Orange County will have an Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, after county supervisors unanimously approved its creation on April 25.
The office will serve as a “central hub for coordination of services, resources, and advocacy groups,” for immigrants and refugees within the county, according to officials.
County officials held a press conference the following day highlighting plans for the new office.
“Yesterday, a Board of Supervisors meeting received many expressions of public support and stories from residents here in Orange County on why this office will be instrumental in helping residents and refugees now and in the future,” Supervisor Doug Chaffee said during the press conference.
The idea was sparked in part over the county’s unpreparedness to assist 500 Afghan refugees find shelter in Orange County in the summer of 2021, following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to county officials.
“Though Orange County is no stranger to refugees, the county has not experienced an influx of refugees at this rate for several decades,” a staff report for the item agendized by Chaffee and Supervisor Andrew Do reads.
Officials said the new office will help in assisting refugees find social services support, legal advice, health care, education, and employment.
As a centralized tool for immigrant services, Chaffee told The Epoch Times he expects the office to also be cost-effective for the county in the long term as it “will help immigrants become self-sufficient sooner.”
“From our perspective, we want to say that we care. We care about everyone in the county,” Chaffee said. “That’s a message that sometimes is lost on people who see Orange County as anti-immigrant … and yet so many of our residents are foreign-born.”
Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said during the press conference establishment of the new office felt “very personal,” as an immigrant, born in Bolivia in 1965.
“There is still some negativity towards immigrants. That’s something I hope this office will address and make sure that we’re humane to one another, we’re civil, and provide resources in a way that is befitting of who we are in Orange County,” he said during the press conference.
Sarmiento told The Epoch Times the county’s next steps include establishing the office, which is proposed to be somewhere in Westminster, and identifying a demand for the services.
“If there’s a high demand then we will adjust the number of staff and funds we allocate,” he said.
Representatives from 22 refugee- and immigrant-serving organizations were in attendance, some giving speeches. Refugees from Ukraine and Vietnam concluded the conference by giving thanks for the help received since they entered Orange County.
“I was lucky one of my friends directed me to the office of Supervisor Andrew Do,” Vietnam refugee Anna Nguyen said in a speech.
Nguyen said she needed help when she came to America as a single mother. Thanks to Do and his staff, she said she was able to transition smoothly and now recommends the county’s services to others.
Controversy at the Board Meeting
The day prior, over 50 residents spoke during public comments before the office was approved. Most were in favor, but a handful of residents argued against it.“What about the people that already exist here and that are living here? What programs will be removed to sustain this program that you want to create,” said an Orange County resident during the Tuesday meeting.
But another resident said the office was long overdue.
That was Metra Azar-Salem, executive director of the non-profit Afghan Refugee Relief—which focuses on resettling refugees in Southern California, specifically those recently seeking refuge from Afghanistan.
“We Afghan Americans got together to provide [refugees] the services that we are looking forward to having through this office that is on the proposal today,” she told supervisors during the meeting.
According to officials, the county is currently assisting about 246 refugees. Chaffee said his office expects to expend about $500,000 in discretionary funds for the new office, which will have one director and two staff members.
Establishing such an office under a director is not a foreign concept to the board.
Some of the office’s responsibilities include connecting immigrants or refugees—regardless of visa status—to resources in the county, strengthening partnerships with existing non-profits, and “supporting policies that advance the inclusion and the rights of immigrant and refugee communities,” among other things, according to a staff report.
