A contentious Common Council meeting held on Tuesday night led to a 14-6 vote to issue federal funds to eight different Madison nonprofits that provide direct assistance to undocumented US immigrants.
Initially, there were two competing proposals as to where the funds should be allocated. The group of grant recipients recommended by city staff included nonprofits that served a broad population of undocumented immigrants, including Southeast Asian, Hmong, African and Latinx immigrant communities.
Madison City Council voted to allocate grants to organizations that primarily serve Latinx residents residing in the US illegally.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, six out of the eight grant recipients are organizations that work mainly with Latinx immigrants, while only four out of eight of the initial staff proposal served Latino immigrant communities.
Although Common Council members debated who the recipients should be, all agreed that there is a continual and pressing need to help immigrant communities that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
Council Vice President and Dis. 11 Ald. Arvina Martin believes the decided recipients of this 700K fund will make the biggest impact.
“I know that everybody who has been involved in this conversation tonight cares deeply about the welfare of undocumented folks in the Madison area,” Martin said. “I don’t want that to get lost.”
The recipients are organizations that provide direct help for undocumented immigrants such as legal aid, transportation, rental assistance, food security and internet access.
The decided recipients of the grants and amounts allocated are as follows:
- African Center for Community Development, $100,000
- Catholic Multicultural Center, $50,000
- Centro Hispano Inc., $150,000
- Community Immigration Law Center, $100,000
- Latino Academy for Workforce Development, $150,000
- The Rainbow Project, $25,000
- Rise Wisconsin, $50,000
- Vera Court Neighborhood Center, $75,000
The grants will assist immigrants in areas including legal aid, food security, internet access, rental assistance and transportation.
