Meet San Diego’s First Immigration Affairs Manager

Speaker 1: 00:00 As the build, the wall chance is still rock. The president's rallies. San Diego has chosen a different approach to the subject of immigration. A first ever immigrant affairs manager has been installed at city hall. The new job includes an effort to open up opportunities for immigrant workers and remove barriers often faced by immigrant communities. Journey me is Rita Fernandez. She is San Diego's new immigrant affairs manager and read a welcome to the program. Thank you very much. How was this new position described to you by the city? Speaker 2: 00:34 Well, this position will be in charge of really creating and guiding policies, uh, to uh, support our immigrant and refugee communities and promote immigrant integration. Speaker 1: 00:47 What will your main duties be? Speaker 2: 00:49 So, um, right now as I sort of get started, this is my second week on the job and it's been very exciting. Um, I will be creating new relationships with our immigrant community. I will also be reviewing the welcoming San Diego strategic plan, um, which has a series of very comprehensive recommendations for promoting immigrant integration in the city of San Diego. And I look forward to collaborating with a local cross sector organizations and community leaders to better promote the needs and interests of our community. Uh, in here in San Diego, Speaker 1: 01:27 you know, San Diego is home to a whole range of different immigrant communities. How do you plan on getting to know the various groups? Speaker 2: 01:35 Sure. Well that's a great question. Um, San Diego is home to, um, a number of diverse communities. Some of the top, uh, populations in San Diego, um, represented among the immigrant community are from Mexico, China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Iraq. So there are really people from all corners of the world that reside here in San Diego. So I will look forward to, um, communicating with various community leaders, um, people who, uh, speak with these communities and represent their interests. Um, very closely. Um, back in, uh, Los Angeles when I was working in the immigrant affairs office there, um, we kept a very, uh, close communication with all the refugee communities and immigrant communities. So I look forward to doing the same here. Speaker 1: 02:26 Have you had time yet to drop in on various neighborhoods? Speaker 2: 02:30 So, um, definitely the population of San Diego is varied and we have, um, many experiences among the immigrant integration or the immigrant community here in San Diego. Um, so we do know that to be a fact and, um, part of my role will be really to look to the programs that can lift, um, our immigrant communities, um, of all walks of life and I will be focusing on the various recommendations submitted by stakeholders, um, of the welcoming San Diego steering committee, um, to see how we can apply a lot of those. Speaker 1: 03:05 You mentioned that you have just been serving as associate director of the office of immigrant affairs for Los Angeles. I'm wondering what experiences did you have up there that you think will help you here? Sure. Well, Speaker 2: 03:17 there I was able to really see firsthand how a large city can create and implement various programs to support immigrant integration, um, including anything from assistance with naturalization to financial literacy and economic empowerment. And I think all of those experiences will really help me as I'm, uh, putting together an immigrant integration portfolio here in the city of San Diego. Speaker 1: 03:44 Do you as immigrant affairs manager make a distinction between people who have immigrated legally and people who are living here illegally. When it comes to the city's help in removing barriers, Speaker 2: 03:57 it's very important that for our immigrant integration work, um, we're looking at the contributions of all of our immigrants. So, um, we have, as I mentioned before, a very diverse population, uh, from people, uh, the representing all corners of the world. Um, so we know that our immigrants are our, um, the neighbors. Um, there are coworkers, they employ people themselves and make vast contributions to our local economy. Um, so I will be, uh, looking forward to, um, serving the best needs of our immigrant and, uh, newly arrived populations and refugees. Speaker 1: 04:38 So there are many mixed status families in San Diego. Some people who are here illegally, some people who don't have documentation. How will you be approaching that challenge when it comes to city services and outreach? Sure. Well, the Speaker 2: 04:53 immigrant story is varied. Um, and I've seen in Los Angeles, in my hometown here in San Diego and nationwide, um, you know, the transition to a new country can be very difficult. And this is in part why immigrant integration work is so important, not just to a city like San Diego, but certainly for cities across the country and across the world. We're seeing migrants move to highly urbanized areas. So it's becoming increasingly important for cities to really include an immigrant integration component to their work that can really help, um, lift these immigrants and integrate them to really inform them on what services are available to them and to be able to provide them with new, innovative ways to provide them resources and support them as they're building new lives. Speaker 1: 05:46 So what I'm hearing you say is they're there in your approach. There isn't much difference between whether somebody is here illegally or not. You are going to be offering welcoming to everyone Speaker 2: 05:58 who is here. As I review the welcoming San Diego strategic plan. Um, I'm going to look toward the many recommendations that were submitted, many of which would, uh, that also came from members of the public themselves. Um, so some, uh, recommendations for example, are expanding language access in our education system and government agencies, not only for children, but the parents who may also struggle to communicate in parent teacher conferences or when using online tools. Um, other examples might include supporting immigrant owned businesses, um, helping them navigate programs or grants that may be available to them and recredentialing, um, for individuals that may be, for example, doctors or lawyers in their home country, um, who are now transitioning to life in the U S and are highly skilled workers. So we really want them to be included in our workforce to grow our workforce. I've been speaking with Rita Fernandez, she's San Diego's new immigrant affairs manager and Rita, thank you so much. Thank you very much. Speaker 3: 07:07 [inaudible].