The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved spending nearly $4.9 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds last month as part of the county’s Refugee Relocation Program. The funding was announced by county officials under the headline “Maricopa County Provides Nearly $5 Million to Support Agencies Helping Refugees.”
But if taxpayers actually read the seven contracts, it becomes clear a large portion of the funds can be used to aid ”immigrants and their families” without regard to refugee status.
The press release promoting the signing of the contracts notes that one awardee received more than $1.8 million “to provide outreach, intake, transitional housing, legal services, and stabilization support for 40 families of newly arrived refugees.”
There was not one mention of the word “immigrant” in the press release.
“People arrive in our community from all over the world and when you have never been here, it can be disorienting and scary,” Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo was quoted in the statement. “Maricopa County is fortunate to have many non-profits that help refugees from other countries find housing, medical care, and cross language barriers so they can integrate and become an asset.”
Yet the biggest share of the federal COVID monies was awarded to Chicanos Por La Causa. The group’s own literature shows it has only about three years of actual experience offering services to political or religious refugees.
So why was so much money earmarked to a group with little experience working with refugees?
One answer can be found in the Chicanos Por La Causa contract. It notes throughout that services will be provided to “refugees and immigrants and their families” in Maricopa County to the tune of $1.2 million to assist 40 families over the next year.
Providing services for immigrants is something the group has done for 40 years. Yet experts in the field say assisting those individuals designated as refugees with transitional housing and access to urgently needed care such as food, hygiene supplies, clothing, medications, and medical treatment is much different than providing the same services to immigrants.
“With so many other organizations with far more experience, you have to wonder why Maricopa County would choose Chicanos Por La Causa,” a veteran refugee placement specialist told Arizona Daily Independent.
The rest of the Chicanos Por La Causa award is designated for expenses such as salaries for five new “refugee case manager” positions, office rent, electronic devices, and a multi-passenger vehicle.
One concern with Chicanos Por La Causa as a provider of refugee services is the group’s priority to push its clients to obtain a driver’s license instead of an Arizona Identification Card. But if the plan is to assimilate undocumented border crossers into a community or to vote, the push makes more sense.
“The emphasis on driver’s licenses strikes me as very odd,” the refugee specialist noted. “Most educational and employment opportunities can be accessed through public transportation services. Living on the typical newly-arrived migrant budget, even the cost of public transportation can be difficult to cover.”
There is also a public safety concern behind the ID card versus license choice.
“Unless a client seeks a job that requires the use of a vehicle, we would discourage clients from incurring the risks of driving as well as the costs of maintaining and legally driving a vehicle,” the specialist explained.
And it is not simply shelter, food, medical care, and educational opportunities that Chicanos Por La Causa plans to expend taxpayer funds for. The contract notes the group’s case managers “will assist with Green Card applications, DACA renewals, and accessing other immigrations services.”
DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a federal program that currently provides protection against deportation action for about 800,000 persons who were unlawfully brought into the U.S. as children before 2012.
“I am not sure why DACA-related services would even be mentioned in a contract that purported by its title to be related to a Refugee Relocation Program,” the refugee specialist noted. “But even if the contract applies to newly arrived immigrants, why is Maricopa County approving funds to Chicanos Por La Causa for DACA activities involving immigrants who have been in the country for years?”
Another concern is the subcontractor provision in Chicanos Por La Causa’s contract. One of the “external partners” included in the group’s Scope of Work lists Girls Leadership Academy of Arizona. It is a charter high school that is promoted as a “Chicanos Por La Causa Community School.”
“One has to question who will be the beneficiary of this federal money – the migrants themselves, businesses associated with Chicanos Por La Causa, or even a particular political party. Either way, it strikes me as strange that the wording would be included in a contract purportedly for resettlement assistance,” the expert noted.
Maricopa County also awarded more than $1.6 million as part of two contracts to International Rescue Committee last month. The IRC in Phoenix has provided more than 15,000 clients with refugee resettlement services since 1994 as well as services to other immigrant populations including asylum seekers, trafficking victims, survivors of torture, victims of crime, and humanitarian parolees.
The award to IRC includes $675,504 which the contract states is to assist “a minimum of 100 foreign national (refugees & immigrants)” who are victims of crime. The press release, however, described the funds as intended to assist “100 refugees who are victims of crimes.”
The funding will also train 100 community providers in culturally appropriate techniques to increase the community’s capacity to provide services to victims of crime.
Another award to IRC was for $957,426 to be used to increase access for IRC clients to comprehensive legal services. These clients will include refugees, asylees, asylum seekers, parolees, “and other immigrants residing in Maricopa County,” according to the contract.
The other four organizations awarded funds for services also have contracts which refer to “refugees and immigrants.” Yet this is how the Maricopa County press release describes those awards:
- Area Agency on Aging: $128,419 to assist 100 elder refugees with pre-literacy and citizenship classes and help with citizen application fees.
- Somali American United Council of Arizona: $312,000 to foster connections to the community through job placement services and women’s empowerment. Classes will also be provided in nutrition, health classes, citizenship, digital literacy, and cultural adaptation.
- Friendly House: $344,921 to expand adult education, emergency support, and immigration services to 150 refugees. Assistance will also be provided for credentialing and certifications that enable stable employment.
- Lutheran Social Services: $600,000 to provide specialized case management, medical and support services for the most vulnerable refugees. This includes large families, single parents, and women.
The contracts are effective May 2023 to April 2024, with two one-year renewal options.