City Announces Departure of Miriam Enriquez from the Office of Immigrant Affairs and Appointment of Amy Eusebio as the Office’s New Director

PHILADELPHIA — Mayor Jim Kenney announced today that he has accepted the resignation of Miriam Enriquez, Director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs (OIA), effective September 20, 2019. Enriquez has served as Director of the Office since the start of the Kenney administration. He also announced his appointment of Amy Eusebio, the current Program Director for PHL City ID, as Enriquez’s replacement.

“Over the past three and a half years, Miriam has been a fierce advocate for Philadelphia’s immigrant communities—driving our administration’s Welcoming City goals and policies,” said Mayor Jim Kenney. “At the start of our administration, I don’t think any of us expected the extent to which Philadelphia would be forced to fight the federal government and push back against the cruel actions of the president; but through it all, I was lucky to have Miriam’s dedication and passion leading this fight everyday. The groundwork she has laid within the Office of Immigrant Affairs has guided our city for the past several years and will continue to do so for years to come. I am sad to see Miriam go, but wish her continued success as she goes on to the next phase of her professional career.”

While leading the Office of Immigrant Affairs, Enriquez played a crucial role in a number of programs, initiatives and policy decisions. These include:

• Making the Office of Immigrant Affairs a permanent part of City government by working on legislation that voters approved in May 2019 to amend the Home Rule Charter.
• Protecting Philadelphia’s Welcoming City policies as part of the team in The City of Philadelphia v. Sessions, the groundbreaking federal lawsuit in which the City successfully kept the Department of Justice from withholding crucial federal funding.
• Ending the Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System (PARS) agreement between the City of Philadelphia and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
• Establishing a deportation defense pilot program in partnership with the Vera Institute of Justice to ensure due process for immigrants facing deportation who cannot afford an attorney.
• Assisting in the development of the City’s Municipal ID program—PHL City ID. The PHL City ID has been particularly helpful for immigrant residents and other marginalized communities who may lack all of the required documents for a state ID.
• Fully implementing the City’s Language Access Program, which requires that City departments communicate with people who have limited English proficiency. The program oversees language access policies and language services. In addition to bilingual staff, language access services offered by the City include telephonic interpretation, in-person interpretation, and translation of documents.

“It has been a great honor to serve the City of Philadelphia for over a decade—especially our immigrant communities as OIA Director for the past three and a half years,” said Enriquez. “I’ve witnessed how Philadelphians have stayed loyal to our founding principles as a city that embraces everyone, especially immigrants who choose to call this place home. I am proud of the courage we have shown in putting Philadelphia on the frontline in the national conversation about immigration policy. I am thrilled that, as part of my legacy, the Office of Immigrant Affairs is now a permanent part of City government, guaranteeing that immigrants will continue to be championed in our local government. I thank Mayor Kenney for providing me this opportunity, and also thank the many community members and stakeholders who trusted me enough to share their stories and to advocate for them. Their resiliency through these trying times provided me with strength and inspired me everyday. I am grateful for my experience with the Kenney administration, and I know that Philadelphia will continue to shine as a leader in the fight for the rights and protections of our immigrant communities.”

Amy Eusebio will assume the role of Director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs effective September 30, 2019. The hiring process for a new PHL City ID Program Director will begin in the weeks ahead.

Eusebio joined the City of Philadelphia in 2018 as Municipal ID Program Director and was responsible for launching the PHL City ID. She has more than 15 years of experience working in non-profit social services. Eusebio’s previous roles included a focus on ensuring the programs she was part of were culturally responsive to the immigrant communities they were intended to serve. She completed her undergraduate and graduate education in social work, earning a bachelor’s degree from Temple University and a master’s from the University of Pennsylvania.

“I am thrilled to take on this new challenge of leading Philadelphia’s Office of Immigrant Affairs,” said Eusebio. “As a first-generation American, Afro-Latina, and daughter of Dominican immigrants, this role is deeply personal to me. Not only have I spent my entire career working to advance communities of color, but I have also experienced many of the challenges these communities face first-hand. Through my work in social services, and with the PHL City ID program in particular, I have learned a great deal about the current challenges facing Philadelphia’s immigrant communities and am excited to work with our partners to forge solutions. I look forward to building on Miriam’s work and helping the Office of Immigrant Affairs continue to ensure that Philadelphians of all backgrounds are successfully included in the city’s civic, economic and cultural life.”

Housed within the Managing Director’s Office, the Office of Immigrant Affairs (OIA) was created to promote the well-being of Philadelphia’s immigrant communities. OIA does this by developing policies and programs, facilitating inclusion of immigrants in all elements of the city, and highlighting the essential role of immigrants in Philadelphia. The Office became a permanent part of City government following a change to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter in 2019.

Photos of Miriam Enriquez and Amy Eusebio are available upon request.