There are a number of immigrant issues facing our state and nation at any one time. NWIRP engages directly in advocacy work, and we encourage those who support immigrant rights to stay informed and voice opinions to local, state and federal leaders.
Current Advocacy Efforts
Secure Communities / Immigration Detainers
Check out NWIRP's announcement from April 2012 about the statewide activation of Secure Communities in Washington and related media coverage. We are currently asking community members in King County to contact their county councilmembers to ask them to change the County's current policy of accepting all of ICE's detainer requests.
Here's the story: Secure Communities and other ICE ACCESS programs
only work because local jurisdictions like King County choose to honor
all ICE holds. ICE holds, also known as immigration detainers, are the
lynchpin of programs like SComm. An ICE hold is a request from ICE to
the King County Jail to hold a community member in the jail's custody
for 48 hours longer than it otherwise would. The jail holds community
members so ICE can pick them up. ICE holds are not mandatory and King
County is not legally required to comply with them.
What can you do? King County has a decision to make. Will it protect our county's
residents or will it choose to go along with S-Comm and be complicit in
tearing apart our families? Tell the King County Council to keep the
County out of immigration enforcement. Contact your council member, and
ask them to support a policy restricting ICE holds.
Sample Letter to your Council Member:
Dear [Council Member],
I am deeply concerned that King County is assisting with immigration enforcement efforts by accepting immigration detainer requests from ICE. We should not be using county resources for immigration enforcement. The current practice is leading to families being torn apart and is making all of us less safe. Please support a policy that will restrict the King County jail from voluntarily complying with ICE holds. Immigration enforcement is not the county's job.
Contact your council member today! Find your council member,and fill in your home address on the right.
Make sure to cc. Dow Constantine, the King County Executive, in your message:
E-mail: kcexec@kingcounty.gov
287(g), and Secure Communities subverts the criminal justice system,
erodes due process and makes us less safe" - A flyer breaking down ICE ACCESS programs and their negative impact on the community. (Immigrant Justice Center)
Turning the Tide Campaign - A Collective National Effort confronting criminalization and forced separation of immigrant families.
Secure Communities: A Fact Sheet (Immigration Policy Center)
Yale Law School Challenges Legality/Constitutionalism of Secure Communities: "YLS takes on Secure Communities" and "Connecticut adopts protocols for dealing with ICE's Secure Communities program" (West Hartford News)
"Cook County, Illinois, Circumvents Secure Communities and Protects its Residents" - See how Cook County, Illinois, beat SComm. (Physicians for Human Rights)
"Over 80 Civil Rights Organizations Call on FBI to End Facilitation of ICE's Secure Communities Deportation Program" (Uncoverthetruth.org)
Interfaith Immigration Coalition - A compassionate campaign against Secure Communities and other immigration related injustices through a national partnership of faith-based organizations working for immigration reform and other fair and humane immigration policies.
"Standing on the Side of Love" - A public advocacy campaign sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association who seek to harness love's power to stop oppression. Includes a blog and action from around the nation.
New Report Faults Immigration Program for Wrongful Arrests, Detentions - More bad news about Secure Communities. (Berkley School of Law)
"Secure Communities by the Numbers: An analysis of demographics and due process" - A report exposing the violations of the rights of both citizens and non-citizens alike by the Secure Communities program. (Warren Institute, Berkley School of Law)
DeportationNation.org - Information from around the web regarding Secure Communities and Immigrant Criminalization.
"Lost In Detention" Frontline and the Investigative Reporting Workshop examines President Obama's administration's controversial get-tough immigration policy through this 54 minute documentary. (PBS)
Interested in getting more involved in immigrant rights?
The American Immigration Law Association (AILA) provides detailed information on how to be an advocate for immigrant rights. NWIRP partners closely with AILA, a national association of over 10,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law. AILA is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that provides its members with continuing legal education, information, professional services, and expertise.