The Los Angeles City Council, United States, has voted to expand Defense Against Deportation Services to all migrants in that California city.

The city council voted 10 in favor and 2 against this measure.

According to what has been explained in Noticias Telemundo, immigrants who have committed serious crimes or are in prison will be able to benefit from this.

$14 million has been allocated to the program to legally protect migrants from deportation. “The city of Los Angeles had always contributed $4 million, now it has increased to $14 million,” Univisión Noticias reported on Friday, November 3, 2023.

According to Noticias Telemundo, there were more than 460 legal aid cases in the first half of 2023.

This new measure “has already come into effect and marks a significant change in immigration policy in Los Angeles,” Diario las Américas said on November 3, 2023.

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“We do not leave undocumented people alone”

Councilor Hugo Soto told the American network: “We cannot leave undocumented people alone in these crisis processes.”

“We will be with the immigrant community without restrictions, or we will make buts,” Soto wondered.

He said his method is not to say buts. “We are here to help all immigrants,” said the well-considered creator of the initiative, the American news channel noted.

There are residents who also question the money going to those funds.

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“Where is the government going to pay for it… it’s a lot of money; of our money,” asked and answered Joaquín Álvarez, based in Los Angeles.

According to Diario Las Américas, taxpayer dollars “will be used to finance undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States.”

Noticias Telemundo emphasized that “no matter how many years the process takes, one free advice for people being detained or released.”

The council members who approved these funds, according to the report by Telemundo correspondent Edgar Muñoz, urged that they be sent to the immigrants who have no money to defend themselves in court and face the separation of families due to deportation.

(JO)