Seattle-Area Nonprofits Respond to Fear Caused by News Stories — and Rumors — in Local Immigrant Communities

Vanessa Gutierrez, co-deputy director of Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), reflected in an interview with the Emerald on what she's recently heard from her clients, many of whom are based in the South End. They report going to work, attending medical appointments, and getting their children to school.

"Besides that, a lot of people are telling us, 'I'm trying to stay home as much as possible out of fear of immigration enforcement,'" Gutierrez said, "'because we're seeing even lawful permanent residents being detained.'"

Fear. Staff with local organizations that assist immigrants are witnessing up close how that emotion impacts their clients' experiences. Nonprofits are doing what they can to respond.

NWIRP offers direct legal services, advocacy, and legal education for local immigrants, with a team of about 180 lawyers working on about 10,000 cases at this time. "Clients seeking assistance with their cases are expressing a major fear of interacting with the government," Gutierrez said. "Even those eligible for immigration benefits are skeptical of providing their information to the government — rightfully so, because they don't know how it's going to be used."

Michael Byun, executive director of Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS), a service provider created for immigrants and headquartered in the Rainier Valley, said the organization has seen a marked uptick in inquiries about naturalization processes. He recalled a recent conversation with people working at a credit union serving the Latine community. "[People in the immigrant community are] creating safety plans, asking, 'If I'm not able to access my account, can you make sure my children get access [to the funds]?'"

Negative rhetoric about immigrants, which reemerged early in Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, has exploded nine years later, particularly on the heels of recent media stories about people with lawful documented status being deported and detained, as well as an announcement that the IRS may be sharing address information with ICE about undocumented immigrants. Recent news reports have also featured dramatic footage of hundreds of immigrants being deported to El Salvador, a move the Trump administration has defended under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

Rufina Reyes, director of La Resistencia, a grassroots group supporting people in detention at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, said Trump is using these media stories to build a culture of fear. "I believe this administration likes that people are thinking he's doing what he promised so that he can continue to get support, votes," Reyes said.

According to NWIRP, the number of detainees at the Northwest ICE Processing Center exceeded 1,400 in mid-March, up from 700 to 800 in months past. At capacity, the detention center can house 1,575 people.

La Resistencia reported that many new detainees are transfers from other detention centers. Reyes noted that about 40 people were deported on a recent mid-March flight out of King County International Airport - Boeing Field, which is more than in past months.

Gutierrez said she's started to see ICE make harsher decisions on cases, chip away more at due process rights, and create more barriers for immigrants accessing benefits they're legally entitled to. "For example, with an asylum seeker, the ICE office could say, 'We're going to dismiss your deportation case and let you apply with the benefits agency, USCIS,' which [offers] a much less adversarial process," said Gutierrez. "Now there is zero exercise of discretion." Some clients are also being detained at their check-ins with ICE and in public.

Reyes said that local people on the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP), an "alternative" to detention that closely monitors people through curfews, monitoring devices, and intensive case management, are particularly vulnerable.

Green card holders are lawful permanent residents in the U.S. Some green card holders are deported if they have committed a deportable crime, which Gutierrez said are "very violent, serious crimes, drug offenses, [and some] felony assaults."

In January, Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, which mandates the Department of Homeland Security detain non-citizens arrested for larceny, burglary, theft, and shoplifting. This broadened the conditions for deporting green card holders. The act is named after a 22-year-old nursing student who was attacked and killed while jogging. Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan undocumented immigrant, was sentenced to life without parole last fall for the murder by a judge who heard and decided the case alone because Ibarra had waived his right to a trial by jury.

Earlier this month, Columbia University law student Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent U.S. resident with a green card and no criminal history, was detained in New York and is in deportation proceedings. Khalil was a lead negotiator in pro-Palestinian activities at Columbia University last year. The Trump administration initially announced earlier this month that they were deporting Khalil based on a rarely used statute that allows for the removal of people who are "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States."

Byun says ACRS staff work to respond steadily to community needs: "We're being cautious not to react immediately to [what we hear] in the media because we've seen that what's in the media can quickly change course [in] a matter of hours or overnight."

What's Working?

Representatives of organizations supporting local immigrant communities say one key tool has helped to face down challenges: the distribution of "Know Your Rights" materials for immigrants.

"People are recording interactions with ICE," Gutierrez said. "We've already been able [to use the] evidence and successfully [get] people out of detention when they were arrested in an illegal way, and their rights were violated. [It's] made a big difference when people understand and learn about their rights when interacting with immigration enforcement."

In addition to knowing your rights as a bystander or as an immigrant at home, at work, or on the street, Reyes recommended people be aware of their rights when they go to an ICE check-in: "Do not go alone, because it's a little bit less likely that they'll be detained. Do not sign any documents without having an attorney there, because they may be signing their own deportation. They also shouldn't answer questions that could be compromising. It's important to understand the intention of ICE: [It's to] arrest people and to deport people quicker."

Community members can call Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network's (WAISN) hotline (844-724-3737) to report ICE activity and connect with resources and information. Gutierrez encouraged immigrants, as well as friends and family members, to have the number with them. When someone calls, WAISN can deploy volunteers to verify the incident before sharing it on social media, to ensure "people have good information because there's just so much that gets shared now on the internet that's inaccurate," Gutierrez said.

Reyes addressed the need for the larger community to speak out in solidarity by contacting elected officials as well as ICE and GEO, the private firm operating the Northwest ICE Processing Center, to denounce the treatment of the local immigrant community.

Reyes encouraged people to organize, because La Resistencia and other groups can't support every person in need. "We can't wait for somebody to come save us," she said. "The people are going to save the people. This is a moment for us to organize and prepare."