract renewal to try to suggest that there is um a need for the office to have some flexibility as it thinks about who else to be contracting and bringing on.

The next is staffing.

This is uh this is um one of the larger budget line items in here after the contracts, and that's 1.92 million dollars.

This assumes seven staff and an average of two, I think it's 275.

That we have to check that number.

I think that number didn't get updated.

I think it's 250 um of salary and benefits.

Um, and obviously the director, the different um, this is an average across those seven.

So this could go up or down depending on um exactly how those different uh um positions are end up being classed.

Um this and also this is inclusive of the 450 baseline.

Um the next is implementation operating budget.

Um, these are things like we referenced a needs assessment.

It there is a lot of um healthy disagreement in the broader community, both within county agencies and in larger community organizations about what the needs are and who needs to be served and who isn't being served.

Um, this is why we really have lifted this up as a core priority for this department is to actually establish in partnership with different county agencies and community partners a clear set of needs that will govern the um the allocation of resources to the extent possible.

Also for building the clearinghouse, that that referral platform clearinghouse idea um was really important for a lot of organizations in order to serve and meet the needs that they're um doing their best, um heroic work to meet every day.

Um, and then uh and then finally the public-private partnership, this three million is a um is a floor, not a ceiling for philanthropy to contribute into all of this work um uh to support a lot of those services that Sangita was talking about that are on that are not met right now, but also um more uh organizing and leadership development in the community, mutual aid, and other kinds of crisis response.

And then before we leave the slide, I'll just add that.

Oh, can you press the button?

It's there.

It's on.

Is it on?

Okay, yeah.

Um that staffing number, 1.92 million.

That number is correct.

It should say assume seven staff at an average of 275.

Yeah, okay, uh, but that 1.92 is the right, that is 275 times seven.

So the detail is wrong, but the total is right.

You want to switch.

Okay, yeah.

For that clarification.

Yeah, we don't want mistakes on the money slide, but there were some.

Okay.

Um good job with your poker faces.

All right.

So now um we have six recommendations for immediate actions.

We're we're coming to the end of our presentation here.

Um the first one, I'm gonna say it a little differently than what's written, um, because I I think it's a little unclear.

Uh our our first recommendation is to just note how important the services that are currently um happening are, and that the contracts are going to expire soon.

And so what we would love to see, what the CAB would love to see is that there is no um interruption in services.

And so our recommendation here is to extend that funding for existing services, which might mean recontracting with the existing CBOs.

It might mean assessing, um, checking, you know, doing some of that field mapping to see are these the right services, is this still the right gaps?

But but to not let the funding, not let the services um lapse.

And so um, and then that augmented level, 4.6 million is a cut, there's a cushion built in that would allow you to allow us to refund the current level of services and then augment them.

So not sticking with just the current um set of activities that have been happening, but also to enhance them.

So that's the first one.

Do you want to add anything to that?

Okay.

So then the second one is to um is to establish office placement that enables real authority, as Alex said, did our best thinking to say where should this office sit.

We've in our conversations with folks who work in the county.

We understand there's a lot of um debate and considerations about what actually is feasible in the speed that we want something stood up.

And so the cab envisions a two-year incubation within a host office or department, leading ultimately to an independent standalone office.

Um we know there's a lot more thinking and conversation that has to happen for number two to happen.

Um, the third one is to launch the director search immediately.

Um there's a lot of thinking, right?

Like first you should figure out where the office should sit, then you should hire the director, then we should hire some staffing.

Some of these things are happening out of order because we're trying to meet the demand and meet the moment and do the best that we can with what we have.

And it would be great to hire that director soon before too much gets um decided.

Uh, number four is to fund this full seven-person staff team uh that includes a director, two deputy directors for specialist positions.

Um in our full report, this we we did our best to justify like where we set this model, the seven-person staff team, it is one of the um, it would be in compared to the other models that we studied.

This would be on the smaller and leaner end of other departments that are out there.

So um we know that y'all started with a idea of two staff, we're bringing you seven.

We don't want to sound greedy.

This is a smaller end of what other departments have, and we think it'll make it actually effective.

Um, the fifth one is to grant OIRA explicit cross-departmental authority.

So the board should explicitly authorize Oira to require departmental cooperation on the language access ordinance, the countywide immigration enforcement response plan, the ice-free zones policy, just to begin with.

And there could be more, um, but to start with um back to there's been so much great political will, and it needs to be paired with the implementation support and accountability, like really holding people accountable to doing it.

And the last one is we um want to allocate the CAB wants to allocate program a programmatic operating budget of at least 450,000 because this office is gonna need some resources to hire people and buy things.

So that's that.

And then our last uh moving towards our last slides here, critical enabling conditions.

So across the board, these recommendations are achievable only if certain structural conditions are in place.

The first is authority, the second is hiring sequence, the third is contract continuity, the fourth is to is community safety to really think about how government is partnering to ensure community, so we're not at odds here in our in inside of Alameda County, that there's shared accountability.

Um this is really a narrative uh thing that OIRA um, I don't think anyone sees it like this, but just to be really clear, Oira is not or cannot be the county's only accountability structure.

All county departments have to understand that supporting immigrant and refugee residents is a shared responsibility because it's one in three of us.

And then the last one is authentic partnership with community.

So just restating things that we've already said.

And I think this one was just out of yeah, this just came a little funny.

Um it's a little out of order.

So yeah, why don't you close us out?

Okay.

Um here.

Okay, sorry about this.

This one should have been before we got to our summary immediate actions, but this is the the um five priorities for the two-year pilot phase.

In the full report that we're preparing for the board, this is accompanied by a lot of information for a two-year work plan.

Just want to note that all of this assumes a fully staffed department and or excuse me, office, and um will need to be recalibrated with the community accountability structure.

If that is a cab, should you continue decide to continue it.

Um that would need to be recalibrated based on um the actual capacity.

Um so the first one is to build the foundation for the long-term county integration.

Obviously, there is just work that needs to be done to create an office, and that that work has to include assessing its functions, what is working well and what isn't, so that at the end of the two years, the board of supervisors has a really clear view of what should happen in a when the permanent office um is established.

The next is to assess needs, identify vulnerabilities, and stabilize the ecosystem.

As we've said, there's a lot of good work going on out there, and there is often a perception, depending on who you talk to.

Different organ people think that different people are not being served well.

There is a need to look into what's going on, where are the unmet needs and gaps, and then translate that to how um funding is allocated.

But that's gonna take time because what needs are prioritized is again in the eye of the beholder.

And so some process needs to be developed to figure that out.

Um, build a countywide hub for resource navigation and and warm referrals.

This is a very difficult endeavor that's going to take a lot of focus and support to make this happen and make it work.

The good thing is there are some strong um strong work to build off of.

There's the newcomer website and um the work with Iberif that is there to build off of and and um that is noted in the full report.

Um coordinate implementation of existing countywide policies.

Um we've gone over that, but worth repeating that it's not about political will or at the elected level and probably in many cases in the off within the departments, and it is um work that requires coordinated support to happen efficiently and effectively across all departments, and that's um a key priority for the first um two years of this office.

And then finally, to build out the community accountability partnership and transparency.

So this was a very short process.

Um, lots to be improved, but also a lot to build on.

Wonderful partners engaged, and um it sets a really good um platform for ongoing input and accountability.

Okay, so I'll just finish us, or you're gonna all right.

So this slide.

Um I feel like you should say this because it looks this nazis, but the county has the will, the community has the knowledge, and what comes next is the hard essential work of building.

This kind of work, this infrastructure building.

Some people um poo-poo it as just more bureaucracy.

This is how all of the good work gets coordinated.

And um, and so it's exciting to be in this place to actually have something to coordinate.

Um, there's so much there to pull together.

This is the right challenge to have.

Um, this is not a ceiling, what we're putting forward, it's not a symbol, and it's not optional.

Um, this is putting forward, make taking action on the recommendations that so many people took time to um to give input on is actually um a grave responsibility of the board, and we look forward um to the next steps.

And so moving to that, uh propose next steps.

Um after today, based on all of the comments and um and direction, we will incorporate key uh changes into the report.

Um uh we will bring these key, I'm sorry, we will uh bring the comments, we will synthesize them and bring these comments to the community advisory board.

The community advisory board will have a chance to weigh in um and finalize response.

The then we will finalize the report language.

Um then there will be graphic design layout and final report production.

So we have sorry to say it, uh, like very long report, but it's really important detailed information that we would it would be a shame not to share.

So hopefully um everyone will have a chance to read that.

And then the final report will go to the board of supervisors, um, at which point you all together will decide what to do with it.

That's it.

Thank you.

I want to invite Supervisor Marquez to close us out before the comments.

Yes, um, thank you both.

It's an impressive work.

Um, you know, we started the conversation, I think November, December, but you hit the ground running in 2026, and we're not even at the mid-year part for this year, and this is um extremely incredible, especially mentioning the cab.

I want to acknowledge the cab.

Thank you for um your consistent dedication to the community, sharing your lived experience.

It's incredible to do this work without you.

I want to flag we are in this position also because of our CBOs and our faith-based community led leaders that have been on the ground since day one.

So thank you for your support.

Also didn't have a chance to acknowledge um Chief Deputy Lori Cox earlier, but she's been instrumental in this work, and I know she's online and has another commitment, but just wanted to publicly thank her for her expertise and she was able to help us navigate philanthropy world versus government bureaucracy.

We're all intertwined and just again, we couldn't do this without philanthropy.

There's no way the county could have moved this fast.

And so took everyone saying yes, and this is about critical infrastructure.

This is about long-term sustainability to protect our immigrants and refugee community members.

So I just wanted to make sure I said that before uh Lori Cox had to disconnect and also wanted to acknowledge Shelly as part of your team.

She's been our backbone organizing all these meetings and um information.

And let's give it up to the visuals.

Color matters, visuals matter.

And this is absolutely stunning.

Um I I have learning disabilities and I'm a visual learner, so this is incredibly useful and helpful to digest this heavy content.

So just thank you again.

Just wanted to make sure I made those comments, and I know, and I also want to acknowledge the chair of this committee.

We wouldn't even be having this conversation if this ad committee act committee hadn't reconvened.

So thank you to our chair and her team, Cynthia, who was instrumental in the first report back in 2021.

I also want to acknowledge her dedication and um also just take a moment to reflect and remember the life of Supervisor Richard Vaya and Wilma Chan.

This is truly their legacy work, and just really um thankful for their visionary leadership, and now it's on us.

And I'll stop there because I want to hear from the public, but also just want to emphasize I know this is a lot for the public to uh digest, and but we really want to hear your feedback to further shape and develop this implementation study.

I think it's extremely comprehensive, but there's no way we can um identify every unmet need or gap.

So this is really where we're calling on the community to share your thoughts.

Thank you.

Okay, before we go to public comment, um, I did want to just briefly react and say yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Um I was really struck by the beautiful colors of this presentation too.

But more than that, um, this committee over the past year has really been in a bit of rapid response mode because we have not had the infrastructure, the institution, and so um we are certainly moving forward and we are standing on the shoulders of supervisors Chan and Valle and everyone who was involved in that report, including my um incredible staff, Cynthia Munoz Ramos, who was on staff with Supervisor Valle at the time.

Um I'm just so moved by all of this.

I feel like um, especially with your leadership, Supervisor Marquez and pulling this together with the community with funders, with a consultant team, and credible volunteers who were on the community advisory board.

Yes, it was fast, and it's also meeting a moment of urgency that I think we all feel.

And so I'm really excited to see the county mute move more quickly than we traditionally have moved to meet the urgency that our community deserves and demands.

So, you know, just very briefly.

Very impressive how comprehensive this is, the broad mission about full participation of everyone in our county and the thoughtfulness around criteria over where the office is placed and the enabling factors that would make this successful and the recommendations.

I mean, there's so much here that I'm incredibly excited about and it's so well thought out.

Um, I look forward to the full report, and I also appreciate that we were able to have this meeting to sort of give a preview of what the work has been over the past few months and allow for public input and also allow the community advisory board to digest and refine even more before the report is finalized and comes back to the board.

So um, yeah, just very, very well done.

Kudos to everyone.

And if um Lori Cox is still here with the county administrator's office.

I did want to give an opportunity to her to share any remarks that she has.

She's here.

Okay.

Okay.

Um I will want to hear more from the administration around their reactions to this.

Um, but for now we can go to public comment.

So please go ahead and fill out your speaker card, or if you are on Zoom, raise your hand.

Uh, we'll allow up to two minutes for everyone to share their feedback.

Esmeralda Iglesias.

Good afternoon.

Um, my name is Oh, thank you for making time for this meeting, and thank you for the visuals and information.

My name is Esmeralda.

I am an organizer with Trabajadores Unidos Workers United.

I live in Deep East Oakland, where much of my family has been since coming to this country.

And I just wanted to reaffirm support for the formation of Oira.

Personal experience has taught me that navigating legal resources, uh, the resources that our immigrant and refugee communities need in order to survive, are both difficult and overwhelming to navigate.

Oh, sorry.

Are both difficult and overwhelming to navigate.

It often feels like you're going in circles with attacks on our federal rights on our immigrant communities and the fear that this has caused.

It's more important now than ever that we centralize and institutionalize programs and resources to support our communities here in Alameda County.

We need to know what our communities' needs are.

We need to be able to meet the moment and support them with what they need in an efficient and coordinated manner at a time where there is already so much fear.

Um, and I think the formation of this office can do just that.

Thank you.

Adriana and then Alana and Fowler.

Um travel.

Hello, good afternoon.

My name is Adriana, part of Trabajadores United.

See, appoyendo para que se tenga una oficina para I'm here supporting so that we could have an office.

Very important for immigrants and refugees.

See, you también estoy aquí representando my communidad.

And I'm also coming here representing myself, my community, um, and immigrants I am as well.

So I believe that it's very important for us, our community to have an office so that other immigrants and refugees can come and use the services.

Okay.

Gracias.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Paola.

I'm an organizer with Trabajadores Unidos, Workers United, and I'm also here in support of this office because it will assist our county in fulfilling its commitment to support the rights of immigrant and refugee communities.

Hello, my name is Alana.

I work at Trabajadores and those workers united, and I'm also a community member.

I'm here to urge supervisors to um support the creation of an office of immigrant and refugee affairs.

An official office would provide the systemic infrastructure to manage the surging demand for services.

It would provide a permanent and scalable solution for legal services, deportation defense, such as the work we do within the anti-deportation organizing committee that with exists within Acudir, as well as know your rights and community outreach.

Along with this, it is simply a moral imperative.

Alameda County has a clear history of protecting its residents, having previously dec declared itself a sanctuary county and created ice-free zones on county property.

An office of immigrant and refugee affairs is the next logical step to fulfill these commitments, sending a clear message that the county will not be intimidated by federal policies that tear families apart and so fear within our community.

Alameda County is home to 23% of the region's immigrant population.

Let's make sure we're protecting them and providing them with the resources they deserve this office would build on the board's strong foundation acting as a permanent home for all of the critical services that our community has demanded and deserves.

Thank you.

Yanaton, Lucas and Andres and thank you also to our interpreters to the members of the public remember to speak um slowly so that our interpreters can provide translation.

Good afternoon my name is Yodotad Greenberg and I'm a field organizer at Trabajadores Unidos Workers United and I'm here to speak on the behalf of the formation of Oira.

In the current course of my work as a field organizer I have hundreds of conversations with workers especially Latino workers many of whom lack official legal status um but they are nonetheless the backbone of their communities their families as well as the local economy and I believe that it's vital for the continued functioning of the Bay Area economy that these immigrant workers receive an abundance of support um from the attacks that they've received from federal immigration raids.

I really struggle to imagine a functioning Bay Area economy operating without the farm workers mechanics um construction workers um as well as the wide variety of other jobs that these people hold it's a strong moral responsibility to do everything possible for these workers and it's also an economic necessity for the local economy.

So thank you for your time my name is Lucas I'm an organizer with Trabajadores Unios Workers United and a deep east Oakland resident where I mentor young men in my neighborhood um I'm eager to see the Board of Supervisors move forward with implementing an office of immigrant and refugee affairs uh I've seen uh the terror of ice threats and federal kidnappings firsthand um and the young people that I mentor had to navigate that fear of uh heightened federal threats in our last October as we continue to deal with crises uh my community needs deep county investments to ensure that we're thriving and leading here uh not just surviving the height heightening federal attacks uh I've been lucky enough to work with similar offices across the bridge in San Francisco uh Osea um uh by collaborating with their Dream SF fellow program and the brilliant youth that I mentor here in Oakland are hungry for programs like this uh our young people would benefit greatly from long-term county investment in tackling workforce barriers and building the immigrant leaders that can continue the important work that organizations like ours like Travis Unidos hold um eager to see a timely implementation of this office uh to ensure that Alameda County upholds what deep sanctuary actually looks like thank you hello I'm Andrés Pomar with Trabajadores uh from Travajoros workers united and I'm here also um present to reaffirm and support the uh this the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs you know that it's something that like community needs especially um not just in these times but also long term to maintain the commitment to supporting both immigrant and refugee communities uh in our county and um I also want to applaud and commend the committee for responding to meet the urgency of this moment um and this is something that yeah thank you Diego Leticia Carmen feel free to line up so that you can speak one after the other hello my name is Diego Villegas Aguilar I'm an organizer here with Trabajadores Unidos workers united and I'm glad to be my fifth or fourth time here speaking um I remember a year and a half ago when talks were starting about and um at that moment I realized that this kinds of offices did not exist in this county and that it did exist in other counties and that it was um proof of the exclusion of um certain communities to access to um public goods and public

And at that moment I realized that these kinds of offices did not exist in this county, and that it did exist in other counties, and that it was proof of the exclusion of certain communities to access to public goods and public um resources that should have been available lots of years ago, especially with current administrations and the likes of our leaders right now.

And um one feedback I would have for the office is we were talking about accountability and I think it referred to accountability between department between offices.

But just to remember that um once it is a uh a body of the county, the office will still in my opinion should still be accountable to the community organizations and I would um suggest ways of doing so um for the same push that we're doing right now for this office to exist um to have those pathways to always push for the office to do more.

Thank you.

Um hello, good afternoon, my name is Leticia, and I'm here representing women uh united activism.

Um and I'm very happy here to uh to present myself.

Our communities have a big need of linguistic um access and uh services because when we first arrive here in this country we really don't know how to navigate the system.

Y in este momento politico con esta nova administration terrorizados, perseguidos, criminalizados.

And with this new administration we're being persecuted, we be we're being terrorized, or being criminalized.

Um this office is gonna help us um receive knowledge, um receive workshops, um be able to repeat la ultimas.

Foros communitarios y feria de recursos, um community workshops and uh resource fairs.

And I'm sure that the different organizations that are uh still open to work with this office we are here, the representatives are here even though the whole community isn't, and I'm sure that everyone here is open to continue working together forward.

Thank you.

Hello, good afternoon, my name is Carmen and I'm from uh United Women Activ activist.

And so um this office is really important.

I believe that this is a space that um can help uh when I had first arrived here, I was very lost.

I didn't know um what to do, or I was disor uh disoriented.

This office is very important for us to give us resources and opportunities, and also if there's any opportunity uh to um listen to this information in our language, it's a great help because there are um it's very difficult to be able to manage all of this information sometimes not knowing the language.

So Alma, Liliana, Alejo Cambial Major.

Good afternoon.

My name is Alma and I'm part of also the organization of uh activist Women United.

Acudir and Acudir, the name of an organization.

I'm here to uh express and to continue my support in the need of this office.

Ah para que nos siga dando el apoyo in el condado y continues communidades migrantes.

So they could continue giving us the support that we need and continue supporting the immigrant uh families in this county.

As a vulnerable uh community of the county want to be feel respected and supported in the space we live in.

And also we want to see our rights being defended.

In Estos momentos nuestra communidad necessita pote sendise protegida.

And in this moment our community really needs to feel protected.

We need to know that our county is here to support us to protect us and also to give us any information in our own language.

And learning about all the different services that the county can offer to our community.

And as an immigrant, it's important for me to feel safe and to also listen to things in my own language.

Thank you.

Hello, good afternoon.

My name is Liliana and from the uh organization of United Women.

And I'm here representing my immigrant community and the realities that we have so many needs.

And much more in these times that we're being attacked.

And well, we've already spoken a lot about a lot of these barriers that we feel once we arrive first to this country, and especially the discrimination that comes with that.

And I really asked the county to give us support and to help us because we are also human beings and we deserve that respect and a dignified life.

So I do support and I hope that we are being supported as supported as well.

Thank you.

Hi.

Hi everyone, um, thank you for um having us here today.

Uh um Alejo, the executive director of Trabajadores Unidos Workers United, and also part of Acudir.

Uh and I want to reaffirm and support that there continues to be uh a need and um to have an office that really supports and uplifts the needs of our community.

Uh the county uh has been doing a really great job of addressing and listening to community and the needs.

And I really want to uplift the proposal uh that was being presented by Be the Change.

Uh it was great to be part of that space, to be in a space of collaboration in a space with organizations that support members with services, with organizing, with uh uh uh deportation defense.

Um and and really want to uplift the need uh of continuing these efforts.

And I think it was mentioned earlier.

Uh be the change started this effort in early 2026.

Um one day before May Day, and we have great, great uh recommendations.

Uh really excited to continue working together with the county to continue working together with a different organizations and servitive services to make sure that we are addressing and uplifting the needs of our immigrant communities during this time.

Thank you so much.

Miriam Iris, Samuel.

Good afternoon.

My name is Miriam Edelin Myers, and I'm the lead organizer with Trabajadores Unidos Workers United.

I'm from San Francisco, and I'm a resident of Fruitvale, Oakland.

Over the past years, we've worked diligently to make sure that Alameda County keeps up with the protections that already exist in other counties.

And prior to working with TU, I worked for the city of San Francisco, um, where I collaborated on projects with the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs.

Um, and I saw firsthand the direct support offered immigrants in my community, such as immigration clinics in libraries, and even at workplaces like the SF Airport.

Um I just learned today that one in three people in Alameda is an immigrant, and I'm not surprised by that.

Um that being said, it's crucial that Alameda County create this office so that we can ensure that residents of our county have access to the same protections and resources that all Bay Area residents have, especially in light of our current administration and the threats that we're facing.

Thank you.

Um, and just greatly appreciate uh all the work that both you and your teams have done to um work with organizations as well as getting community input of what uh this office can look like um and how to best support the um needs that continue to happen on the daily for our immigrant and uh refugee communities.

Um and as we've been do door knocking and doing outreach to um communities, um we've we are constantly hearing um from folks that um uh uh this the the way that it's been received, um it's had like a positive impact to folks, and like folks have been really surprised that the county is taking this initiative um to um like really take them into um account that like they are also um seen as residents as constituents of Alameda County and you know we've been talking to folks who've just recently arrived um from Guatemala or like other parts of South Um America, and as well as folks who have lived in this county for like tw uh 10, 20, 30 plus years.

Um and uh uh it it's been um really um uh like them hearing this information um for the first time, like they're wanting to see like how can they also like continue to um uh be involved in in um uh supporting with making these um uh connections with also their neighbors as well.

Um so just you know, just greatly appreciate the um work that both you are doing um to continue to get our um communities uh the resources that they need.

Um so that's why I um strongly um uh am in favor and support it of this implementation plan.

Um and so um just want to uplift that we're gonna continue to um share with community like as things are moving forward and um the work that both of your offices are doing.

So thank y'all so much.

Uh good afternoon.

My name is Samuel.

Um I am the organizing director for Trabajadores Unidos Workers United, also a member of Alameda County uh United and Defense for Immigrant Rights, Acudir.

And wanna thank you, Supervisor Marquez, Supervisor Bass for really uplifting this and championing it and seeing it through.

As my colleagues, my co-workers have mentioned, this is uh an important step for the county.

Um if well just remind uh remember right from last October when the scarcity happened with our community, right?

There's folks that unfortunately did have to lose work because of the fear, right, of what could happen, but also in the same time folks um uh having the need to go to work and take that risk to be able to provide for their families, right?

So this is an office that will be able to uh provide some more support for our community, meet that gap, right?

And uh says members of Aquudil who are organizing an offense uh with families to liberate their loved ones, it will be a very crucial office for folks who get that support as well.

Uh so just wanna thank y'all for for championing this and uh good afternoon, everyone.

Dave Rich, Lisa.

Good afternoon, Supervisors Marquez and Fortunato Bass.

I'm Dave Thompson.

I'm co-executive director of My Eden Voice in the Unincorporated Area, along with uh co-chair of um Aquadir, Alameda County United in Defense of Immigrant Rights.

First, uh thank you so much for for bringing this work forward quickly and building off of the legacy of Supervisors Chan and by and then for the consultants for pulling all this together, um, all that's been said already.

Uh, based on the work that we've been doing uh with Supervisor Miley's office on the Office of Unincorporated Communities, I highly already urge you that the office be placed in the CAO.

Um it is our experience as residents in the unincorporated area that agencies do not coordinate together very well.

Um, and that the they don't have authority to get others to work well together.

Uh these experiences are validated in the recent report put out by Supervisor Miley's office on the Office of Unincorporated Communities uh based on conversations with over 90 uh residents, MAC members, agency staff, uh where the resounding recommendation was that the office that office be placed in the CAO.

We know that the CO would rather not have that be the case, but in order to have cross-agency initiatives, uh that is the singular place in this county that has the authority to have to hold cross-agency initiatives.

Thank you.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Rich Whipple.

Um, part of the community advisory um body and also um a resident of district three, so live here in Oakland, not too far from here.

Uh, Norman already knows I talk fast, so let me just try to calm myself down.

Um I mostly came up here to give flowers to the incredible consultants that y'all worked with, um, blown away by the work that you all did in the timeline that you did it.

Truly insane, and the products that that came out of this are just really remarkable.

So I just wanted to make sure you all know how much we appreciated working with you all.

And prior uh you know, to this experience, I worked in San Francisco in the Office of Civic Engagement in Immigrant Affairs.

So thanks to the folks that shouted out our office in San Francisco.

I had the pleasure in 2009 of helping to build and create that office and helped to build and lead that office for 16 years.

So I would have loved to have a blueprint uh like what you all are providing when we created that office in San Francisco.

And I'm so excited and delighted to see my home county following suit with other parts of the bay because it's so desperately needed.

And I'm so grateful to see community here voicing support for this important office and know that it is a very big lift and a lot to do.

But I think with what we've been given today and with the support of you all and the the community, it's doable.

So thank you.

Hi, good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Lisa Knox, and with the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, the lead organization for the Accord Collaborative.

Um I was also part of the community advisory body and want to echo thanks to you for your vision and and for bringing us together and to the consultants for doing such an amazing job.

Um I fully support all the recommendations they made today.

Um and I really just want to echo my support for their first recommendation, which is sustaining the funding for the funded collaboratives.

Um with your support, we have been able to build up um three really incredible collaboratives.

Accord is now nine members, organizations that provide removal defense services to immigrants across the county and to diverse communities, including the AAPI community, African migrant community, and the LGBT community.

So you have already made such an investment, and we urge you to just continue that and to make it long-term sustained funding so that those organizations can not just continue their work but grow knowing that they're going to have the support of the county.

So thank you so much for your time.

Cynthia, John, Maria.

Hello, thank you for having us here.

My name is Cynthia Salazar, and I'm owner or I'm an organizer with Trabajadores Unidos, Workers United, and I am here in support of the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.

These are so of my these are one of the programs that would have been so helpful to my parents when they got here from Guatemala that would have allowed my parents and not just them, but so many of our community members to not live in fear.

So I want to leave y'all with that and just say that I'm in full support of this.

Thank you so much.

Hi, good afternoon.

My name is Maria Alejandra Leon, and I am I am member of Mujeres Unidas Activas.

I'm trying to say in this in English.

But I guess it's really really important for my community and for me and for my family.

Have a place where we can find the support or help for all our issues.

And I'm trying, sorry.

You're doing great.

I'm trying.

But me gustaria que um podamos saber mas sobre Nostos Ketemos.

And so we would like to just have a space where we can learn more about our rights in general and also learn about how those rights can be defended in the first place, especially what we're going and living through right now with ice raids, and it's just really important to know how our rights can be defended.

Thank you so much for your attention.

So we're going to be wrapping up public comment soon.

This is your last chance to turn in a speaker card or to raise your hand if you're on Zoom.

Um my name's John Marks.

Um the founder of uh Homeless Incorporated.

Uh I want to start by saying both me and our CBO supports the new immigrant and refugee office and commend the consultants' work.

As the godson of immigrants who fled Hitler for dignity, safety, and equal protection.

I'm here to say those promises are breaking on the streets.

Today's presentation on the Office of Immigrant Affairs is vital.

But together for all, cannot stop it.

Housed residents.

We are witnessing a direct parallel.

The same crime migration playbook used against immigrants is being turned on their unhoused population under executive order 1432 one.

Federal pressure is currently forcing a choice ordered through handcuffs and involuntary commitment or the loss of survival funding.

The threat is uh fiscal and existential.

The federal government is now capping permanent housing at just 30%, a reckless shift that threatens to push 170 people back to the streets.

We have 1.4 billion in local measure W funds, as you know.

But federal raids are designed to disrupt the very stability you were trying to build.

State law, um SB 634 protects our rights to provide basic survival gear like blankets and tents.

This committee must be our shield.

We are asking clearly expand the scope of this committee to protect and house residents from federal sweeps, establish safe haven zones on county lands, mirroring the successful ice-free zones you've already put in place and expand uh the rapid response hotline infrastructure to document and resist the criminalization of poverty.

Thank you.

Martha.

Umastardis, my name is Marta Sanchez.

Uh soy de Guatemala, de una communidad indigena immigrante de que habla MAM.

Hello, good afternoon.

My name is Marta Sanchez.

I am from I'm representing my indigenous community from Guatemala, and also uh part of the community that speaks mom.

I work with uh United uh women's activists.

Uh uh and I support uh the ongoing of this project because I think it's very important for the community to have a uh a reach to all of these programs.

But especially the immigrant community, of course.

Uh inclusion the accessibility.

And also to continue working with uh language services so that we can continue act uh accessing this information in an understandable way.

Uh, in esta situation, somos la comunidad immigrante y la communidad indigeno.

And specifically in these moments, you know, we are the community that are mostly targeted, the immigrant community, and specifically also the Latino and Indigenous community.

And it's really important.

It's really difficult to access services or information when they are not offered in our languages.

Thank you very much.

So it wasn't too long ago.

Well, actually, it's before Donald Trump.

So a lifelong uh democrat, and I don't remember you know this going on.

And uh here here's what I remember.

I have a short video I just wanted to play.

We're also a nation of laws.

Undocumented workers broke our immigration laws, and I believe that they must be held accountable.

They've committed a crime, deport them.

No questions asked, they're gone.

No great nation.

Well, we need to address the issue of immigration and the challenge we have of uh undocumented people in our country.

We certainly don't want any more coming in.

Every place in this country are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country.

The jobs they home might otherwise be held by citizens or legal immigrants, the public service they use impose burdens on our taxpayers.

That's why our administration has moved aggressively to secure our borders more by hiring a record number of new border guards, by deporting twice as many criminal aliens as ever before, by cracking down on illegal hiring, uh barring welfare benefits to illegal islands, illegal immigration is wrong, plain and simple.

When we use phrases like undocumented workers, we convey a message to the American people that their government is not serious about combating illegal immigration, which the American people overwhelmingly impose.

If you don't think it's illegal, you're not gonna say it.

I think it is still legal and wrong.

Open the borders, my God.

You know, there's a lot of poverty in this world, and you're gonna have people from all over the world.

And I I don't think that's something that we can do with the sport, can't do it.

Uh we simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked, and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently and caller, you're on the line.

You have two minutes.

Christopher Good afternoon, Supervisors for Tonarobas and Marquez.

My name is Christopher Martinez, and I represent the Spanish speaking citizens foundation, a nonprofit serving immigrants across Oakland and Alameda County.

We're also a proud partner in the rapid response network at FILEP.

The creation of this office is a true statement of values, and I really want to applaud the county for taking the lead.

It feds the county sees its newcomers and is committed to building a future with them.

We wholeheartedly support the creation of the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.

As we all know, though, the need goes far beyond the immediate challenges we face today.

Our communities are navigating a difficult and cruel federal government.

But immigrant and refugee needs have always been deep, and they will continue long after today's precious eve.

We are talking about families navigating legal systems, parents wanting their children to thrive in school, workers facing barriers and good jobs, seniors isolated by language, and survivors of trauma who need real support.

This office has the opportunity to address all of it, not just crisis response, but long-term holistic investment in every newcomer in this county.

We hope there will be continued ongoing community input in multiple languages across all zip codes and backgrounds.

Done right.

This office won't just respond to needs.

We are ready to help build this office.

I have no additional speakers for this item.

Thank you.

Again, I want to thank everyone for your participation in this process as well as this meeting.

We do have free speech in this country, so we heard at least one opinion that may not be the lived experience of those who have participated in this process today.

Supervisor Marquez, what do you recommend as next steps?

Yes, thank you, Chair Fortunately Bath.

So thank you all again for your engagement, your participation, and I welcome our amazing consultants who said there was a couple errors, and that's good, because guess what?

None of us are perfect.

We all make mistakes and we all have to give each other grace.

So thank you for showing that humility.

It really means a lot.

And just thank you for being so open-minded, compassionate, and a safe place for so many people with different lived experiences to share what's worked and what hasn't.

And it was um hard to not get really emotional up here because I just, as people were speaking, I did think like, what if?

I know I want to be prospective and focusing on our future, but like what if this office was in place 10, 15 years ago?

What would that have looked like for many of the people that already spoke?

So uh taking those thoughts and concerns very seriously.

Um, the item today is an informational item for those of you that pay attention to what I say.

I care deeply about process and good governance, and this was the community's ability to weigh in.

As was mentioned by our consultants, the CAB also has additional feedback.

They are reviewing the report.

It's 90 plus pages now.

So in this moment, I am not prepared to take a position, nor can we, because this is not an action item.

This is an informational item, but I am publicly telling all of you that I'm committed to advancing this work and what next steps will look like, is myself and Supervisor Fortunato Bass.

We will be co-authoring a joint letter to bring forward the next steps, um, flagging that the number one priority is to sustain the existing contracts.

Um so please um stay apprised, uh stay connected to our office, and as soon as we could provide an update, we will be doing that.

We are heading to uh budget analysis, budget decisions, and we have quite a few asks.

And we were just learned last week that we have a 95 million dollar deficit.

But we also um I've said this last Tuesday, so Supervisor Fortunately Bass.

We also have some reserve funding.

There's some flexibility, so I want to exhaust all viable options to advance this work.

Also, I want to make sure once the report is done that our colleagues have a chance to read it, digest it, and then I'm gonna respectfully ask our consultants to bring back an abbreviated version of this amazing presentation to our full board.

So there will be another touch point.

So I'm just publicly saying that's where we're at in this moment, and uh, we will provide updates as soon as we can.

But I think we are both committed to doing everything we possibly can expeditiously to advance these recommendations, and I really thank all of you for your engagement and participation today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh, that was the only item on our agenda.

Um, I do want we will have uh public comment for any items not on the agenda, and given the time that will just be a minute, so um sign up if you are interested in that.

So sign up if you are interested in that.

And I do want to share that we will uh tentatively have our next meeting, the first Thursday in June, which is when we typically meet the first Thursday of the month, so June 4th at 3 p.m.

Given the conversations that we have had on the board, including the recent conversation about flock safety and concerns that many people in this room expressed regarding how that might be potentially harmful to immigrant and other communities.

I am considering a conversation in the present uh uh an agenda item looking at data privacy and mass surveillance.

We did have a conversation early last year about some of those issues, and it seems like it's a good time to revisit that and make sure that we're as informed as possible.

Okay, so at this time, if there's any public comment on items not on the agenda, um, we'll allow public speakers for just one minute.

John, you're on the line.

We're in public comment.

Yeah, regarding the uh comment made about the Supreme Court ruling on voting rights act.

Just wanted to remind everybody that when prompt 50 uh passed, it was uh taken all the way to the Supreme Court.

And this in the argument from Newsom was exactly what the what the Supreme Court just passed.

He was arguing that they did not do uh gerrymander based on race, they did it based on political uh political, it was a political uh redistricting, not racial, and that's exactly what the the uh Supreme Court just passed.

So it's the same thing, and it's you can thank uh news so for bringing that up to the Supreme Court, and that's how Prop 50 survived the Supreme Court challenge.

Thank you.

We have no additional speakers for public comment.

Thank you.

Before we adjourn, we have just a couple appreciations.

Yeah, thank you.

I just wanted to make sure I reiterate my sincere gratitude and appreciation, primarily to the Zeller Bach Family Foundation, to Alison and Navin, who've been instrumental in making sure we meet every Friday and being the backbone of our our administrative task.

Um, they've really been um instrumental in advancing this work.

So thank you for your support, your investment, your expertise.

We couldn't do this work without you.

I can almost guarantee that.

And then also just wanted to again thank uh the San Francisco Family Foundation, the Akenati Foundation, and East Bay Community Foundation.

I hope that you feel that your investment was deeply appreciated based off all the accolades and comments from our community, and many people said they're speaking on behalf of people that are working really hard to provide for their families and cannot be here today.

So I know they um are speaking on behalf of thousands of our residents.

So just thank you again for the support and investment, the partnership, and for the expertise to advance this work.

Thank you.

And thank you, of course, to our interpreters.

Um, I believe that's Norman and Alex.

We appreciate you providing language access.

The meeting is adjourned.