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Seattle briefing: Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs outlines federal immigration actions, local responses and service impacts
Summary
Director Hamdi Mohammed and communications manager Azmi Haroun updated the Library's Education and Neighborhoods Committee on March 27 about recent federal executive orders, a federal termination of funding for the Unaccompanied Children’s Program, and local steps to mitigate impacts on immigrant communities and service providers.
Hamdi Mohammed, director of the City of Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs (OIRA), told the Library's Education and Neighborhoods Committee on March 27, 2025, that recent federal executive orders and policy changes are creating confusion and a chilling effect in immigrant communities and that Seattle is coordinating outreach, legal support and communication to respond.
The update matters because the actions described — including orders on expedited removal, expanded information-sharing and restrictions on public services — affect access to city and federal benefits and the legal representation available to migrants, including unaccompanied children. Mohammed told the committee those federal actions are being challenged in court and that Washington state laws and city policies limiting local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement remain in place.
Mohammed summarized federal actions and said many are already facing legal challenges. She described a timeline for the federal Unaccompanied Children’s Program (UCP): on Feb. 18 the administration issued a stop-work order that temporarily halted federal funding for legal services serving roughly 26,000 unaccompanied children; three days later the order was rescinded; and on March 21 the administration issued a termination of the UCP, cutting federal funding for legal representation for those minors. Mohammed said the city and its partners are monitoring the immediate impacts, and that some organizations, including Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), are considering office closures or scaling back services.
"This is one of the worst things that can honestly happen in our immigration system," Mohammed said, describing the effect on children who rely on legal representation. Mohammed read a March 23 mayoral statement that said, in part, "The decision to cut the Unaccompanied Children’s Program forcing migrant children as young as 3 years old to represent themselves in court is unconscionable and stands in direct opposition to our values as a welcoming city." (Mohammed attributed the quote to Mayor Harrell.)
Azmi Haroun, OIRA communications manager, described steps to get vetted, locally contextualized information to affected communities: translated fact sheets and infographics, expanded outreach to ethnic media, and a series of internal and external "know your rights" trainings for city staff, service providers and business owners. Haroun said OIRA is daily-checking with community partners and service providers to decide what messaging to elevate and how to meet people "where they're at" safely.
Committee members asked about backfilling legal services if national providers scale back or close. Mohammed said OIRA has set up a rapid response program, has redirected some citizenship-program dollars to urgent needs, and is coordinating with KIND, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) and other partners. Mohammed said the city is also talking with county and state partners and exploring philanthropic support, but that OIRA’s funding alone would be insufficient to replace federal funding.
Council members raised data-security concerns related to information sharing and cloud storage of city data. Mohammed said city policy discourages collection of immigration-status information and suggested a follow-up briefing with Seattle Information Technology to review cloud-storage arrangements. Council member Moore added that the police department’s vendor for automated license-plate reader data (Axon) has contractual terms that prohibit sharing Seattle data with third parties; Moore said the vendor had confirmed it has not provided ALPR data to outside parties since implementation.
Vice Chair Rink and other members asked OIRA to provide updated counts or tracking information if KIND or other providers begin closing offices; Mohammed and Haroun said they would follow up with the committee and partners with additional detail where available.
The committee received the briefing for discussion; no formal action or vote was taken on the immigration update.
