San Diego has launched a new Office of Immigrant Affairs to promote inclusivity and hospitality toward the city’s growing immigrant community.
The office is part of Mayor Todd Gloria’s Fiscal Year 2023 "Ready to Rebuild" budget. Its focus is "workforce development for the immigrant population, promoting inclusive resources to help foreign-born communities through the integration process, advocating for immigrant rights and developing a language access plan to provide translation and interpretation services for city programs and services," according to the city.
Gloria has named his Global Affairs Director Rita Fernandez as the office's first executive director. She previously served as the city’s Immigrant Affairs Manager and was Associate Immigrant Affairs Director for the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti before that.
"Immigrants are an important part of our community, but often feel disconnected or unsupported by their city government," said Gloria. "That's why I've created the Office of Immigrant Affairs, which strives to welcome immigrants to San Diego and make sure that their voice is heard by City Hall."
San Diego is home to approximately 344,000 foreign-born residents who represent around 27.1% of the city’s population. By comparison, foreign-born persons account for 13.7% of the total population nationwide.