The Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs announced in February that former Director Cuc Vu will be re-joining the department as OIRA’s new acting director.
Vu, a dedicated immigrant advocate, served as OIRA Director from 2014-2022. During this time, Vu built the office into an integral resource for immigrant and refugee residents in Seattle, helping establish key programs around citizenship assistance, workforce readiness, community media, legal defense, woven together with tireless advocacy for the advancement and protection of Seattle’s immigrant and refugee communities. Her work with OIRA has become part of a blueprint for how local governments can champion immigrant integration effectively across the nation.
“I’m excited to welcome Cuc Vu back to OIRA to lead this agency at such an important time,” said Mayor Katie B. Wilson. “As the federal government steps up its attacks on immigrant communities, OIRA’s work is a critical part of putting our values into action: whoever you are, and wherever you come from: if Seattle is your home, then this is your city.”
For Vu, delivering at this heightened political moment is critical, and the work is highly personal.
Vu came to the United States with her family in 1975 as a refugee of the Vietnam War, barely making it through the gates of Tan Son Nhat airport in Saigon as U.S. troops were evacuating Vietnamese refugees on the last day of the war.
Following an uncle’s advice and Governor Dan Evans’ courage to proclaim that Vietnamese refugees were welcome in Washington State, Vu’s family chose Olympia, Washington, as their new home. While her mother worked in a minimum-wage job for more than 20 years, Vu fulfilled her father’s greatest wish—for his children to be the first generation in their family to graduate from college. Vu carried the hopes of her parents on her shoulders and earned an undergraduate degree at Pomona College and a graduate degree as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
As Vu rejoins the office, her vision to protect Seattle’s immigrant populations is reinforced.
“I am proud and energized to join OIRA as director at a juncture where immigrant communities and constitutional rights are under brazen assault. The City of Seattle’s welcoming values mean that all residents deserve a dignified life, and my mission with OIRA is to meet this moment through responsive funding and programming, and nimble advocacy,” Director Vu said. “Immigrants and refugees deserve to lead their lives in Seattle with support and pride, not in mounting fear.”
Director Vu will be working closely with the Mayor’s Office, and with City and community partners to ensure that the City’s new $4 million investment into immigrant communities meets the most pressing needs, as welcoming cities and immigrants face unprecedented federal actions. Building on a robust track record of serving the community, Director Vu returns with a redoubled call to Seattle’s immigrant communities: this is your city.
