Approved Minutes — original pdf

Approved Minutes

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 – update on and discussion of planning of community budget forums  3 forums coming in February, commissioners should inform their communities, budget workgroup members will attend the forums and prepare recommendations  Will vote on recommendations at our March meeting FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS  LBJ School of Public Affairs, latest findings on immigrant incorporation  April elections ANNOUNCEMENT – lawsuit against Biden Administration over deportation moratorium ADJOURNMENT      The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days before the meeting date. Please contact Stephanie Hayden at the Austin Public Health at (512) 972-5017 or email: stephanie.hayden@austintexas.gov, for additional information. TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711.