Seattle OIRA outlines legal, language and workforce supports for immigrants and refugees

Hamdi Mohammed, director of the city—s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, told the Library's Education and Neighborhoods Committee on July 24 that OIRA is expanding programs to help immigrant and refugee residents access legal services, language assistance and job training. The briefing centered on OIRA—s rapid-response, legal-defense, citizenship, language-access and Ready-to-Work efforts and included program metrics, funding sources and requests for pro bono legal support and additional partnerships. The update matters because federal policy change and media coverage, OIRA said, have produced a chilling effect that can keep people from getting food, health care, schooling and other city services; the office described itself as a local source of accurate, timely information and coordination. Mohammed told the committee, “We are here to show how we are listening as a city, how we—re acting and protecting access to opportunities.” She said OIRA has about 12 staff and a budget of roughly $6,400,000, primarily from the general fund with some state grants and payroll-expense-tax revenue, and that the office is pursuing additional state and philanthropic funding. On enforcement and rapid response, Mohammed said statewide calls to the deportation-defense hotline tracked by partners numbered 739; 109 calls were from Seattle and eight were verified as ICE activity inside the city…