Thanks to WES members, Ann Baker, John Campbell, Julie Campbell, Justine Johnson, Katherine O’Kester and Ross Wells who helped Mayor Bowser make the right decision to fully fund the $2.5 million budget request for immigrant legal defense.

The following is from DC Values #FamiliesBelongTogether

We are thrilled to share that last night Mayor Bowser announced that she will allocate $2.5 million for immigration legal services in her proposed budget for this year!

“At the budget engagement forums last month, I was moved by the residents who came out consistently and asked us to do more for our neighbors. So in this budget, together we will increase funding for the IJLS grant program from $900,000 to $2.5 million.” – Mayor Bowser, State of the District Address 2019

The Mayor said it herself: your voice made a profound difference. Nearly two hundred of you filled the Mayoral Budget Forums in blue shirts and testified to the necessity of defending our immigrant neighbors from this President’s policies of cruelty and fear. Because of you, legal provides in DC will have the resources they need to help keep DC immigrant families together.

You can find coverage of the increase in The Washington Post and WAMU, and you can watch the announcement at the 58:18 mark of the speech. Although there is more work to be done, this is a big victory for immigrant rights in the District. Thank you for all that you’ve done to get us to this point!