REGULAR MEETING OF THE COMMISSION ON IMMIGRANT AFFAIRS JULY 7, 2025, 6:30 PM AUSTIN CITY HALL BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ROOM 1101 301 W 2nd Street AUSTIN, TEXAS Some members of the Commission on Immigrant Affairs may be participating by videoconference. Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely via telephone. Speakers may only register to speak on an item once either in-person or remotely and will be allowed up to three minutes to provide their comments. Registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required for remote participation by telephone. To register to speak remotely or in person, contact Gunjen Mittal at gunjen.mittal@austintexas.gov or (512) 974-6104. CURRENT COMMISSIONERS: Melissa Ortega, Chair Jeanne “Canan” Kaba Miriam Dorantes, Vice-Chair Diane Kanawati Adrian De La Rosa Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch Azeem Edwin Alondra Johnson Yohana Saucedo Aditi Joshi Meghana Roy AGENDA CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL The first 10 speakers signed up to the meeting being called to order will each be allowed a three- minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Commission on Immigrant Affairs regular meeting on June 2, 2025. STAFF BRIEFINGS 2. Staff briefing regarding updates on the procurement process and budget of the Quality-of-Life Study by Alejandra Mireles, Equity and Inclusion Program Coordinator and Jeremy Garza, Business Process Consultant – Equity Division, Office of Equity and Inclusion. DISCUSSION ITEMS 3. Welcome new Commissioners to Commission on Immigrant Affairs. 4. Update on the most recent Joint Inclusion Committee (JIC) meeting held in June 2025, as it relates to the Commission on Immigrant Affairs. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 5. Approve the 2024-2025 Annual Internal Review Report. 6. Approve updates to the membership of the Quality-of-Life Working Group. (Working Group Members: Chair Melissa Ortega, Commissioners Alondra Johnson, Aditi Joshi, Jeanne C Kaba; Community Stakeholders: Karen Crawford, Krystal Gomez, Oscar Ponce, and Kirk Yoshida). 7. Approve updates to the membership of the Budget Working Group. (Working Group Members: Chair Melissa Ortega, Vice Chair Miriam Dorantes, and Commissioner Alondra Johnson). 8. Approve the amendments to Article 3 section A of the Commission on Immigrant Affairs bylaws regarding membership as proposed by the Audit and Finance Committee. 9. Approve the selection of a representative from the Commission on Immigrant Affairs to speak at the July 21st LGBTQ Quality of Life Advisory Commission meeting regarding how the LGBTQ Quality …
Commission on Immigrant Affairs Meeting Minutes June 2, 2025 Commission on Immigrant Affairs REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Monday, June 2, 2025 The Commission on Immigrant Affairs convened in a regular meeting on Monday, June 2, 2025, at Austin City Hall, W 3rd St, Room 1101 in Austin, Texas. Chair Ortega called the Commission on Immigrant Affairs Regular Meeting to order at 6:44 p.m. Commissioners in Attendance: Melissa Ortega, Chair Adrian De La Rosa Alondra Johnson Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch Commissioners in Attendance Remotely: Miriam Dorantes, Vice-Chair Aditi Joshi Jeanne “Canan” Kaba Meghna Roy Yohana Saucedo PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Commission on Immigration Affairs regular meeting on May 5, 2025. The minutes from the meeting of May 5, 2025 were approved on Commissioner Joshi’s motion, Commissioner Lincoln-Goldfinch’s second on a 9-0 vote. Commissioner Edwin was absent. STAFF BRIEFINGS 1 Commission on Immigrant Affairs Meeting Minutes June 2, 2025 2. 3. 4. Briefing by Rocio Villalobos, Equity and Inclusion Program Manager – Immigrant Affairs, regarding general updates on immigrant affairs. The presentation was made by Rocio Villalobos, Equity and Inclusion Program Manager – Immigrant Affairs. Briefing by Jeremy Garza and Alejandra Mireles, Equity and Inclusion Program Coordinator – Equity Division, Office of Equity and Inclusion, regarding update on Quality-of-Life study of immigrants, refugees and other foreign-born community members. The presentation was made by Jeremy Garza and Alejandra Mireles, Equity and Inclusion Program Coordinator – Equity Division, Office of Equity and Inclusion. Briefing by Dr. Wilson regarding status update for budget of Commission on Immigrant Affairs Study. Withdrawn. PRESENTATION 5. 6. Presentation by Academia Cuauhtli, a community-based education initiative focused on serving Austin’s immigrant and Spanish-speaking communities through culturally and linguistically sustaining programming regarding brief overview of our work and request support for our FY 2025-2026 budget recommendation. The presentation was made by Angela Venezuela, Emilio Zamora, and Dr. Carmen Unda, founders and educators - Academia Cuauhtli. Presentation by Daniela Silva, from Worker’s Defense Action Fund regarding license plate readers pilot program. The presentation was made by Daniela Silva, from Worker’s Defense Action Fund. DISCUSSION ITEMS 7. 8. Welcome new Commissioners to Commission on Immigrant Affairs. Withdrawn Discussion regarding the planned sunsetting of the Equity Division’s Undoing Racism trainings for community members, City staff, and Commissioners. Discussed. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 9. Discussion and action on the proposal made by the Audit and Finance Committee regarding the …
BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Commission on Immigrant Affairs Recommendation Number: 20250707-010: Community Investment Budget 2025/2026 WHEREAS, the City of Austin is committed to an inclusive and transparent budget development process that utilizes resident and stakeholder feedback to ensure budget priorities are being met1; and WHEREAS, the City of Austin has made community engagement a core pillar of its budget planning process, employing a diverse mix of tools and strategies—including multilingual surveys, public meetings, digital budget simulators, and data transparency initiatives—to ensure residents play a meaningful role in shaping the city's funding priorities; and WHEREAS, for the last several years, 30 to 40 community groups have come together on a yearly basis to create detailed budget recommendations known as the Community Investment Budget, issued by Equity Action; and WHEREAS, over 18 percent of Austin’s residents are foreign-born, and immigrant-founded businesses account for nearly one-quarter of new enterprises in the city, contributing significantly to Austin’s economy and civic vitality ; and WHEREAS, the 2025/2026 version of the Community Investment Budget addresses concerns that echo or are similar to Joint Inclusion Committee and the Commission on Immigrant Affairs recommendations on additional funds for: Immigrant legal and other support services, • • Know Your Rights clinics, • Expansion of programs offered by Office of Equity and Inclusion, • Culturally competent community engagement during emergencies, • Expansion of emergency shelters for inclement weather events, • Expansion of technical apprenticeships and training, • • Numerous recommendations on enhancing childcare services. Implementation of climate resilience and disaster preparedness initiatives, and THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Commission on Immigrant Affairs urges the Austin City Council to instruct the City Manager to work in partnership with the Community Investment Budget feedback process and to incorporate at least 50% of the recommendations, emphasizing that roughly only 11% were reflected in the last year’s budget. 1 https://www.austintexas.gov/page/city-budget Date of Approval: _____________________________ Record of the vote: Attest: _____________________________________________ (Staff or board member can sign)
BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Commission on Immigrant Affairs Recommendation Number: 20250707-011: Establishment of an Immigrant & Refugee Emergency Fund WHEREAS, the United States is currently experiencing an aggressive second-term federal enforcement agenda, and the State of Texas is escalating anti-immigrant policies—including local law enforcement cooperation with ICE and bans on sanctuary protections—that have created fear, trauma, and disruption among immigrant, refugee, and foreign-born community members; and WHEREAS, these enforcement actions have led to an alarming increase in family separation, economic disruption, housing instability, and mental health crisis among Austin’s immigrant communities, including children whose caregivers have been detained or deported; and WHEREAS, the City of Austin has declared itself a “Freedom City,” prioritizing protections for immigrant residents, advancing racial equity through its Equity Office, and striving to maintain a high quality of life for all residents ; and WHEREAS, over 18 percent of Austin’s residents are foreign-born, and immigrant-founded businesses account for nearly one-quarter of new enterprises in the city, contributing significantly to Austin’s economy and civic vitality ; and WHEREAS, Austin City Council and the City Manager have affirmed commitments to equity, inclusivity, and protecting marginalized communities through policies, investments, and Quality of Life research, especially within immigrant and refugee populations; and WHEREAS, the current environment necessitates emergency support mechanisms to address urgent needs—financial, emotional, and mental—resulting from immigration enforcement actions, especially among children and families experiencing ICE raids and caregiver detentions; and WHEREAS, no other entity in Texas is positioned to rapidly deploy funding or mental health services to support these affected community members at scale, making City-led action both necessary and uniquely effective; THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: 1. The Commission on Immigrant Affairs urges the Austin City Council to direct the City Manager to collaborate with relevant departments to establish an Immigrant & Refugee Emergency Assistance Fund, with the following features: • Immediate cash grants for families who lose their primary breadwinner due to ICE detention or deportation, to address rent, utilities, food, and other essential expenses; • Mental health counseling and trauma support for children and youth impacted by forced family separation; • Flexible funding pathways (such as a dedicated city-managed grant program or partnership with CBOs) to ensure swift, accessible delivery to impacted community members. 2. The Commission recommends that this fund be structured to: • Be activated within 30 days of Council approval; • Prioritize eligibility for families with children under 18 who have lost a …
BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Commission on Immigrant Affairs Recommendation Number: 20250707-012: Support of Academia Cuauhtli Programming and Expansion WHEREAS, since its founding in 2013, Academia Cuauhtli (founded by Nuestro Grupo, a community-based volunteer organization) was established at the ESB-MACC as a free Saturday culture and language revitalization academy for elementary school children and their parents, with a curriculum focused on Indigeneity, social justice, Tejano history, traditional arts, and danza Mexica and since July 2014, Academia Cuauhtli has served as an official educational enterprise partnered with the Austin Independent School District (AISD) and Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Culture Center (ESB-MACC); and WHEREAS, Academia Cuauhtli, administered through a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Austin, Austin Independent School District (AISD), and Nuestro Grupo embraces and fulfills the purpose of “making Austin a place where its high quality of life is available to and accessible for all its citizens” by advocating for educational equity and well-being for Austin Independent School District students in collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin; and WHEREAS, Academia Cuauhtli fulfills its vision statement expressed as “a future where children live with a thinking heart and the courage to pursue their aspirations within the liberating and sacred learning spaces” by overseeing the administrative operations for multiple year long projects which include: Saturday Esquelita (September-March), Summer STEM School (June-August), La Collaborativa Cuauhtli, Cuauhtli Teacher Curriculum Workshops, and a research team comprised of 11 qualitative and quantitative education scholars; and WHEREAS, Academia Cuauhtli fulfills its mission expressed as “to honor our communities' cultural heritage, foster social justice, and reclaim our collective identities in pursuit of educational freedom” by serving as a means for the comprehensive advancement of the students and their parents—via its strong partnership with students’ parents—by providing a supportive and uplifting learning environment, as well as for providing for the social, and economic needs, including the extensive COVID-related assistance extended to its participant Latino families during the pandemic in Austin, Texas; and WHEREAS, Academia Cuauthli fulfills its mission by enrolling from 2014-2024 over 800 AISD emergent bilingual students, trained over 250 Indigenous/Latinx public school teachers, hosted over 25 professional development workshops, initiated Cuauhtli’s Grow Your Own bilingual leadership development program for AISD teachers of color, and successfully implemented a research-university-community partnership between AISD, UT Austin’s College of Education Department of Educational Leadership and Policy faculty and graduate student researchers, the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies …
BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Commission on Immigrant Affairs Recommendation Number: 20250707-013: Protecting and Sustaining Local Public Health Infrastructure in Austin WHEREAS, Austin Public Health (APH) provides vital population-level services that protect over 1.35 million residents, including immunization clinics, HIV and STD testing and treatment, refugee health screenings, violence prevention programming, substance misuse support, and neighborhood centers offering basic needs assistance; and WHEREAS, core public health infrastructure funding in the amount of $9,500,000 is currently at risk due to unstable federal funding streams and national-level proposals to reduce or eliminate key public health support; and WHEREAS, the federal political climate—marked by increasing hostility toward public health institutions—has created uncertainty for municipalities dependent on federal dollars, putting local public health outcomes in jeopardy; and WHEREAS, investing in public health not only enhances the quality of life for all but can also lead to substantial savings over time; and WHEREAS, In 2016, the Austin City Council, through RESOLUTION NO. 20160128-068, adopted a formal policy to invest in additional funding for health and social services; and THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Commission on Immigrant Affairs recommends the City of Austin fully protect the $9,500,000 currently allocate to Core Public Health Infrastructure along with a dedicated $6,000,000 public health reserve fund to ensure the continuity of essential services in the event of further federal disinvestment or emergency needs; BE IT, FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Commission on Immigrant Affairs recommends the City of Austin prioritize funding for public health programs, advocate at the state and national levels for sustained investment in local public health systems and oppose federal-level efforts that jeopardize public health funding, particularly for historically underserved communities. Date of Approval: _____________________________ Record of the vote: Attest: _____________________________________________ (Staff or board member can sign)
