Oakland sets up $300,000 fund to fight deportations

Mayor Libby Schaaf says Oakland is in a “horrific federal environment.” Mayor Libby Schaaf says Oakland is in a “horrific federal environment.” Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Oakland sets up $300,000 fund to fight deportations 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Oakland carved out $300,000 Tuesday to fight deportations over the next two years, joining other large Democrat-led cities around the country that have laid out plans to fund legal defenses for immigrants threatened by the policies of President Trump’s administration.

The fund will go to a “rapid response network” composed of 12 Oakland organizations to help families that can’t afford legal representation and that could be separated by Trump’s promised crackdown on illegal immigration. The City Council approved the money days after the president signed executive orders stepping up border security and targeting sanctuary cities like Oakland.

“Without counsel, up against a federal prosecutor, they’re supposed to represent themselves in one of the most complex areas of law, where the stakes are permanent separation from their families,” said Eleni Wolfe-Roubatis, immigration program director of Centro Legal de la Raza, which assists minors brought to the country. She was among a dozen speakers at the council meeting asking for more money for the fund.

In Oakland, where more than a quarter of residents are foreign born, the money will go toward creating an emergency hotline for residents, holding “know your rights” workshops and providing free consultations.

A city report on the fund pointed to a 2014 study by Stanford Law School, which found that two-thirds of immigrants facing deportation had no legal representation to help them navigate immigration laws and that those who did have an attorney were three times more likely to win their cases.

Also Tuesday night, the City Council began discussing its budget for the next two years — a process Mayor Libby Schaaf kicked off by issuing an ominous warning on cuts that may come from the federal government by Oakland retaining its sanctuary status.

“I caution that we are at a moment of unprecedented uncertainty in this new, I would say, horrific federal environment,” Schaaf said.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov