Immigrant and refugee service providers ask council for ongoing OIRA funding and legal-service support

Community advocates, health providers and immigration law services told the committee that ongoing city support is necessary to sustain legal and social services for immigrants and unaccompanied children.

James W. Lovell of Chief Seattle Club described requests for culturally specific behavioral-health investments and emergency repairs to expand behavioral health space. Multiple immigrant-service organizations and legal groups, including Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), called for $4,000,000 in ongoing Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs funding rather than one-time allocations to ensure continuity of services for unaccompanied children and recently arrived families. "Your support has made it possible for unaccompanied children and youth in Seattle to have someone by their side when they would otherwise have no one," Jessica Castellanos of KIND said.

Speakers described how brief federal contracts and unstable funding make long-term casework and representation difficult. Paralegals and attorneys recounted representing children through detention releases, guardianship and immigration court and asked the council to make funding predictable and permanent to avoid service disruptions. The committee recorded the testimony and noted that the mayor’s balancing package included additions; advocates urged those additions be converted to ongoing appropriations.