With its new leader in place, the county’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs is looking for two new staff members to make the office complete before opening its doors.
Proposed by Orange County Supervisors Doug Chaffee and Andrew Do, the Board of Supervisors agreed last April to establish the new office to connect immigrants and refugees with housing, legal support and other necessary resettlement resources. Chaffee contributed $500,000 from his district discretionary funds.
Jose Serrano, who has worked at World Relief Southern California and the state’s Refugee Programs Bureau, started his work as the director on April 5. His background made him a top candidate for the position, officials said.
“We went through a rigorous process to select a director that has a deep understanding of the issues and also possesses the vision to bridge gaps between government services and community needs,” Fourth District Supervisor Chaffee said in an email. “Jose has unique hands-on experience directly providing support to immigrants and refugees, along with working collaboratively with organizations across various sectors to develop policy recommendations on critical issues.”
Serrano’s vision is for OIRA to act as a central hub that can connect folks to the variety of resources and services that they may need. As director, he wants to collaborate with organizations across the county including CAIR-LA, Jewish Family Services, Church World Services and the Arab American Civic Council, he said. These organizations, Serrano said, specialize in different areas of the immigration pipeline.
“Along the pipeline, individuals need different resources. Perhaps at the beginning, it might be trying to find jobs, enrolling in ESL programs, or even just finding a place to call home,” Serrano said. “All of these different partners of ours, through OIRA, are able to provide that resource.”
Through these collaborative efforts, Serrano said OIRA will be able to address gaps in immigration services, such as housing. Serrano pointed to the fall of Kabul in 2021, for example, that resulted in a large influx of Afghan refugees arriving in the U.S., many settling in Orange County.
“A lot of families were placed in motels and hotels during certain periods of time because housing was a challenge,” Serrano said. “But with the support of community partners, we were able to find affordable housing for some families. And that is what the objective of OIRA is, to create a more fluid system for resettlement, welcome and integration.”
Serrano said with his background working in the immigration field, and as an immigrant himself, he’s coming into the director position more than ready to get the office up and running.
“All of those opportunities that I have been blessed with have equipped me to have a better understanding of what the immigration world looks like,” Serrano said “The onboarding process has been one where I’m already planning the inauguration for this office which will be taking place in the months to come.”
Still to come for the office is the hiring of two social workers/case managers to join the OIRA team, Serrano said. Those two employees will be responsible for assisting individuals and families with finding the appropriate resources and services they may need. This assistance isn’t exactly new, he added.
“With OIRA, and having a name to it, what’s exciting is it’s really about bringing together all of the service providers and stakeholders and community that’s directly impacted to creating a better framework to providing service connection to families,” Serrano said. “With the support of the two additional social workers, that is going to be one thing that will hopefully be a lot easier for everyone as we map out programs and services made available to the immigrant community.”
An inauguration for the opening of the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs is planned for May 29, Serrano said.
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