California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation

Citizenship and Immigration Project:This project's collective work is organized across four different project areas: Citizenship and Immigration, Removal Defense, San Joaquin Immigrant Empowerment, Immigrant Health Equity, and the Sacramento FUEL Network. Citizenship and Immigration provides community education, legal training to Qualified Legal Services Providers (QLSPs), assistance to eligible immigrants when applying for affirmative immigration benefits, and representation before USCIS and the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Removal Defense provides direct representation in detained and non-detained court cases as well as coordinates the Sacramento Attorney of the Day (AOD) Program at the Sacramento Immigration Court. The AOD Program is the second such program in the nation, providing a vital consultation and advice service for individuals without prior, nor the funds to hire private representation. Since the pandemic, individual representation has been accomplished remotely through 30 minute-at-a-time phone calls, often with poor reception. Court hearings were also conducted via telephone. San Joaquin Immigrant Empowerment's work centers around the complex intersection of health rights, public health, immigrants' rights, and immigration law. The project has recently focused on providing immigration legal services, advocacy, education and outreach, and legal training. We also provided regular immigration legal services to students, families and staff at Delta College and survivors of crime at a women's center. Most of CRLAF's immigration cases in this region are humanitarian cases, such as U visa, T visa, or VAWA applications. The majority of the individuals we serve do not have the means to hire a private attorney. There is a huge unmet need for attorneys to take on humanitarian aid cases pro bono; currently, CRLAF is one of the only organizations taking these types of cases at no cost to the client, from around San Joaquin to Fresno County. We plan to continue building community capacity to support such work moving forward.Immigrant Health Equity has provided technical assistance to various community partners addressing the administration's Public Charge rule and the COVID-19 pandemic. This health and economic crisis has caused immigrant communities to confront various difficulties in regards to access to healthcare and testing, eligibility for public benefits, limited disaster relief options, and workers' rights.The Sacramento Family, Unity, Education, and Legal (FUEL) Network for Immigrants: The City Council of Sacramento established the Sacramento Family Unity, Education, and Legal (FUEL) Network for Immigrants in 2017, for which CRLAF continues to serve as fiscal lead. The FUEL Network is a robust collaborative of over 80 Sacramento community-based organizations, legal services providers, volunteer attorney groups, labor unions, faith-based groups, and educational institutions providing critical informational and legal services to immigrant communities.

The Labor and Civil Rights Litigation Unit:This project provides legal representation to low-income individuals and families throughout rural California to remedy housing, labor, and other civil rights violations. Our outreach and litigation focuses on those who are not eligible for services from federally funded legal aid programs or whose interests are best represented in a class action. The Unit targets employers responsible for deplorable working conditions, and represents workers in cases involving: wage theft, violation of workplace safety standards, sexual assault and harassment in the workplace, discrimination and retaliation, workplace housing habitability issues, and pesticide exposure. We also provide outreach and Know-Your-Rights presentations on housing and employment. As part of our outreach work, we have created many infographics detailing how workers can access critical safety-net services, including access to healthcare, food banks, and information on workers' rights and protections under California law. In addition to working on its class action case docket, the team provides co-counseling with other QLSPs, drafts and contributes to amicus briefs, and provides training to legal advocates on issues relating to low-wage workers.

Sustainable Rural Communities Project (SRCP): The Sustainable Rural Communities Project works to ensure equal access to healthcare for California's farmworker and rural indigent population through a three-part strategy of health status data development, analysis and dissemination; public policy analysis and discussion; and community outreach, education and capacity building.This project addresses the systemic causes of our communities' poverty, poor health and degraded environment. We coordinate with other advocates on a local, regional, and statewide strategy to craft large-scale solutions around healthcare for all, environmental justice issues (land use, unmet transit needs, water quality), foster more accountable and inclusive governance, and direct financial resources to rural and disadvantaged communities as part of addressing these priorities. Safe Drinking Water:Since 2015, our team has administered an Interim Emergency Bottled Water program to two unincorporated farmworker communities, Cantua Creek and El Porvenir in western Fresno County. We continue to coordinate with California's Water Resources Control Board to ensure uninterrupted bottled water delivery, while maintaining advocacy with the County and over 700 residents for a permanent solution to provide these communities clean and safe drinking water.Farmworker Health Study:CRLAF recently led a successful state budget $1.5 million request to update a 20-year old study of farmworker health data. The 3-year study was completed in the summer of 2022; this data will be used to inform policy and demonstrate the severe inequities faced by farmworkers, largely rural immigrants, strengthening our argument for stronger health and safety protections for farmworkers and other rural low-wage workers and their families.Health4Kern:CRLAF has provided critical support and resources to the collaborative Health4Kern in their efforts to expand health services for all. We also provide technical assistance on key immigration issues, such as the proposed federal changes in the definition of Public Charge, and COVID-19 relief initiatives. Health4Kern has been one of the main actors in expanding awareness of the recent Medi-Cal expansions, and uninsured residents' eligibility for care and coverage. As these expansions continue to roll out, CRLAF will perform outreach and education with this coalition and other partners to ensure rural, low-income immigrant families' equitable access to health coverage and services.

Legal Services Support:CRLAF is unique in that we primarily operate as a statewide legal support center, where we provide training, technical assistance, advocacy support, and resources to QLSPs and other partners across California. Key subjects include labor and employment, health advocacy, pesticide and worker safety, rural housing, and education advocacy. We provide education, consultations, and co-counseling, including advancing referrals from partners who are unable to represent undocumented individuals and mixed-status families. We are additionally involved in a couple of statewide projects working to prevent homelessness.

Central Valley Partnership:The Central Valley Partnership is a project of CRLA Foundation that provides training, technical assistance, and advocacy support on immigration, health, and education equity. CRLAF received funds from the Paycheck Protection Program to support the organization's work due to the unprecedented effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Field Services:The Field Services Project provides legislative and administrative advocacy on labor and education, rural housing, rural health, pesticides and worker safety; training, technical assistance, and advocacy support to qualified legal services advocates on issues affecting farm worker and other low-wage worker issues; and co-counseling on labor, employment, and civil rights matters.Field Sanitation:Now called The Pesticide and Work Health and Safety Project works to shed light on and reduce agricultural work hazards and pesticide exposures faced by California's agricultural workers and other rural residents. The Project maintains an ongoing dialog with Cal-OSHA and local, state and federal pesticide regulatory officials to encourage more thorough investigations and stricter enforcement of existing laws and regulations, improvements in regulations, and increased use of safer and more sustainable pest control alternatives. We also provide technical assistance to legal services programs and community organizations on developing outreach materials, accessing and understanding pesticide and work safety laws and regulations and public records and responding to pesticide poisoning incidents. We collaborate with members of other non-profit organizations to educate policy makers, agency officials and the public about heat stress, pesticide exposure and other work and environmental health and safety hazards affecting California's farmworkers and other rural poor.CA Advocacy for Farm Workers:Project monitors state and federal legislation of importance to farm workers, acts as a watchdog over operation of the federal H-2A agricultural guest worker program in California, and takes positions in support of farm worker interests in important regulatory actions undertaken by state agencies that affect agriculture.

Rural Housing Project:This project engages in legislative and administrative advocacy on low-income rural and farmworker housing issues, publishes a quarterly newsletter on state housing issues, and conducts training on housing issues throughout the state. In response to COVID-19, our housing policy team worked in the State Capitol and with the Judicial Council of California to halt evictions to keep families safe from homelessness. From the Governor's orders calling for an eviction moratorium to the Judicial Council's adoption of an emergency protection rule preventing summonses from being issued in nearly all "unlawful detainer" eviction cases, our housing policy efforts helped to halt a potential massive wave of evictions across California.Our team continues to advocate at local and statewide levels to establish adequate protections for renters facing potential pandemic-related evictions. We are also working to develop a legislative response that would provide longer-term protections from eviction for non-payment of rent due to COVID-related loss of income.