Drafter
Clerk 07/21/2015
Title
AN ORDINANCE relating to a task force to make recommendations on the creation of a King County immigrant and refugee commission.
Body
PREAMBLE:
With a population of two million residents, King County grows more diverse every year. Since 2000, the county has grown by more than two hundred twenty thousand residents, with most of the increase attributable to people of color. Only half of that growth is from births. Most of the rest is from immigrants and refugees - from all parts of Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Africa.
Foreign-born residents, including immigrants and refugees, face particular challenges upon arrival in the United States. One quarter of King County residents speak a language other than English at home, and close to half of them report that no one in their households speak English well or at all. In total, King County residents speak over one hundred twenty different languages, or over one hundred seventy languages including dialects spoken.
Whether it is public health, public safety, public defense, elections or other county governmental services, accessing county services presents a special challenge to those unfamiliar with this country and with our government settings in particular. Many agencies work to address equity and social justice in delivering services, whether it is providing interpreter services for health screening for a refugee at a public health clinic or public defense legal services for an immigrant youth in dependency proceedings, obtaining a court order that allows the youth to successfully apply for special immigrant juvenile visa status and thereby obtaining the stability to remain in this country and move forward with the youth's life. It is vital that the county keep determinants of equity and barriers to opportunity in the forefront of decision-making that will impact residents of our county and help them to become thriving involved members of the community.
King Co...

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