Nevada landed on a federal list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” last week despite having no prohibitions on officials cooperating with immigration enforcement agents, stirring confusion about what exactly triggered the designation. 

The state does, however, have an Office for New Americans (ONA) intended to help integrate “new and aspiring Americans.” Although not typically seen as a “sanctuary” policy — a term that has no legal definition — the Department of Justice (DOJ) deemed having Immigrant Community Affairs Offices as a qualifying characteristic for a sanctuary state. 

In its announcement, the DOJ said it was targeting “dedicated offices to engage and advise illegal alien communities on evading federal law enforcement officers.” Asked by The Nevada Independent about the reason for the label, the DOJ simply provided the link to the press release.

The stakes of a sanctuary designation could be high in Nevada, which has one of the largest shares of undocumented people in the country. A recent executive order called for executive agencies to "pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures to end these violations and bring such jurisdictions into compliance with the laws of the United States."

Still, it’s unclear if the ONA is the reason for the label. Gov. Joe Lombardo’s office has previously pushed back against the sanctuary designation, and last Tuesday, Lombardo posted on X that “Nevada is not a sanctuary state” and “the state has repeatedly reached out to the Department of Justice for clarification on its designation and looks forward to their timely response, so the state can ensure future cooperation between Nevada and the administration.” 

Several other states with ONAs are on the sanctuary list, such as New York and Colorado, but not all. Nevada was one of the two states led by a Republican governor that landed on it. 

Neither Lombardo’s office nor the Office for New Americans immediately responded to requests for comment about whether the office does — or should — figure into the designation. 

What does the Office for New Americans do? 

Created in 2019 under Democratic former Gov. Steve Sisolak through SB538, the Office for New Americans is one of the newest state agencies in Nevada.  

Relative to other state offices, it has remained small, with four full-time staff members, and manages a handful of initiatives, such as supporting the development of language access plans across state government and other supportive services for people with limited English proficiency, per a legislative budget presentation.

“The intent was to kind of create something at the state level that would provide resources for new immigrants,” said former state Sen. Mo Denis (D-Las Vegas), who pushed for the office’s creation. “So, if somebody came from another country and they were a doctor there, we help them become a doctor here, so that they don't end up just driving taxis.”

Nevada’s ONA arose as other immigrant affairs offices began to pop up in the mid-2010s from Michigan to New York. Denis had previously brought a bill to establish the office in 2017, but it died after facing criticism that it could help people in the country illegally. 

The office’s first director, Amaka Ozobia, contended in a 2020 interview with The Indy that many circumstances can affect a person’s legal status and “we’re not in a position to be draconian or looking at one's status.” She further added there needs to be ways for people — regardless of status — to navigate complicated systems that individuals might not otherwise understand. From her previous work as an asylum officer, Ozobia said a lot of asylees are “released into the community” to fend for themselves.

That framing was echoed by Denis, who said during a 2019 hearing that “my intent is for the Office for New Americans to provide assistance to both documented and undocumented immigrants who find their way to Nevada.”

Because it is an executive agency, Denis said the priorities of the office are likely to shift from administration to administration. During the tail end of Sisolak’s term, the office helped temporary protected status recipients who had issues obtaining their Real ID. During Republican Lombardo’s term, the office partnered with a right-leaning Hispanic advocacy group, the LIBRE Initiative, to provide English language classes to medical professionals and other workers.

In his announcement of the office’s current director, Iris Ramos, Lombardo called the office “important.” Ramos has previously said her focus is on helping immigrants achieve the “American dream” and would like to place a particular emphasis on small business and entrepreneurship resources, especially given that in Las Vegas, immigrants account for about 30 percent of business owners as of 2020.

“With a lot of all the immigration stuff going on right now, it's become a political thing, but the fact is we're still able to provide some resources and that is a good thing,” Denis said in an interview. 

What can be done? 

Although the DOJ has not clarified the specific reason for Nevada being on the list, some have suggested the office is part of the justification. 

Victor Joecks, a conservative columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, suggested on X last week that the office helps undocumented individuals evade law enforcement, writing, “I wonder if the Nevada Governor's Office for New Americans has drawn the federal government's ire.” 

When asked at a press conference if the office could have been part of the reason, Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley said, “I don't think it takes much provocation to be arbitrarily listed as a sanctuary city” and that “it may not have been anything that the state of Nevada did.”  

In recent days, the Office for New Americans has also taken down a column on its website for “legal resources” to help immigrants, including a link to the UNLV Immigration Clinic, which helps defend people facing deportation. Joecks called attention to that listing on ONA’s website.

The UNLV Immigration Clinic’s director, Michael Kagan, said ONA did not contact the clinic about the change but that they “have always been happy to work with ONA and that has not changed.”

But if it turns out that the Office for New Americans is the reason for the designation, there is little that can be immediately done. The office is codified in statute, meaning it cannot be dismantled without the approval of the Legislature first. This past session, the office had slightly over $1 million in funding approved for the next two-year budget cycle. 

“I don't see anything immediately changing,” Denis said.