Sacramento Authorizes Taxpayer Dollars for Legal Fees of Illegal Immigrants, Including Criminals

Sacramento City Council members Angelique Ashby and Jeff Harris, critics of mayor Darrell Steinberg, charge that the mayor is taking retribution against them by excluding their districts from a $16 million spending plan. Other recent budgetary moves by the Sacramento mayor may prompt similar complaints from residents and taxpayers across the city.

“Undocumented immigrants in Sacramento will have city-funded legal services as soon as next month, to fight deportation and ‘prepare for the worst’ as their fears grow about federal immigration enforcement.” That was Anita Chabria in a May 4, 2017 Sacramento Bee report.

As Chabria explained, the Sacramento City Council voted “to set aside up to $300,000 for a network of legal, educational and faith-based nonprofit groups that will help residents with immediate immigration problems and advise them how to protect children and assets if parents are deported.” 

Councilman Steve Hansen called the situation an “emergency” and targeted the money for “legal guardianships.” Mayor Steinberg went on record that “we are not a city that will exchange people’s civil rights for money.” The mayor, an attorney, did not indicate which civil right was in play in the spending of taxpayer funds on illegal immigrants present in the United States illegally.

Chabria’s report cites the California Endowment that “undocumented” Sacramento County residents contribute $58.9 million to government coffers each year. The report did not quantify how many illegal aliens are present in Sacramento, nor how much the county spends on services for them.

For their part, residents who are legal immigrants and legitimate citizens might wonder when the city budgeted money for the legal fees of private individuals for some legitimate purpose. As it happened, in the meeting that authorized spending on illegals’ legal fees, Chabria wrote, “the City Council also strengthened its sanctuary city status Thursday by making it illegal for city employees, including police, to inquire unnecessarily about immigration status.”

Sacramento’s legal residents legal immigrants and legitimate citizens might wonder if the city would offer sanctuary to those fleeing federal agents on kidnapping, assault, or tax fraud charges. Steinberg said his concern was people who “are a threat,” however those illegal immigrants eligible for monetary aid include those with convictions for DUI, which can be a felony offense if people are injured.

As the California Globe noted, last month Ismael Huazo-Jardinez, an illegal immigrant, smashed into a trailer in Knight’s Landing killing Jose Pacheco, 38, Anna Pacheco, 34,  the couple’s son Angel, 10, and injured their 11-year-old daughter.

Police charged Huazo-Jardinez with felony DUI and three counts of vehicular manslaughter, and is slated to be arraigned in Sutter County on June 10.