Proposed Charter Change Question #2 - Philadelphia - Office of Immigrant Affairs Referendum

Summary

**From the Commissioners:** The City’s Home Rule Charter is like the City’s constitution; it sets up the rules for City government. If you vote “Yes” on this ballot question, it means you want to change the Charter so that it creates an Office of Immigrant Affairs. The City has an Office of Immigrant Affairs now, but it was created by a Mayor’s Executive Order. If it is put into the Charter, the Office becomes more formal and permanent. The Office would: develop City policies regarding issues that affect immigrant communities; help City agencies to make it easier for non-English speakers to use City services; work to make sure that immigrants are treated fairly by all City agencies and employees; and serve as a link between the City and its immigrant communities. **Seventy’s Take:** The City’s [Office of Immigrant Affairs](https://www.phila.gov/departments/office-of-immigrant-affairs/) already exists: Mayor Kenney created it with a 2016 executive order, so passage of this measure wouldn’t “establish” it but would make it a permanent part of City government. In 2014, Philadelphia voters approved a similar proposal that cemented Mayor Nutter’s Office of Sustainabilty in the Charter. The OIA offers [language access plans, monthly legal clinics, after-school programs for youth and a citizenship-test preparation program](https://www.phila.gov/posts/office-of-immigrant-affairs/2016-11-30-immigrant-and-refugee-resources/). Similar offices exist in many major U.S. cities, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and San Francisco. According to a 2018 [PEW report](https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2018/06/07/philadelphias-immigrants), Philadelphia’s fast–growing immigrant population stands at about 232,000 (some 50,000 of them undocumented), or approximately 15% of the city’s total population and 19% of its workers. The largest percentages come from Asia and Latin America (though the fastest growing group is Africans), and the largest concentration of immigrants can be found in South and Northeast Philadelphia.

Measure Details