Mayor's office celebrates 10 years of aiding immigrant community's integration and growth

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs is celebrating 10 years of providing the city's newest migrant residents with vital resources as they work to overcome language barriers in a new place. 

The founder and director of the city office known as "Mima", was once an immigrant herself before it inspired the work she now does on behalf of thousands of new immigrants in Baltimore City. 

"The mission of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs is to promote the economic growth, community well-being and the integration of the 50,000 foreign-born individuals currently living in our city," Catalina Lima, "Mima", Director of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs said. 

In Baltimore City immigration is a good thing, it fills jobs and gives opportunity for foreign born individuals to start a new life and contribute to the success of the city. 

"Our job is to work with city agencies to make sure they are addressing the needs, overcoming barriers and providing opportunities for the communities who are choosing Baltimore as a place to live," Lima said. 

Lima was born in Ecuador and immigrated to Baltimore County in 2006. Thanks to her aunt and educational support at Towson University, she landed an internship with the mayor's office before she was eventually hired by then, council president and eventual mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, which led to the creation of the office she now leads. 

"My journey was perhaps very similar to many of the folks that come here…I did not speak English. I also had unstable immigration status meaning I had a tourist visa, and I needed to decide what I wanted to do," Lima said.

During 10 years of public service through the mayor's office she met new immigrants where they were when they first arrived in Charm City to understand the system as they get on their feet.  For Lima, she carries inspiration from her parents to show why Latinx representation is so important.

"My mother's a lawyer, my father is a professional and so you aspire to do anything when you see people that look like you in different positions and professional settings," she explained. 

Her hope now is that despite the political noise around immigration, that fellow Baltimoreans and its newest residents embrace one another through opportunity and inclusion. 

"To start a new life with better economic and social opportunities, it happened 400 years ago, and it continues to happen till this day," she said.   

If you or someone you know is in need of services or support from the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs you can head to their website for more information.