Advocates urge Baltimore to add $5 million for immigrant legal and mental-health services
May 15, 2026 | Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Maryland
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Dozens of speakers at Taxpayers' Night urged the Budget & Appropriations Committee to include $5 million in FY2027 to support immigrant legal services and culturally competent mental-health care.
"By increasing funds for MEMA in this year's budget to $5,000,000 — if not now, when?" Reverend Christina Paglenowen said, urging council members to fund legal and mental-health services to keep immigrant families together.
Multiple testimonials recounted family separations and targeted arrests. Leslie McMillan described a woman whose husband was deported after signing paperwork she said he did not understand; she and others said local legal services are overwhelmed as federal funding has become unreliable. "We have folks not only in here, but in the overflow room and coming into City Hall," she said, asking the council to act.
Edith Henson of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights described a case in which the center secured torture-protection relief for a client who later was targeted by an ICE enforcement action; Henson said Amica Center intervened to prevent an illegal deportation and credited city support with enabling such work.
Representatives from We Are Casa and BUILD urged $5 million specifically for MEMA to pay for legal defense, community defense programming, and mental-health supports for children and families experiencing trauma. Irvin Gonzalez, deputy director of services at We Are Casa, called access to legal counsel "essential" and said funding should cover legal defense and social services.
Speakers asked the council to make funding accessible to community-based providers, to fund interpreters and culturally informed mental-health services, and to coordinate with existing city programs such as Safe City and local nonprofits that deliver direct services.
The committee did not take action at the hearing. Members said written testimony and agency information would feed into upcoming budget hearings where funding levels can be revised.
"By increasing funds for MEMA in this year's budget to $5,000,000 — if not now, when?" Reverend Christina Paglenowen said, urging council members to fund legal and mental-health services to keep immigrant families together.
Multiple testimonials recounted family separations and targeted arrests. Leslie McMillan described a woman whose husband was deported after signing paperwork she said he did not understand; she and others said local legal services are overwhelmed as federal funding has become unreliable. "We have folks not only in here, but in the overflow room and coming into City Hall," she said, asking the council to act.
Edith Henson of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights described a case in which the center secured torture-protection relief for a client who later was targeted by an ICE enforcement action; Henson said Amica Center intervened to prevent an illegal deportation and credited city support with enabling such work.
Representatives from We Are Casa and BUILD urged $5 million specifically for MEMA to pay for legal defense, community defense programming, and mental-health supports for children and families experiencing trauma. Irvin Gonzalez, deputy director of services at We Are Casa, called access to legal counsel "essential" and said funding should cover legal defense and social services.
Speakers asked the council to make funding accessible to community-based providers, to fund interpreters and culturally informed mental-health services, and to coordinate with existing city programs such as Safe City and local nonprofits that deliver direct services.
The committee did not take action at the hearing. Members said written testimony and agency information would feed into upcoming budget hearings where funding levels can be revised.
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