Cambridge Launches Legal Defense Fund For Immigrants

CAMBRIDGE, MA – The city of Cambridge launched its Legal Defense Fund for Immigrants this week, Mayor Marc C. McGovern announced Monday. The fund, which was a joint effort between the mayor's office and the Cambridge Community Foundation, was established to help immigrants protect themselves amid the Trump administration's policies. Several other cities have created similar initiatives, officials said.

"The current political climate…threatens to tear families apart through forced deportations, uproot young Dreamers, increase the vulnerability of victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse, and erode the very values of our democracy," McGovern said in a letter to the community. "Amid the alarmist anti-immigrant rhetoric sweeping our nation, it is now more important than ever that we stand firmly with our immigrant community and act on a local level to ensure their rights are protected."

The defense fund will be administered by the Cambridge Community Foundation, which will distribute funding through a grant approval process. Funds will be used to help connect families to legal services, expand educational programming and increase access to legal representation, particularly for immigrants who are at risk of being deported and are not able to afford a lawyer.

"A legal defense fund gives low-income immigrants a fighting chance to stay in the country they now call home," Manny Lusardi, Liaison for Immigrant Affairs, said in a statement. "This is the first in many steps combating the hate and xenophobia coming out of the White House."

More than $50,000 has been pledged by local partners and individual donors. Information on the initiative can be found on the Cambridge Community Foundation website at CambridgeCF.org.

For more information about the Cambridge Legal Defense Fund for Immigrants, contact Mayor Marc McGovern at mayor@cambridgema.gov or Geeta Pradhan, President of the Cambridge Community Foundation, at gpradhan@cambridgecf.org.

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