Establishment
On December 12, 2017, The City of Tacoma passed Resolution 39892 to support the creation of the Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. The purpose of the Commission is to better engage Tacoma’s immigrant and refugee communities and to work with community partners to identify and advance positive outcomes for specifically impacting the immigrant and refugee communities in the City of Tacoma.
Membership
The Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs consists of 11 members (to include one youth or young adult under the age of 25) and one alternate who are nominated and appointed by a majority vote of City Council.
Current Commissioners:
Alma Villegas
Emani Donaldson
Hugo Nicholas
Hieu Nguyen
Leena Vo
Lydia Zepeda
Maricres Valdez Castro
Maurice Lekea
Natalie Ghayoumi
Samantha Le
Stacy Kowalski
Thierry Ruboneka
Vacancy for Youth Representative
Organizational Documents
Welcoming Cities - Resolution 39116
(Spanish Version)
Immigrant and Refugee Task Force - Resolution 39642 (Spanish Version)
Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs - Resolution 39892 (Spanish Version)
2019 CIRA Commissioners celebrating Tacoma's Welcoming Week.
Left to right: Saiyare Refaei, Alma Vargas, Jason Gamboa, Perla Gamboa and
Jefferson Mok.
Staff Support
Staffing support to the Commission on Immigrants and Refugees Affairs is provided by the Office of Equity and Human Rights.