the u.s. conference of mayors hosted a conversation on immigration issues, including the u.s. relationship with mexico and the resettlement of afghan refugees, particularly children. this is about one hour and ten minutes. >> thank you, c-span for being here. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] i will take the cochairs prerogative and get things started. this is being live streamed on c-span. on the website and through c-span2 so thank you very much to everybody across america that has joined us of the u.s. conference of mayors to be the joint meeting that we always do between the alliance and at the immigration task force this is a place where we have folks that are latino, latino curious, latinos representing immigrants immigrants interested and focus on some of the key issues across this country.is we've got a superb set of

leaders and speakers that are here. the mayor of los angeles and the chair of the latino alliance, very proud to be here with my cochairs and the head of the immigration task force. and if i can just start with a point of personal privilege and i will be giving a little bit longer address tomorrow, but when i started attending these meetings 80 years ago, there were latino mayors, latina mayors and city hall voices across the country including my own but we were not a formalized part of the conference. we saw with such admiration african-american mayors that organized themselves and there was no meeting where we addressed the issues that affected the latino community far beyond just immigration as well that on the mind of every parent, every child growing up, every immigrant her fourth or

fifth generation latino here. so i have a sense of pride we've been able to stand up to the latino alliance and i have had to such partners we've had a long stretch the three of us together. mayor john who is bringing people together and i think is registered as republican but as we say here, we don't know actually, because he's a leader on housing immigration and we stick with him in so many places. i don't know if todd is here yet but the mayor of san diego just setting out on his mayoral journey. and an example a lot of my family comes from arizona and i can't wait for her to pick up the mantle and to lead to this alliance in the future.

but together i think we've been able to strengthen american values not just to talk about issues and concerns, but to defend the rights of immigrants. on education, infrastructure, environmental justice and in my city nearly two out of everything you were either immigrants or the children of immigrants and we have mayors from southern california who joined me here as well. i know that we work for immigrants because when we work for immigrants we work for everybody in the cities and i know what the conference we are going to continue that work, and i wish everybody strength and success from the longest-serving mayor especiallyer with our federal and international partners who you will be able to hear from today, whether it is asylum-seekers or refugees, accompanied minors, innovation

and action is critical and i think we are frustrated the country has moved backwards for a solid a decade when it comes to the immigrant rights but we will never stop fighting for immigrant rights as well as the concerns of the community so let me introduce the special guest on the dream team with us today. i am so glad he will be introduced by the former mayor and please welcome him and thank him for being here with us today. the ambassador to the united states, my dear friend i got the chance to work before he was an ambassador who visited with me in los angeles which is only the second biggest mexican city in the world. thank you, ambassador. and chief of staff for the office of refugee resettlement and assistant signatory for partnership and engagement of the department of homeland security thank you for being

with us. [inaudible] italian? >> greek. >> even better. the federal government partnership has been addressing so many of these concerns especially the rival to the city's recently of unaccompanied children and thank you to mayors that have opened up their convention centers in and fairgrounds and local hotels and state of the welcoming and humane country. more and more recently to afghans that have settled into the cities as well. we know only a joint investment of ideas and resources will help us to successfully integrate the next generation many of whom come here during the same htraumas that our ancestors did as well, so finally let me thank you and amazing angel, the city of angels but we are not from the city of angels, but she is, laura and her staff. please give a round of applause. [applause]

thank you all and i look forward to the discussion. >> we are all struggling with trying to, figure out what the u.s. conference of mayors is going to feel like. you are so gracious and bipartisan and i think you made us all feel like angelenos every time we came to one of these meetings and i am sure the entire country of india if not the continent of asia will soon have a similar affection for you. [laughter] we aread very excited for you ad for the country to see your success. i've been looking forward to this meeting for months and as it has progressed, it's become clear to me that mayors are specialists at fitting 25 pounds of flour into a 10 pounds sack. if you look at the agenda for this meeting, the issues that i think are on the top of the agenda for each of the

communities are very much reflected in this meeting we will talk about the refugee resettlement. who hasn't been pondering on that issue mightily the past few weeks and months and fueling question after question asag to how this is going to impact the situations. customs and border control i can tell you at the border state mayor this is what i will be talking about when i go back home, the information we are going to be receiving in this meeting today. anything we can do to strengthen the relationship with who i believe is the country's greatestol partner, mexico, it's an amazing opportunity. so, the sooner i stop talking, the sooner we will be able to hear from these great speakers but i just wanted to express my them a year and hoto each of you for the very collaborative attitudes that you bring to this session as i look forward to participating with you. and now my good friend. >> thank you.

i've been the chair of this committee now for six, maybe seven years and i want to thank everybody for being in this room for so many of the sessions and for being at the table on this issue in our communities over all of these years. we know the five last year's in particular have been challenging and when we think about the challenges so many immigrants face just coming to the united states, some of them endure unspeakable harms and then they land in our communities and realize the streets are not paved in gold and more hardship awaits them. in the face of all of those challenges, mayors throughout the country, yourselves around the table, you all have stepped up and have taken tangible substantive steps to make sure that the immigrant community in your home cities have lifted up. and at the same time you've also taken some of the intangible and

symbolic steps to makero sure tt those immigrant communities in your home city -- feel welcomed and supported. of mali of the chair of the committee but somebody that was born and raised in an emigrant household in the united states i want to thank you for that and i look forward to today's conversation. >> thank you. there he is. it is my pleasure. there isod a joke around my offa that you are a little bit of everything. i am half mexican, half jewish, half something else. when ie meet somebody from another country i'm like i had a great great grandmother from there. but i think i've been trumped by mayor gloria whose ancestry is latino and asian and native and white. he's just a tremendous human being first and foremost who represents theot largest border community we have in the united states of america. it's a super city.

and he's done an amazing job and is stepping up to lead a new mayor but not official because he was a great assembly maker before that onon the council and i'm pleased to have him here so to my brother, the microphone is yours. >> thank you for the opportunity. forgive my tardiness. i was raised to be everywhere early. [laughter] thank you for the kind introduction. for those wondering, yes i'm first native american, filipino, dutch [inaudible] [laughter]is we welcome people from all over

the world due to their military service and often when they discharge in our city because why wouldn't you, it's san diego. we are part of the tourism community and i deeply appreciate the relationship with our partners in california and i would say that in a year or so that i'vey, been mayor we had a lot of issues and the overlay of those are very significant and i would point out to the impact on the city and of the region during the nonessential travel restrictions until recently. ..

mayors get a game on this on the other side, staffing issues are familiar with it and i'm sure we can talk about by the moment but we have to work on that collectively in the human nature of this issue often appears, the context of the economy, is number of trucks in goods and movements, these are cindy akins who live on one side but work on the other, there's a lot of cross travel which is why it's so detrimental to our community. the opening of communities in the convention center and

minors, i want my fellow mayors to know it's predicted we have a tremendous amount of pushback for hosting the children in our community with the exception of three protesters 45 minutes on day one, all we saw was love and support and that's why i'm proud to be leaderte of major port ci, we understand people, folks coming to our country but as service members and immigrants however, we welcome people in san diego. we will continue going forward with the immigration policy at the federal level so appreciate the introductory comments. >> thank you, appreciate your leadership and lookinge forward to this with many years to come. let me talk a l little more, i'm sure she'd be embarrassed but by the way, cofounder and cochair, i could not have done it without him.

we were there to witness the signing of the infrastructure act, so inspiring.g. about 30 or so african-americans, three of us were there who were latino and despite being the biggest fastest-growing population despite the majority of schoolchildren and jobs and businesses in the country addict from latino communities, we still have strategies used to make. i can think of probably seven people to make this official bug nobody better than you moving forward than any other man and i'm sure in your hands, we can continue this momentum and make me proud as the next leader but i know you're not here for that, your here to introduce your friends who had a connection to your city now leading at the highest level in administration. opportunities that come with immigrants so please welcome our

new mayor from tucson. >> thank you mayor garcetti and i didn't know i would be lobbied to the next -- [laughter]h >> i thought i would do it publicly on c-span. [laughter] >> i promise you i'll think o:about it. it's an honor for me to be here in person is and has been so important about the life of myself and my family, i'm a proud daughter of an immigrant and blessed to have been part of the snoring doesn't which by the way this adoring sonoran desert is in arizona so my family has been living in the sonoran desert for seven generations including my children, snoring

side, i was the first in my family born arizona but i'm here to introduce my friend and former chief of police in the city of tucson who i have the honor to serve together first as a councilmember for tucson and then most recently as mayor. chris comes to role of commissioner as the u.s. customs and border protection with wealth of experience. he's quick thinking, compassionate and an innovator in law enforcement. he beganan his career as dispath and paramedic in lansing michigan and then served as police chief in north dakota and richmond california where he developed a reputation nationwide for his h community-based approach to

policing. having seen the accomplishments and fargo enrichment, the city of tucson was fortunate to haver him from richmond california and bring him to the city of tucson which by the way, while he was our chief of police, he innovated and transformed our police department to the wonderful leading agency it is today in tucson. he launched nationally recognized diversion program tol help unsheltered and mentally ill individuals during our work together as mayor and chief of police, community safety health and wellness program to make sure we are paying attention to the calls coming in and being

able to divert some of the calls from our police department. as police chief, he and i worked together policies for undocumented victims, immigrants of crime and president biden recognized his strength in the role he played in our community and nominated to become u.s. customs and border commissioner. in december 2021, he became the fifth senate confirmed commissioner of customs and border protection. i'm very happy and honored to introduce to you commissioner chris. [applause]

>> mayor, thank you so much. i've had the privilege of working for such horrific mayors in my career. there's one in particular, i really was fortunate the years i was in tucson. i learned not only a lot about immigration, because nobody knows more than you but i also learned a lot of strategies for advancing social justice together the mayor shows as an effective partnership and city government overall community

when it comes to advancing social justice. we did a lot of good work together. it is an honor to be up here talking with our really special guest today. i am very happy to be in washington d.c., i feel a little like a visitor still myself, i just moved here from tucson. my move was a week ago, i can only imagine what our house looks like right now. we brought two dogs along and they don't seem to share the enthusiasm i have for washington d.c. in the winter, we let them out and i can almost feel the

message back, when we get to go back to arizona? [laughter] so in my new role as commissioner, it still feels a little strange saying back, i'm going to be working with people from all sorts of governmental agencies and not just other agencies but various ngos and travel and trade community, excited learning more about those areas so i get to work with i think one of the best, so many interesting people but i need to convey today here that i'm going to make it one of my highest priorities to really work andnd build relationships with mayors. your voice is without question are some of the most important,

providing cpp with the idea of feedback if we need that. here's one of my first plans, as i travel around the country, i'm going to do a fair amount of fat, i'm going to look for opportunity wherever i can. one of the things i want to do early on no later than the next month or so is have a meeting with a small group of mayors where we sit down and share ideas and talk about issues out there. so i know it's easy to say speaking in meaningful partnership but i'm committed to doing this so actions speak louder than words.

i've come to learn even more than i thought i would in the process of this position that it's an incredibly diverse far-reaching range of response and of course everybody knows about border security and immigration but not as aware as management they are involved with ports of entry, enforcement of trade agreements, ensuring ai safe flow of goods is particularly important talking about the supply chain and it's also a critical role in reducing the flow as well as significant counterterrorism. when i was working in tucson as

police chief, it often seems like discussions of policy in washington are extract and remove from day-to-day reality but i've come to appreciate more and more these policies have a significant impact on your state in many ways. those of you from cities along the water, you've likely noticed land and ports of entry required essential travelers to be vaccinated. we understand it's caused a significant uptick in border crossing. good news by and large, current vaccination requirements have not led to increased border wait times. in the very near future, dhs will require all inbound foreign national travelers crossing u.s. land, ports of entry for

essential or nonessential travel fully vaccinated for covid-19 and provide proof of the vaccination. we need you to know we are regularly evaluating and we are prepared to adjust as needed. as traffic increases to ports of entry, we been using greater amounts of illegal trust. just in thew last three fiscalu years we've seen increased amounts of frontal and e methamphetamine put in the context nationwide, we've seen over 11000 pounds ofju frontal fiscal year 2021 which is a massive increase of what we saw in 20192020 respectively. i'm sure all of your cities have

been impacted by the increase particularly opioids and as a former police chief i saw the terrible toll these substances have taken, the mayor and i are very familiar but i want to assure you illegal drug interdiction including drugs through the mail which we see more and more of will continue to be high priority for cbp, something i care deeply about. our nation is currently confronting mounting challenges that involve border security and immigration. cbp is caught in the middle of what i think nobody should deny, frequently changing legal landscape that requires personal take on additional responsibilities or skills, interact with larger members and

frankly i just to increasingly complex expectation. in fiscal year 2021, border patrol had over 1.7 million encounters with people trying to cross the border illegally of which 1.3 million were unique encounters. 2 cbp continues to assist the centers for disease control and forcing title 42 public health order. those who cannot be expelled under title 42 don't have legal basis to remain in the u.s. placed in removal proceedings. at cdp, we are very realistic about the impact of title 42 going away at some time as covid subsides. this means we are working for a whole of government approach to achieve safe and orderly process

along the southwest border. remember before title 42, everyone was processed title eight and it provides the general immigration authority for border patrol to conduct their standard mission. our communication those of you in the city along the border will be key to our success in this challenge. how we work together to avoid circumstances like the surge that took place in del rio last year, it's something we are taking very seriously so of course are planning processes have to involve more than just those of you in government and various ngo partners. we are working every day with our partners throughout dhs, fema, ice and others including hhs, the department of defense,

state department, even the bureau of prisons. response in policy or law without difficulty or missteps, i'll acknowledge right now some missteps will be impossible tois avoid. we're going to do the best we can to continue to improve in our level of greatness and collaboration. there are micro protection protocols. for now the courts mandated this be reinstated and as leader of law enforcement agency, it's my obligation to assure cbp complies with the rulings of the court's. cbp is working closely with other agencies and u.s. cia, u.s. customs and immigration to

proceed a few moments. ourr commitment is to assure the right to counsel, offered covid vaccination and provide migrants with the best possible humanitarian care, these really are our commitments which we intend to wake up as best we can. i need to emphasize the biden administration is working to eventually permit mpd and concerns expressed pretty clearly by secretary mayorkas to provide a fair process and fails to provide humanitarian protection. any one of these commitments has its own degree of complexity, requires partnership edits difficult when resources are limited yet from what i've seen

and belief, ebp complex consistently steps up and expectations. none of this is easy, is consistently balanced how we follow the law. we are law enforcement agencies, we ensure processes both sufficient and effective and we must be responsive concerns and questionss, members of congress, certainly got a sense of in the process from the media, advocacy groups and the larger public but cbp personnel are used to this and i've had confidence we are going to be able to do what's expected of us. unfortunate and sometimes frustrating part is the public is not only the efforts to

confront these and other challenges everyday, challenges like facilitating this, interdicting loads of drugs, rescuing migrants from human trafficking in areas where it's slow in crossing the border with young children. these are things men and women do on a daily basis in early on i have the chance in a black hawk helicopter, never saw that i would say that in my life but i was able to go from tucson to yuma and we went over some mountain ranges that were incredible in and about themselves but when you think about the fact that there are humans trying to cross thoseo mountains under incredibly harsh conditions whether winter or

summer no lesson i learned from talking to the members of our air marine divisions and others how many rescues. frankly at tremendous peril to their own lives. when you see what's involved in these rescues, you gain a whole new appreciation for our personnel who do it. by highlighting this great work, i am in no way ignoring or marginalizing incidences involving a small number offo personnel that have caused members of the public diminished level of confidence in our agency. it's because of these incidents as well asnu our commitment to continuous efforts we areed addressing oversight processes, updating certain policies and looking further on both.

i believe this is what ongoing learning and professionalism is all about. during the confirmation process, i talked a lot about disrupting the data spoke, implementing best practices and accountability to fulfill these commitments, i will explore external resources to help us be better but i will also build on pride and commitment to excellence the hard-working men and women at cbp already have. thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you this afternoon, i look forward to building relationships for all off you as well as opportunities for dialogue no matter where you're from, enjoy your time in d.c.

[applause] >> appreciate you sharing that vision, stick around for q&a. what do q&a for about ten minutes or so. mexico for many of us, are the most important partner ourel nearest neighbor. the sonoran doesn't or parts of mexico, they are our neighbors, friends and partners. we are honored today have united states of america, he's made his mission to find the common north american language over both sides of the border. the largest concentration outside of mexico and the second largest city in the world. adwe look closely with the ambassador and we will enforce those strong ties.

great man and representative of his country, we welcome our ambassador to the united states. [applause] we must thank you mayor garcetti, congratulations on the announcement of los angeles. we agree with president biden, we need to strengthen our democracy will we promised and we deliver. public servants that have proven time and time again their commitment overbuilding governments. m recent reopening of the land border between our countries

wouldn't have been possible without your continued support. thanks to the true team effort, we've managed to resume the most dynamic border in the world. it's incredible work and we appreciate the efforts. because covid-19 affects health and education, also the mental health over the large population. however, a catastrophe is only truly catastrophic if something does not emerge from it for rescue. each crisis reveals as emperor

bbefore strengthen the north american. what emerged from this catastrophe is our relationships, and ship. it's almost a hidden truth. putting in numbers encompasses 500 million people in $1.3 trillion. besides free-trade, migration is one of the greatest issues in life that u.s. and mexico shares. at the time when migrants are on the rise around the world and immigration continues, our society, we need a dialogue for

our objective. these common objectives, i had a conversation john and we have to approach migration with this. they are committed to addressing the real drivers of aggression. we are making collective efforts were necessary about policies for safe and regular migration. central america faces exclusionary growth, low levels of spending, effects of climate change. the realf answer is improving te

quality of life courage. let me tell you about a new way, mexico has become a new showing country for asylum-seekers. we aa as a country for refugees. at the end of the mexican government registered the number of more than 131,000 persons who request refugee status. this amount is equivalent with three quarters of the applications received from 20132021. also the challenge mexico is 35e of immigrants trying to reach the u.s. and sustain our country forgot. this is a game changer.

it was a frantic hunter, not anymore. that's why the mexican government has significant public resources, particularly into programs,-people filling the future. this promotes development in the southern region of mexico really 900,000 jobs 3000 jobs central america spending through communities with the biggest expulsion of young populations. this is a success story to reinforce roots of central american people to their own communities. dear hands, we need to understand immigration, immigrants are not just cultural

or construction workers anymore. there's almost 1 million mexicans working in the u.s. with higher education studies or postgraduate. finding solutions to manage immigration, the question from the u.s. needs to answer what's the best way to move forward. last november, renewed high levels of economic dialogue established, the music response to migration. i had a conversation with jorge and when we talk about migration, we need to talk about the border. we work together as a's 21st

century supporter management about bridges andnd for crossin. this is regularly monitored and specific actions to improve infrastructure and protection of goods and t people in a safe insufficient and lawful manner. there is a layer and the north american developmentnt plan for what we built from today until 2050. we need urgency. dear friends, it's a living

process. we are ready to continue a dialogue with you and find common solutions, to build a caller future. [applause] >> thank you, mr. ambassador. i've had the privilege of speaking with the ambassador a short while ago and i met him a couple of months previous as he visited arizona and appreciated his willingness to make plans with a local mayor on issues we can work together on and additional meanings we will have in the future to follow up on issues and if you're looking for an example of how to be an ambassador, you wouldn't have to look any further. thank you, mr. ambassador. it's my privilege to introduce myers, because of time

constraints i won't delve deep into her bio but she's been diligently serving refugee community for many years both in government and faith-based programs and i noticed in her resume she also did, a significant time in tucson. i thought mesa was the better of the two universities. [laughter] so thank you, please join me in welcoming the chief of staff of offit of refugee center. [applause] >> thank you, it is a pleasure to join youou today and i want o thank the mayors and commissioner and ambassador and everyone on behalf of the refugee settlement, please go back home and think your community, the walkabouts been extended specifically to afghan evacuees, it's been incredible.

we know there incredible stories of communities all over who have extended their arms and welcome and we are tremendously appreciative. i'm going to focus on our mission to unaccompanied children. i want to prod background forof those who may not know, office of refugee settlement was started in 1980 under the refugee act of 1980 which officially created the office of the administration for children and family within the department of health and human services. the last 40 years or so, it expanded our mission in large part congress extent that it to include victims of trafficking, torture, haitian entrance and unaccompanied children. most recently as of september 30 we are able to provide services we provide to refugees to afghan evacuees as part of operation allied welcome and we are honored and humbled by that

ability to provide services. the services we provide include time-limited cash and medical assistance, case management, english-language services, doctor reddy met and we administer those by providing funding through public-private partnership with nonprofit providers and states. this public-private partnership working with community-based organizations to make settlement successful and help people rebuild their lives. also you are likely aware, is mandate under the trafficking victims protection reauthorization act provides care and custody of unaccompanied children until released to sponsor usually a close relative or parent. first i'll talk about operation allied welcome following the fall of kabul august 16 and increased urgency to evacuate

afghan, president biden directed the department of homeland security the 20 not to lead efforts across the federal government to support afghan evacuations for operation allied welcome rescue and welcome. staff immediately deployed for support and all the safety events military bases hosting afghan evacuees as well as we deployed through the airports and a little in chicago to make sure when individuals came with the child not their biological child, many children were with a loved one, a caregiver, an aunt or an uncle or family friend we were able to keep the family unit together whenever possible so the trauma of separation would not follow the trauma they've already endured. oh rr not only through unaccompanied afghan minors but also provided temporary medical coverage for emergency room use through our partnership with the state department zero for migration. we provided support for

partnership for substance abuse and mental health services administration to provide mental health services to afghan evacuees while there. nearly all afghan evacuees have been resettled or in the process of being resettled through one of the nine resettlement agencies in the u.s. or in many cases through the state administered partnership we have in the program and colorado, minnesota, missouri, washington and others. there are countless stories of communities opening their arms. i want to talk about unaccompanied afghan minors. currently there are 225 unaccompanied afghan minors in our care, not have a sponsor in the u.s. but all have apparent or primary caregiver in afghanistan so we are striving to provide these children culturally and linguistically

within our network across the united states including foster care programs. we arewe grateful for 212 providers throughout the country working to provide the care as well as countless families that have stepped forward and i'm working on our website and be licensed through the states in which they live. legal responsibilities to care for unaccompanied children is no matter what their nationality is. people most likely are accustomed to serving children from guatemala, honduras and el salvador and it represents more than 90% of the children in the care that we continue to serve children from all over the world. children in our care, 90% of the time are able to be united with a close family member or parent or legal guardian and while they are with us, their safety is our number one priority. we don't make determinations and

is not for us to determine the makeup before a judge but while with us, we strive to provide the best quality of care. this year has been challenging. in 2020 there were about 15000 children referred to zero rr. in fiscal year 21, there's been more than 122,000 children referred to resettlement for our care. we provided beautification services to 110,000 children and currently we have about 8000 children in our care, down from a high level of one to 5000 children spring and summer. we did this by focusing on reducing the length of care children are in our facilities. congregate care is no place for children and children should be in care for as little time as possible. we produced average length of care from upwards of 90s kids

to know was under 25. we did have to do things out of order, we activated emergency intake, 14 across the country in addition to influx care facility for now we are down to only two from the 14th. emergency intake are not standard operating procedure, fearful committed to providing care to unaccompanied children through our network of licensed care providers across the country so as we are able to demobilize even those remaining sites recommended to doing that. today there are fewer than 200 children across the emergency sites. this year we are continuing and help to do some of the things we've started coming into office including increasing access to representation and increasingg

post relief services to the children released from our care. that is my briefing for now, i am happy to answer questions,. >> i worked with moderators in my time but this is an incredible moderator. they said finally just start asking questions because say about 3:50 p.m.d this raise your hand and introduce yourself and ask your question. >> think. welcome and good to hear you have familiarity with the board. they are, we are going to miss you, you are a great mayor and a good friend to the conference

but commissioner, i don't think the cards are in your ability but if they are, i know it will be significant for this workout great for my friend here, five minutes from the mexican border. border crossing has really helped, in arizona i think only 5 miles, i think 55 miles in an attempt within our communities and businesses. i just want to congratulate you, you have some great people in the el paso sector, melissa tyus.b they really do a great job. >> appreciate that very much. >> good afternoon, i am doctor monica in los angeles county and i have a question from armored daughter of a farmworker.

how can small cities like ourselves, heirs of small cities like ourselves help the immigrants who coming from a farm workers don't just stay for cities, they also have children so how can mayors of small communities assist in these efforts? >> there have been phenomenal partnerships including los angeles county and across california in terms of utilizing some of the immigrant children and making sure unaccompanied children can be part ofmp that. especially making sure compliance with some things like making sure school districts know all children regardless of immigration status have access to school for something also really critical. just making sure there's communication and education with everyone working with children because i think a lot of times people don't know what to do or

they might be asking for guardianship papers so looking from the eyes of an unaccompanied child or the eyes of a sponsor who might not have guardianship (provided custody of the child while waiting for immigration hearing is critical in making sure there's communication between schools and social service providers and immigration for system is important. we've also had great dialogues with local officials to hone in specifically about their equities and looking to do. >> foster care system is one of the best ways, my wife and i have been on this for many years and there's not a lot ofe- communication between the state and county levels you probably have some people who have unaccompanied minors and other foster from they were from l.a.

county in our case by your county or state have a produce department out privacy where the homes are in a network of support whether culturally competent teachers or the churches and religious community want to help, probably the best way they can help. >> i think -- [inaudible] tests onversation could help with them to promote some it's that it help them in the environment. >> so not specific to children but immigrants in general, usually there are significant legal needs and legal costs mount up quickly. somehow providing or offsetting

some of those costs. a lot of cities that have used american rescue plan dollars to provide legal representation for immigrants, that is something that is helpful. something that we are explo there are a lot of families that are legal residents citizenships who can't afford to pay the application so a one time payment to help them with that process, it's another approach that helps the family. the last is the broader --community for support not only afghan immigrants we've seen in general, it is amazing how generous the community is, sometimes they don't know how or where but if the mayor asked them to do something, they will show up. community will show up. >> one of the things that we realize when we look at the situation, fremont, california

is home to one of the largest diasporas in the united states. we are anticipating more arrivals. some of the sentiment regarded working with state-based groups and outreach, we started a help fund and today we have raised $420,000 in terms of donations from the community in terms of others that have stepped up. we are working with committee based organizations and having people apply for these funding applications. some of the things that i keep hearing about. a comment regarding the application fee, that has been a real factor and i have shared that in the past with the secretary. that amount for any family if you have two jews mother are

relative or how you choose which ones to pick, and in other areas much like when somebody originally arrived in fremont, many immigrants would like to be with her own family members. what we are finding is that when you talk about reaching out 50% of the population at one or two members of the family already an immigrant, so even though they may not be afghan in heritage because they have had the experience whether vietnam or chinese or india they feel compelled to help it assist so we have been trying to work with school districts, and i do not know if there are any other programs were doing, things like helping people get their drivers license, giving up packages to a lot of people to resettle and help with their housing goods. we are hoping to continue that, but if there are any other efforts you can think of.

showing our support as a community and wanting to encourage and welcome others it's a bit away but we welcome the continued partnership because we realized it is not something that is just going to be one thing. for the longer-term effect sometimes the mental health aspect of it, many years ago i had the pleasure of welcoming the afghan robotics girls team and i am glad they were able to land safely and be secure, but that is the everything i hear about is concerned for the long-term trauma for some of them as they settle. anything in terms of resources you could do we would be thrilled to have assistance. >> thank you. this is incredibly helpful and i appreciate the questions. i agree in terms of application for parole has been a big impediment and we will make sure that his address.

one of the programs we administer is the ethic committee based organization to grant, those are grants that are competitive grants that local community-based organizations can apply directly for this grant rather than having to be under one of the national resettlement agencies are getting grants from the state. you provide a lot of money to states, and then the state refugee coordinator is the office that decides where those go. refugees and afghan evacuees as well are eligible for even medicaid or if they are not eligible based upon state requirements they are eligible for refugee assistance, which is kind of our localized program if you will. that can be helpful in providing the support needed to find mental health providers. the provision of mental health is a critical went united states that is not specific to the refugee community or afghan community. so much is reliant on the availability of mental health services locally, but we are

working closely with some providers like the u.s. committee for refugees and immigrants and others to deploy mental health resources to critical areas that need essentially an influx of that expertise to provide care to afghans in particular given the trauma that they have endured. it is something that we are continuing to work through, and how we can to make sure that we are not just reliant on some of those places where they are not mental health provisions. >> thank you. >> will -- real quick, if there is a response or question and we will wrap it up. >> represented the city of west sacramento, i appreciate your presence here in the information that you provided. i share the concerns of the mayor from fremont who explains the cost of making sure folks get the resources that they need to, housing is very expensive.

we have an afghan refugee population coming into the sacramento region and our major region and housing is one of the areas. without an idea -- id they cannot access the benefits we can provide to them. at the governors go to be looking at providing medicare for all immigrants. what would be helpful is matching funds, deliver the services that would alleviate the resources and the long term to be able to provide the resources for those that are needed. mental health services is limited, and that is the result of the shortage of social workers. whatever we can do to incentivize so crucial -- social workers loan forgiveness, that would be a huge asset. as far as the increase this -- in illegal drugs that is something i've concerned about and whatever i can do to provide support to reduce that is incredibly important for us to

be able to reduce the amount of deaths among children. i think very much. >> and responses anybody? we have been so blessed by this panel, so blessed for all of you to come here. thank you all, next year i will see you there. >> we have got to said mayor garcetti off right. this is his last meeting here with a conference of mayors as part of this group, mayor, it has an honor entry pleasure working with you. i have been so personally impressed by the weight you have been willing and able to take on the biggest and toughest challenges, and you are always insightful, yet humble, you are genuine. you really care and you have been an inspiration to so many of us. on behalf of all of us we want to wish you the best in india

and beyond. [applause] the uk was under strict covid restrictions. this is london's metropolitan police say they are investigating a member of the social gatherings held during the pandemic. prime minister johnson will face questions from members of the british comments wednesday 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span2 zero. you can watch online at c-span.work or with our new video app, c-span now.

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