|
Immigrant and Refugee Populations Refugees in Orange County
<br /> Orange County has a growing immigrant and refugee Nationwide, refugee arrivals have significantly de-
<br /> population - 13.3% of the population is foreign-born creased annually since 2016-2017, after the change in
<br /> - mostly comprised of Hispanic/Latinx immigrants of federal administration. In 2017, the Trump Administra-
<br /> Latin American origin, and Asian immigrants from vari- tion used an Executive Order to reduce the number
<br /> ous locations, including China, Burma/Myanmar, Korea, of refugee admissions previously set by the Obama
<br /> and Japan. Administration. Since then the number of refugee
<br /> admissions has been reduced even further. In addition,
<br /> In addition to its diversity in countries of origin, Orange in March 2020, the International Office of Migration and
<br /> County is home to a linguistically-diverse population. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees an-
<br /> With 18.7%of the population speaking a language other nounced a temporary suspension of travel for refugees
<br /> than English, there are a substantial number of house- during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
<br /> holds that require language access for county services.
<br /> The Limited English Proficient (LEP) population, which OCHD Language Services:
<br /> is measured by those who speak English "less than very When looking at the OCHD language services provision
<br /> well" is 6.45% (or 8,523 people) according to the 2018
<br /> American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Among over the last several years, this increase in the linguis-
<br /> thatgroup, the top languages spoken are: 1) Spanish, 2) tic needs of the Orange County population is evident.
<br /> Chinese, 3) Other Asian, 4) Korean, and 5) Japanese. Staff and on-site contract interpreters have annually
<br /> increased the number of interpretation encounters cov-
<br /> Several languages and dialect subsets are spoken by ered at OCHD. These include medical and dental clinical
<br /> refugees from Burma including: Burmese, Karen- Sgaw appointments and a range of interpretation services
<br /> and Pwo/Poe, Chin -Falam, Hakha, Tedim, and Rohing- for other OCHD programs such as: the Home Visiting
<br /> ya. Additional languages spoken by refugee neighbors Program, Family Success Alliance Navigator appoint-
<br /> include: Kinyarwanda and Swahili, spoken by refugees ments and parent meetings, Diabetes Self-Management
<br /> from DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Ara- Education (DSME) classes for the Nutrition Services
<br /> bic, spoken by refugees from Syria. Due to in-and-out program, and Healthy Homes appointments. Patients
<br /> migration, available data are limited for the refugee speaking over 20 languages (including American Sign
<br /> populations; nevertheless, tracking of direct arrivals to Language) were served using these services.
<br /> Orange County, for those served by the Refugee Health
<br /> Program, provides a glimpse into a basic number of the
<br /> population living in the county.
<br /> Table 2: Orange County Population Demographics4 Table 3: Direct Refugee Arrivals in Orange County'
<br /> New
<br /> Foreign-born population 13.3% COUNTY Direct Countries Origin
<br /> FISCAL YEAR I.efugee
<br /> 2015-2016 83 DRC, Burma, Iraq,
<br /> Speak a language other 18.7% - Majority Russia
<br /> than English at home Spanish
<br /> 2016-2017 102 Burma, Syria, DRC,
<br /> El Salvador
<br /> Speak English less than 6.45% (8,523) 2017-2018 22 Burma, DRC,
<br /> very well (LEP - Limited Spanish (4,838) Nepal
<br /> English Proficient) Chinese (1,432)
<br /> 2018-2019 34 Burma, DRC, Syria,
<br /> El Salvador
<br /> Top languages spoken Other Asian (628)Korean (620) 2019-2020 Burma, DRC,
<br /> by LEP population Japanese (132) (YTD as of 9 Ethiopia
<br /> 4/1/2020)
<br /> 4 2019 COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT
<br />
|