A supervisor and a city councilmember hope a new joint committee will be able to meet the needs of Fresno County immigrants.

Fresno County Supervisor Luis Chavez says high absence rates at schools and food processing plants demonstrate why immigrant communities needs support amid President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts.

That’s why he and Fresno City Councilman Miguel Arias want to form a new Immigrant Affairs Working Group, a joint venture of the city and county.

Chavez helped establish the Immigrant Affairs Committee at the city in 2019. He said the committee helped expand translation services and prosecute notary publics misrepresenting themselves as immigration specialists. He wants that same level of support at the county.

The structure of the new committee will overcome many of the challenges facing the city’s immigration committee, he said.

“I thought it would be a great idea to piggyback off of that, my office obviously being the liaison for the county and just having that same approach: How can the county with services provide a better service for these folks in our community?” Chavez said.

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Immigration Committee to Help Coordinate Services, Assuage Fears

The work will start with church groups, he said. Chavez coordinated with Father Jose Sanchez of Saint Anthony Mary Claret to brainstorm how to get resources for people in need. The parish offers food service and Catholic Charities offers clothing.

Chavez worries about people not going to work for fear of immigration sweeps. With absenteeism reaching 25% to 30% in many of the food processing plants in his district, he said the committee should look at ways of ensuring people feel safe enough to go to work. He said school districts also are seeing high absenteeism.

Another effort involves spreading the word that the Fresno County Sheriff’s office doesn’t ask about immigration status. Law enforcement wants undocumented immigrants to know they can report crimes without fear of being prosecuted for their immigration status, he said.

“I think that’s where my office can help, quelling some of those fears, and making sure we work through whatever the federal government’s going to do at the local level,” Chavez said.

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Looser Structure May Help Avoid Problems City Committee Faced

Chavez hopes to have the committee assembled in the coming weeks.

In a news release, Arias said that as an immigrant, he understands the fear and uncertainty around deportation threats.

“By fostering collaboration between the city and county, we can ensure that the same individuals who protected us from empty storage shelves during the pandemic have the same level of support throughout the region and are not unjustly targeted or adversely affected by harmful policies,” Arias said.

The city’s Immigration Affairs Committee, a 15-member board, often did not have enough people present for a quorum.

Committee Chair Linda Barreto, who heads the New American Legal Clinic at the San Joaquin College of Law, stepped down after saying the city did not support the mission.

Chavez said being such a large group made it hard to have enough members in accordance with the Brown Act. Committee members also had jobs that made it difficult to attend, he said.

Being an ad hoc advisory committee, the new joint committee wouldn’t be bound by Brown Act rules, he said. And, having the city and county pooling resources can mean better coordination.

“The city — they have their areas they’re going to focus on. The nature of services the county provides is a little bit different, but it still encompasses our immigrant community,” Chavez said. “Both of those worlds, so to speak, will come together so we can serve our immigrant community as a whole in our region a little bit better.”