Since the President began his second term last Monday, it has been a very long week of attacks and announcements eroding protections for many in our communities, including immigrant communities. We have seen executive orders taking aim at our constitutional rights; increased ICE presence at workplaces, businesses, and gathering places across the country; our Congressional leaders voting for harmful legislation like the Laken Riley Act which erodes the right to fundamental due process; a recently announced federal funding freeze which impacts many critical services and may significantly impact our ability to do work; and our staff has started to receive abusive messages to their phones as well as on NWIRP’s social media pages.
Yet in the midst of these attacks, our community is strong. Over this same period, we’ve gathered with local leaders, community partners, and courageous supporters and client community members at press conferences, rallies, marches, and Know Your Rights presentations. We’ve received hundreds of messages of support from people like you who share our values and are ready to walk alongside our client communities and fight back. And we’ve been reminded that despite the darkness we face, Washington State is steadfast in its commitment to immigrants and their families. Now let’s get to work.
Project ANAR Webinar – Today, Tuesday January 28th at 5pm PST (Dari and Pashto interpretation available)
Audience: Immigrants and their loved ones
Attorneys will discuss what they know so far about the new administration’s executive orders and immigration policy changes, and reiterate ways to empower ourselves.
Click here to register
Webinar with LCYC – Wednesday, February 5th from 6-7:30pm PST
Audience: Immigrants and their loved ones.
Legal Counsel for Youth and Children and Northwest Immigrant Rights Project are partnering to host trainings and answer questions about the Immigrant Safety Plan, a community resource to help parents plan for the care of their child(ren) (with or without status) in the event that a parent is unable to care for their child, particularly if the parent is detained or deported.
Click here to register for the safety planning session
NWIRP Immigration 101 for Service Providers: Latest Immigration Updates – Monday, February 24th from Noon-1:30pm PST
Audience: Service providers who work with immigrant community members.
We’ll cover basic immigration 101 information but mostly focus on the latest updates and impacts from the current administration. This webinar will have computer generated captions in English with many other languages available.
Click here to register for the training
Virtual Parenting Plan and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Classification Training for Attorneys – Wednesday, February 26th at noon
Audience: Attorneys who would like to learn more about immigration law or family law.
This 2-hour training is designed for attorneys who are new to family law and/or immigration law, or who may have experience with one and need training in the other. We hope this training will be especially helpful for attorneys interested in taking on pro bono parenting plan cases. This training may also benefit immigration attorneys who practice in state court or provide technical assistance to pro bono attorneys on parenting plan cases. We are seeking CLE certification for this training (1.75 Law & Legal Procedures and 0.25 Ethics).
Click here to register for the training
NWIRP Know Your Rights Training – Thursday, February 27th from 5-6:30pm PST
Audience: Immigrants, their loved ones, and supporters
Our staff will be hosting this Know Your Rights presentation covering basic information and updates on recent changes. We will have computer-generated captions in English and in many other languages.
Click here to register for this training
North Central Washington Know Your Rights Presentations in Spanish – Various Dates in February and March
Audience: Immigrants, their loved ones, and the community.
Our staff will be hosting Know Your Rights presentations in Spanish for community members at the following public libraries. Please visit each library’s website for more information.
Peshastin Public Library 2/22/25 at 2:00 PM
Royal City Library 2/26/25 at 4:30 PM
Quincy Library 3/03/25 at 5:30 PM
Cashmere Library 3/11/25 at 6:00 PM
Brewster Library 3/12/25 at 6:00 PM
Chelan Library 3/20/25 at 5:00 PM
Immigration Safety Plan Training – Free Recording
Audience: Immigrants, their loved ones, and supporters.
Earlier this month, NWIRP and our partners at LCYC recorded a training on how to build an immigration safety plan for you and your loved ones.
Click here to watch the training
Immigrant Justice Coalition Press Conference – Free Recording
Audience: Immigrants, their loved ones, and supporters.
NWIRP and a coalition of immigrant rights and human rights organizations recorded a press conference outlining our shared commitment to the immigrant community during this pivotal time.
Click here to watch the press conference
Advisory for Nonprofit Organizations and Social Service Providers Regarding Immigration Enforcement
We have received a number of questions from nonprofit partners, social services providers and other agencies about how they can protect their clients if immigration enforcement agents come to their building/facility or otherwise try to apprehend their clients or community members present at their building/facility. We hope the following information addresses those questions.
Know Your Rights Resources
We have compiled several resources to help you understand your rights when interacting with various law enforcement officials and officers. It is important to be aware of your rights and the rights of fellow community members.
1-844-RAID-REP from WAISN
This hotline (1-800-RAID-REP) is a key resource for helping community members report ICE activity in their communities. Calling it triggers efforts by rapid-response volunteers to verify and document the raid or other situations. If ICE activity can be verified, rapid responders are dispatched to the scene to assist with community self-defense against deportations. The hotline also serves to connect family members who have a loved one detained to services and to dispense Know Your Rights information.
Stronger Together Toolkit
This toolkit is here to help us come together, rally resources, and build solidarity to drive real action for immigrant justice. It’s packed with ways to support, connect with, and sustain the incredible work happening across our network. Together, we can make sure no one is left behind and that every part of our movement has what it needs to thrive. While it’s designed to kick off during inauguration week, this is a resource we can lean on well beyond that moment. Let’s use it to fuel our collective power!
NWIRP Files Class-Action Litigation Against Trump’s Unconstitutional Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship
Last Friday, we filed a class action lawsuit challenging an Executive Order issued by President Donald Trump that purports to unilaterally do away with the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause, which guarantees birthright citizenship. Our plaintiffs are three expecting mothers who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. By the terms of the order—directly contrary to the plain language of the Fourteenth Amendment—their children will be considered without status in this country. They seek to represent a class of similarly situated parents and their children.
Earlier in the week, the State of Washington, along with three other states, filed their own lawsuit challenging the Executive Order, and requested a temporary restraining order to stop the federal government from moving forward. Judge Coughenour granted the order, temporarily halting the Executive Order.
Yesterday, the Court consolidated NWIRP’s lawsuit with the State of Washington’s lawsuit, and ordered that NWIRP appear with its plaintiffs for arguments alongside the State of Washington next Thursday, February 6, 2025, after which the Court will decide whether to extend its order halting the Executive Order. In arguing that the President does not have the authority to rewrite the Constitution we will have the opportunity to ensure the Court considers the catastrophic impact this would have on our clients and similarly situated community members in Washington State.
NWIRP Sues Adams County Sheriff’s Office for Breaking State Law
Earlier this month, we filed a lawsuit against the Adams County Sheriffs Department and others for violating our client’s civil rights and state law. In 2023, Adams County Sheriff’s Office employees held our client solely at the request of federal immigration officials to enforce civil immigration law. We are also challenging Adams County’s policy and practice of violating the state’s Keep Washington Working law, which was enacted in 2019 to safeguard against improper use of state and local law enforcement in civil immigration matters. This case is a reminder that local law enforcement officers do not have the authority to enforce civil immigration laws, regardless of changes in presidential administration or political rhetoric. State law makes clear that local law enforcement must not use their limited resources to do the work that corresponds to the federal government. Our client’s arrest plainly violated state and federal law. A local police officer or sheriff’s office is no more authorized to investigate or arrest someone based on suspected immigration status than they are to investigate or arrest someone for failure to properly file a tax return.
Tacoma ICE Detention Facility Ordered to Pay Detained Workers Washington’s Minimum Wage, $23 Million in Arrears
On January 16th, a federal appeals court ruled that people held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center must be paid the state’s minimum wage for doing any work at the facility. The victory is many years in the making, stemming from a 2017 lawsuit filed by the Washington Attorney General’s office and a class of people detained in Tacoma. The decision from the Ninth Circuit held that “GEO is a private for-profit employer” that operates the detention center “for its shareholders’ economic gain,” and as such there is nothing that prevents them from paying Washington’s minimum wage to its civil detainees who perform work for the benefit of GEO.
Court Rules Cruel Immigration Policy (Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program or CARRP) is Unlawful
On January 17th, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled that the federal government’s Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program (CARRP) is “arbitrary and capricious,” and violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
Notably, NWIRP joined with ACLU and Perkins Coie in filing this lawsuit the first week of Trump’s first administration. Eight years later, the district court granted summary judgment on behalf of our plaintiffs. The lawsuit is a nationwide class action on behalf of thousands of lawful permanent residents who have been subjected to CARRP, a secret screening program. CARRP is a discriminatory policy that instructs immigration officers to label some people applying for immigration benefits – like green cards or citizenship – as “national security concerns.” According to CARRP, someone can be branded as a “national security concern” based on innocuous characteristics, like speaking another language or having an advanced technical degree. Once USCIS decides a person is a “national security concern,” it bends over backwards to find a way to reject their application. People in CARRP have to endure extended processing delays and much higher denial rates, which can tear apart their personal and professional lives.
In its decision, the court recognized that, despite years of litigation, the federal government has never pointed to any evidence explaining its decision to create CARRP. The decision is a huge step forward in vindicating the rights of thousands of people with lawful status who are subjected to arbitrary and unlawful delays that wreak havoc on their lives.
We’re joining our partners at Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Day (IRAD) in Olympia!
On Thursday, we’re joining Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network and its membership for IRAD in Olympia to ask our legislators to take action and continue their commitment to protect our immigrant communities. Join us!
Thank you so much for your shared commitment to justice for all people in Washington State. Together, we can make it through this difficult time and emerge stronger than ever for our community.
With gratitude,
Malou Chávez (she/her/ella)
Executive Director
P.S. Please follow us on social media to stay informed on the latest immigration news, resources, and more. Links to our social media accounts are available below.
