Mayor Lurie Takes Action to Protect San Francisco's Immigrant Communities, Support Immigrant Legal Defense

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today announced another step taken to protect San Francisco’s immigrant communities, securing $3.4 million in philanthropic funding to support immigrant legal defense work. The new funding will allow the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office to hire additional attorneys and staff to support immigration legal defense efforts. With the additional support from philanthropic partners, San Francisco is now funding immigrant legal defense at higher levels than the previous budget.  

The new funding builds on Mayor Lurie’s work to protect the immigrant community, even during an historically difficult budget cycle. In July, the mayor signed his budget for Fiscal Years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027—preserving important support for legal services for the city’s immigrant community, LGBTQ+ community, and families while closing an $800 million deficit. 

“In this year’s budget, we protected critical funding to provide legal defense services for our immigrant neighbors—even while closing an $800 million deficit that required painful cuts in other areas. Now, we’ve secured more than $3 million to build on this work through the Public Defender’s Office, ensuring that immigrants can access legal counsel, even in deportation proceedings,” said Mayor Lurie. “Under our city's longstanding policies, local law enforcement does not assist with federal immigration enforcement. These policies help everyone in our city feel comfortable working with our police officers, they make all of San Francisco safer, and as mayor, I will continue to uphold them.”

“San Francisco has always been a beacon for immigrants, and amidst growing threats of deportation from our federal government our immigrant communities deserve to feel safe and protected,” said District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood. “I was honored to cosponsor this legislation to ensure we increase funding and staffing for our Public Defender's Immigration Defense Unit and ensure residents have increased access to proper legal representation and a fairer chance to fight their deportation cases.”

The legislation—sponsored and signed by Mayor Lurie and cosponsored by Supervisor Mahmood—authorizes the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office to accept and expend a $3.4 million philanthropic grant to expand the capacity of the Immigration Defense Unit to meet the increased demand for immigration defense services until March 2029. The grant will allow the unit to add four new positions to work on issues of immigration defense.

In addition to protecting important support for legal services in the budget, Mayor Lurie’s administration is:

• Maintaining and reaffirming city and state policies that prohibit law enforcement and city departments from engaging in, supporting, or facilitating immigration enforcement activities.
• Working with local law enforcement agencies to ensure that all sworn and civilian staff receive updated training on the city’s sanctuary policy and ensuring all city staff are aware of the resources and services available to the community.
• Directing San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) leadership to immediately notify the Mayor’s Office if SFPD is ever called to the scene of an immigration enforcement action to protect public safety—allowing the Mayor’s Office to help maintain open lines of communication with the public and prevent confusion.
• Conducting regular emergency preparedness exercises with SFPD, San Francisco Sheriff’s Office, San Francisco Fire Department, Department of Emergency Management, and other city departments to prepare to respond in the event of particular scenarios related to federal immigration enforcement in the city.
• Convening meetings with heads of local law enforcement agencies, community leaders, and immigrant-serving organizations to open direct lines of communication, monitor community impact, and receive feedback.
• Ensuring local law enforcement continues to protect the safety and rights of every San Franciscan to peacefully practice their First Amendment rights.