Los Angeles officials and leaders will attempt to raise $10 million to help illegal immigrants apply for President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty program.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the effort on Friday. The plan is reportedly a “joint effort between the city of Los Angeles and the California Community Foundation, a philanthropy group that often works on immigration issues” and has already raised $5 million for the effort from “organizations including the Weingart Foundation and the California endowment.”
The funds will reportedly be distributed to nonprofits that are hiring attorneys and opening offices “in anticipation of a crush of new customers,” since at least one million illegal immigrants may be eligible to receive temporary amnesty and work permits in California.
Garcetti joined mayors of 30 other cities in a brief in support of Obama’s executive amnesty. Los Angeles, along with cities like New York and Chicago, belongs to the “cities for citizenship” coalition that seeks to help illegal immigrants better navigate their way through the executive amnesty process.