Orange County Supervisors Approve New Immigration Office

SANTA ANA — The Orange County Board of Supervisors today approved establishment of a new Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs that would serve as a clearinghouse to steer refugees and immigrants to various services.

Board Vice Chairman Andrew Do and Supervisor Doug Chaffee proposed the new office.

``This office would establish services to assist our immigrant population to centralize services in one place,'' Chaffee said.

Its aim is to be a ``one-stop shop'' that would direct refugees and immigrants to already established and available services through various other agencies and nonprofits, Chaffee said.

Chaffee noted that, along with a surge in refugees from Afghanistan as the U.S. ended its war there, the U.S. is now dealing with refugees from war-torn Ukraine. But, Chaffee noted, immigrants and refugees in the U.S. come from multiple places around the globe, from Central America, Asia and the Middle East.

``This is not unusual,'' Chaffee said of the establishment of the new office. ``We've established other offices like the Office of Independent Review... the Office of Suicide Prevention.''

Many immigrants and refugees struggle with a new language in a strange place and often arrive ``essentially homeless,'' Chaffee said. ``They need food, housing, transportation, education, medical services and jobs. Due to communication gaps, many refugees and immigrants have trouble finding help they need.''

The new office ``will encourage maximum coordination among agencies, many of whom do their own fundraising and providing services at no cost to the government,'' Chaffee said.

Do emphasized, ``There are no such services as immigrant services'' with the new office.

``What we're talking about is coordinating many services provided by different departments,'' Do said.

Do said that having the county's chief executive office and care coordination providers monitor the office ``would be the most efficient in delivering services.''

He noted that when the U.S. withdrew the military from Afghanistan, ``in a very short amount of time the Health Care Agency and Social Services, working with this board, stood up services within days.''

Supervisor Katrina Foley said she was impressed with the testimonials from immigrants and refugees who addressed the board members at their meeting Tuesday.

``The empowering stories of struggle to success are very impactful to me,'' Foley said.

The supervisor noted that her district has about ``246 individuals we are currently serving in the Fifth District.'' There are host families and immigrants in many south county cities such as Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano and Ladera Ranch, Foley said.

Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento noted that he was an immigrant himself.

``Our family arrived here in Orange County in 1965 when I was a year old,'' he said. ``I'm encouraged by the office being stood up, but there are some questions in my mind about whether it's the best way to do it.''

Sarmiento said he would prefer the new office had more independence, and he also favored a review of the office to make sure it is working.

``We have other independent offices that I don't see much work being generated from and there's not much accountability,'' Sarmiento said. ``To the extent that we can measure the success of services being delivered here I would recommend that. ... This should be brought back to us in six months to maybe assess and see what the direction is and is it being effective.''

Chaffee responded, ``The important word here is patience. It takes a while to establish an office, to recruit the right people to run it. Both San Diego and Los Angeles have these kinds of offices, but they're different. We'll find our own way and we'll do what's best for our county and I think we'll be better at the end of the day.''

Chaffee offered up $500,000 in discretionary funding from his office as seed money for the new office.

Orange County Board Chairman Don Wagner said he appreciated Chaffee offering up the funding.

``The cost raises some issues ... so I appreciate the discretionary funds to defray the cost,'' Wagner said. ``I am confident that the CEO's office can come up with an office that does what is requested and we'll have an opportunity to bring it back and take a look at it.''

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