Commission on Immigrant Affairs Special Called Meeting of the Commission on Immigrant Affairs

Agenda — original pdf

Versión en español a continuación. Commission on Immigrant Affairs Special Called Meeting Monday, February 1, 2021 Commission on Immigrant Affairs to be held February 1, 2021 with Social Distancing Modifications Public comment will be allowed via telephone; no in-person input will be allowed. All speakers must register in advance (January 31, 2021 by noon). All public comment will occur at the beginning of the meeting. To speak remotely at the February 1, 2021 Commission on Immigrant Affairs Meeting, members of the public must: •Call or email the board liaison at 512-972-5117 or sinying.chan@austintexas.gov no later than noon, January 31, 2021. The following information is required: speaker name, item number(s) they wish to speak on, whether they are for/against/neutral, email address and telephone number (must be the same number that will be used to call into the meeting). •Once a request to speak has been made to the board liaison, the information to call on the day of the scheduled meeting will be provided either by email or phone call. •Speakers must call in at least 15 minutes prior to meeting start time in order to speak, late callers will not be accepted and will not be able to speak. •Speakers will be placed in a queue until their time to speak. •Handouts or other information may be emailed to sinying.chan@austintexas.gov by noon the day before the scheduled meeting. This information will be provided to Board and Commission members in advance of the meeting. •If the meeting is broadcast live, it may be viewed here: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/watch-atxn-live Reunión del Commission on Immigrant Affairs FECHA de la reunion (Lunes, Febrero 1, 2021) La junta se llevará con modificaciones de distanciamiento social Se permitirán comentarios públicos por teléfono; no se permitirá ninguna entrada en persona. Todos los oradores deben registrarse con anticipación (Enero 31, 2021 antes del mediodía). Todos los comentarios públicos se producirán al comienzo de la reunión. Para hablar de forma remota en la reunión, los miembros del público deben: • Llame o envíe un correo electrónico al enlace de junta en 512-972-5117 o sinying.chan@austintexas.gov a más tardar al mediodía (el día antes de la reunión). Se requiere la siguiente información: nombre del orador, número (s) de artículo sobre el que desean hablar, si están a favor / en contra / neutral, dirección de correo electrónico (opcional) y un número de teléfono (debe ser el número que se utilizará para llamar ). …

20210201-2b: Support for City of Austin Legislative Agenda — original pdf

BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Commission on Immigrant Affairs Recommendation Number: 20210201‐2b: Support for City of Austin Legislative Agenda WHEREAS, the City of Austin’s greatest asset is its people who are passionate about their city, committed to its improvement, and determined to see its vision become a reality; and WHEREAS, the percent of registered voters who voted in the past 4 years of city elections exceeded 60 percent; and WHEREAS, an overwhelming majority of registered voters who live in Austin voted for the current Austin City Council representation; and WHEREAS, over 700 Austinites participate and serve on over 60 Boards and Commissions to help shape, and continually improve upon the policies of the City and lives of its residents; and WHEREAS, the input provided to the Austin City Council through the City’s Boards and Commissions reflects the will of the community; and WHEREAS, it is the intent of the City of Austin that the legislative agenda guide City staff, in coordination with the City’s strategic partners, in their efforts to advocate on behalf of the City of Austin and its residents; and WHEREAS, each year, the Texas Legislature increasingly attempts to pass legislation that negatively impacts the City through preemption or limiting the ability to advocate; and WHEREAS, the 2019 Legislature strongly considered and almost passed S.B. 29 which would have limited the ability of the City to utilize community advocates to effectively advocate on behalf of the policies created and supported by its residents; and WHEREAS, taxpayers and City residents benefit from and need community advocates as a tool that amplifies their voices before the Legislature, Congress, and regulatory bodies; and WHEREAS, a prohibition on community advocacy equates to censorship of residents’ voices and its detrimental to a representative democracy where all Austinites and Texans have equal opportunities to voice their opinions. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Commission on Immigrant Affairs of the City of Austin hereby recommends that:  The Commission on Immigrant Affairs endorses the City of Austin’s 2020 Legislative Agenda adopted by the Austin City Council on September 17th, 2020.  The Commission on Immigrant Affairs believes the general principals of the policy and position statements contained in the City of Austin’s state legislative agenda capture the positions of its membership and the community it represents  The Commission on Immigrant Affairs urges all Austin delegation members of the Texas Legislature to protect the City’s right to …

Approved Minutes — original pdf

COMMISSION ON IMMIGRANT AFFAIRS Monday, February 1, 2021 6:30 PM VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING Meeting Minutes Board Members in Attendance: Karen Crawford, Chair Krystal Gomez, Vice Chair Samuel Adair Juan Vences-Benitez Board Members not in Attendance: Banafsheh Madaninejad Glenn Rosales Adrian De La Rosa Montserrat Garibay Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch Joseph Ramirez-Hernandez Rennison Lalgee Nicole Merritt Staff in Attendance: Sinying Chan, Staff Liaison & Health Equity Unit Program Coordinator/APH CALL TO ORDER 1. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES – August 3, 2020; December 17, 2020  Sam moved to approve August minutes; Adrian seconded; all in favor  Correction on Rennison’s attendance in December meeting; Montserrat moved to approve December minutes; Kate seconded; all in favor 2. NEW BUSINESS: DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTIONS: A. Edna Yang, American Gateways, information on successes with the City and immigration legal services funding  The current City of Austin funding of $210,000 supports 1.65 full time employees (FTE) and the work is split between 3 attorneys; handling 183 direct representation cases; has been meeting the promised number 4th year into the contract with the City  With additional funding, American Gateways will be able to hire 3 FTE with supporting staff B. Consideration of and vote on resolution in support of City of Austin Legislative agenda  Should be recommendation, not resolution  Nicole moved to approve; Krystal seconded; all in favor C. Vote on 2021 meeting dates and times  Vote to move meeting to first Monday of each month, except July and September  For July, will be on 7/5; for September, will be on 9/6  Sam moved to approve; Montserrat seconded  Discussion on having the meeting during daytime; most commissioners cannot; Rennison suggested meeting at 5 or 5:30 pm  Karen will check with City Hall regarding availability E. Vote on sending a commissioner to Quarterly Consultations of Refugee Services of Texas (Lauren Hargraves will introduce this); Immigrant Services Network of Austin; identify other meetings we should attend  Rennison volunteered to attend Quarterly Round Table; Nicole moved to approve; Adrian seconded; all in favor  Sam volunteered to attend Immigrant Services Network of Austin meetings; Krystal moved to approve; Montserrat seconded; all in favor F. Compassion Contract  Table to next month; Joint Inclusion Committee hasn’t met G. Report back from Resilience is Community meeting (Juan)  Juan was not able to attend the meeting 3. OLD BUSINESS A. City budget – …