Some Baltimore council members are demanding the budget for MIMA — the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant and Multicultural Affairs — be doubled.

MIMA Director Catalina Rodriguez-Lima paused to collect herself during a Monday night budget hearing as she described the way in which her agency is helping families prepare for separation when parents get deported as the Trump administration ramps up deportation quotas.

Rodriguez-Lima stifled a sob. “The goal for Tier One is to leave guardianship forms,” said Rodriguez-Lima, explaining a legal service that MIMA is coordinating through the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights. That program would help children stay with family guardians rather than enter the state foster care system.

“I understand. I mean, it's heartbreaking. It's so heartbreaking what our community is going through,” said Councilwoman Odette Ramos, also through tears.

MIMA, which was codified as an official city agency last year, has a proposed budget of around $966,000. MIMA isn’t a direct service provider but connects Baltimore’s foreign born residents to service providers. That includes language assistance, connection to legal representation, and increasingly, Know Your Rights workshops.

Since the budget was proposed, citizens and advocates have made statements and taken to public meetings saying that the proposal isn’t high enough, especially as the federal government claws back funding for programs like legal aid to unaccompanied migrant children. MIMA has said it needs at least another $1M for legal services; Rodriguez-Lima says they are fundraising that money already.

Councilwoman Odette Ramos demands Mayor Brandon Scott to more than double the budget to cover legal services and wraparound support.

“We need that commitment today — today — and the fact that it wasn't given initially in this budget is shameful,” said Ramos.

The administration will be adding to MIMA’s budget but could not commit to an amount, confirmed Calvin Young, Chief of Staff for Mayor Scott.

“I can commit to you right now that absolutely this is one of the top priorities right now for the mayor's office to increase this budget,” said Young. But that does come with caveats, he warned.

“As you know, with the budget, when we increase in certain areas, we also have to figure out where we'll make cuts,” said Young. The city’s FY 2026 budget proposal is trying to close an $85M shortfall.