January Newsletter
January 2, 2026 • 13 Tevet 5786
TASTE OF HONEY
This month, we’re featuring a poem from S., a student of JCIJ community member Merna Hecht. As you’ll see while reading I Am, it’s important to center and uplift the voices of impacted communities as they’re under attack. While Trump attacks Somali communities across the country, we can counter this narrative with the powerful voices of Somali communities and stand in solidarity with them. Show up powerfully for our immigrant neighbors in 2026!
I AM
I am a girl
who wears every color
of Hijab--pink, black, maroon,
whose eyes are dark,
whose skin is the color of almonds.
I am a hardworking person,
I am a proud Muslim,
I am from Somalia,
I am full Somali,
I am someone who cares about your pain,
emotion and culture.
I am a person who wishes
to graduate from university,
to study law and become a lawyer.
I am a hopeful person,
I am a person who wants to have a successful life,
I am a person who tries everything that's new to me,
I am a person who talks about great decisions.
I am person who believes in herself,
I am a person who thinks that the people of this earth
should hold each other’s hands to live in peace,
and they should care about their Mother Earth.
– S.H., age 17, high school student from Somalia living in King County. Photo and poem courtesy of Merna Ann Hecht, Founder/Teaching Artist for Refugee & Immigrant Poetry Projects.
ACTION ALERT
Join JCIJ’s Community Response List!
Here in Washington, we know we all belong. JCIJ is part of the statewide Washington for All Coalition, which is monitoring the situation and preparing responses to federal escalation. With this work, we’re making sure that we can remain your trusted resource and activate community to support our impacted neighbors.
We are planning ways to keep you up to date and mobilize the JCIJ community when the Trump administration turns to Washington State. This is where we need you: Help keep our state safe and join our Community Response List! Take action for emergent and urgent needs to support immigrants by filling out this form and sharing your communication preferences.
JCIJ EVENTS
Take Action for Immigrant Justice: JCIJ Advocacy Training
Wednesday, January 14, 2026 | 6:30-8:00 PM | Virtual on Zoom
Join the Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice for our 4th annual Take Action for Immigrant Justice: JCIJ Advocacy Training during Legislative Session. During this training, we will: Hear about the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network & JCIJ’s legislative priorities; create an action plan for how to take impactful action this legislative session; and come together with fellow advocates for immigrant justice! This is a free virtual event.
SAVE THE DATE:
JCIJ’s Annual Dinner in Community
Sunday, May 3, 2026 | Doors open at 5:30 PM
Save the date for our annual Dinner in Community! We’ll gather on Sunday, May 3, 2026, in Seattle to celebrate the JCIJ community and grow our impact. Registration coming soon!
Order your JCIJ shirt today to wear when advocating, volunteering, or being in community. If you're planning to come to WAISN's Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Day (IRAD) in Olympia on January 22, join us in wearing a matching JCIJ shirt. Or support JCIJ by having custom merch! T-Shirts are unisex and fair trade. T-shirts will cost $36 per shirt and can be mailed to you or delivered in-person at WAISN's Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Day on January 22. Please place your order by Tuesday, 1/6/2026 at 5pm PT.
Support asylum application and work permit fees for the Riverton Park United Methodist Church Legal Clinic
In the past, it was free for asylum applicants to apply for a work permit. Now it costs $550–an insurmountable amount to meet without working. There is also a new $100 fee for filing and renewing asylum applications per family member, which was free until recently.
Currently, there is no long-term funding solution to help our immigrant community overcome these unjust obstacles. Riverton Park United Methodist Church (RPUMC) runs free legal clinics that prepare asylum and work permit applications for immigrant community members, and they need support to help asylum seekers with application fees. Support their campaign for our immigrant neighbors to obtain the work permits that were previously free!
COMMUNITY EVENTS
WAISN Community Advocacy Meeting
January 6, 2026 | 6:00-7:30 PM | Zoom
Register for WAISN’s January Community Advocacy Meeting so you can be prepared to support their (and JCIJ’s!) legislative priorities this session. If you are joining WAISN for Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Day (IRAD), this will be an important session so you can be prepared for legislative meetings.
Torah for Our Time
Thursdays, January - June | 12:00-1:30 PM
Join Rabbi Ronit Tsadok, Director of Project Kavod at Jewish Family Service, for monthly, stand-alone learning opportunities that draw on wisdom and spiritual tools. Project Kavod at JFS connects our critical work to the core Jewish values that inspire and guide our mission. All members of the Jewish community are warmly invited to participate. A kosher, vegetarian lunch will be provided.
Applications are now open for WAISN’s Thriving Communities Giving Program! The Thriving Communities Giving Program is WAISN’s bold offering for those ready to reimagine the role of donors and resource mobilizers committed to immigrant justice.
VOLUNTEER
Help JCIJ with research projects!
JCIJ is working on a new project to support our accompaniment program, and we’re seeking volunteers to help gather data! Volunteers will need to be comfortable with conducting research on the internet and contacting offices via phone and email. Let us know if you’re interested in supporting this project by emailing team@jewishcoalition.org!
JCIJ supports free legal clinics!
Volunteer at a monthly day-long Asylum Clinic. This clinic is held on weekends. We are seeking immigration lawyers or paralegals; non-immigration lawyers and paralegals; and people who have sufficient fluency in Spanish, Lingala, French, Haitian-Creole or Portuguese to serve as interpreters.
Adopt a Day Labor Corner | The National Day Laborer Organizing Network
The National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) is calling on all allies to Adopt a Day Labor Corner in your local community. If you are not at risk of deportation, NDLON asks you to consider taking action today. Adopt a Day Labor Corner asks you to go where day laborers congregate–like big box home improvement stores–where immigrant day laborers are at extreme risk of harassment and arrest. Choose a location convenient to you and commit to showing up regularly. Fill out the form on NDLON’s website to find out more and get connected to people in our local communities who have already adopted a corner.
RESOURCES
NWIRP Resources | Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
Informational videos and PowerPoint slideshows from NWIRP and Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs (OIRA) in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese for asylum seekers to help navigate the immigration court and asylum process.
Know Your Rights Resources - When the government arrests or tries to arrest someone, or when a government official or police officer "just wants to talk," every person in the United States has certain basic rights. These rights apply to everyone, regardless of citizenship - and regardless of who is President.
If someone you know is detained at the Detention Center in Tacoma, call NWIRP at 253-383-0519.
Family Safety Plans by Legal Counsel for Youth and Children (LCYC)
Resources for Deportation Defense | Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network
Know Your Rights flyers and information in English, Spanish, French, Lingala, Portuguese, and Somali.
Support WAISN’s Fair Fight Bond Fund.
Know Your Rights App
This app developed by the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC) is in many languages and has the ability to read your rights out loud to an ICE or law enforcement agent and send a message to an emergency contact.
Know someone who wants to be accompanied to their immigration appointment or hearing?
Contact the WAISN Hotline at 1-844-724-3737, Monday-Friday from 6am-6pm, and request accompaniment. Note: Please give as much lead time as possible. The Jewish Coalition will dispatch trained accompaniment volunteers.
View flyers in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Lingala here.
Printable Accompaniment Flyers in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Lingala.
Know someone who needs an immigration lawyer or who has been detained?
LOCAL NEWS
Seattle-area Somali community on edge after Trump lashes out | Seattle Times
Trump badmouthed Somalis again during a White House speech last week, broadly blaming the community for fraud crimes in Minnesota, and Seattle-area community members are now reporting more activity by immigration officers.
Somali Americans like me deserve dignity, not Trump’s dehumanizing language | Seattle Times
Immigration arrests in WA surged in recent months | Washington State Standard
More and more of those arrested don’t have criminal records, according to new data.
ICE posting suggests lower standards for WA detention center contract | Seattle Times
After remaining mum for months about a new contract for the regional immigrant detention center in Tacoma, the Trump administration has posted a notice that appears to offer a first look at the facility’s future operations. One standout feature: lower standards than those that currently apply to the Northwest ICE Processing Center.
'Alien.' 'Ice pick-up.' 'immigration violation.' | RANGE Media
For the first six months of 2025, federal and out-of-state law enforcement agencies across the country searched Spokane County Flock cameras, in many cases explicitly using the technology to hunt down undocumented immigrants. More than 1,000 immigration searches were made on Spokane County Flock cameras this year.
Under Trump, Northwest immigration detainees are traveling farther from families, legal help | KUOW
The Trump administration has sent five times more people at least 1,000 miles compared to the last year of former President Joe Biden’s term.
Washington sues over Trump administration’s unlawful new $100K fee for H-1B visa | WA Office of the Attorney General
Attorney General Nick Brown on Friday joined a coalition of 20 states in suing the Trump administration over its unlawful policy imposing a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions.
Anticipating early 2026 opening, Oregon seeks to block potential Newport ICE facility | Washington State Standard
Suspecting the federal government plans to open a large-scale Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Newport’s airport early next year, the state of Oregon asked a federal judge to block construction.
FEDERAL NEWS
Year 1 of Trump’s Immigration Crackdown: ICE Raids, Deportations and Protests | New York Times
An interactive article giving an overview of the Trump administration's actions and community responses around immigration enforcement; stories from impacted communities; and public opinions.
Trump administration pushes asylum seekers to apply in other countries | New York Times
In immigration courts, U.S. lawyers have filed thousands of requests to dismiss asylum cases and force people to pursue asylum elsewhere.
Immigration Agents Have Often Grabbed and Mistreated Citizens, Congressional Investigators Find | ProPublica
Prompted by ProPublica’s reporting, an investigation by Senate Democrats documented the experiences of nearly two dozen citizens wrongly detained by immigration agents, contradicting the Trump administration’s claims that it only detains immigrants.
Trump canceled temporary legal status for more than 1.5 million immigrants in 2026 | Washington State Standard
Since Inauguration Day, more than 1.5 million immigrants have either lost or will lose their temporary legal status, including their work authorizations and deportation protections, due to President Donald Trump’s aggressive revocation of legal immigration.
They Came to the U.S. Legally. Then Trump Stripped Their Status Away. | ProPublica
“Status: Venezuelan,” a new documentary from ProPublica filmmaker Mauricio Rodríguez Pons, follows a family trying to hold on to their legal status as the second Trump administration targets Venezuelans amid an immigration crackdown.
Federal Judge Blocks Trump Move to Revoke Deportation Protection for Thousands of Migrants | New York Times
The ruling found that the administration’s cancellation of the protections for migrants from Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua was illegal.
DOJ sues Illinois' governor over laws protecting immigrants at courthouses and hospitals | Associated Press
At issue are laws Pritzker signed earlier this month that ban civil arrests at and around courthouses statewide and require hospitals, day care centers and public universities to have procedures for handling civil immigration operations and protecting personal information.
Trump Administration Aims to Strip More Foreign-Born Americans of Citizenship | New York Times
The Trump administration plans to ramp up efforts to strip some naturalized Americans of their citizenship, according to internal guidance obtained by The New York Times, marking an aggressive new phase in President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Wrenching Pain, a Severe Infection: An ICE Detainee Is Ordered Released | New York Times
A judge blamed “deliberate indifference” for the illness of a man held by immigration officials. Across the country, several courts have blasted conditions in U.S. facilities.
Judge Rules Trump Exceeded Authority by Holding Deportees at Guantánamo | New York Times
Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan stopped short of ordering the shuttering of the detention operation. But a lawyer for the challengers said they would soon seek a closure order.
SONGS IN THE KEY OF JCIJ
A few songs for hope and joy curated by Dina Burstein
Mercedes Sosa - Gracias A La Vida ~ Mercedes Sosa was an Argentine singer often called the conscience of Latin America. This beautiful song was written by Chilean signer-songwriter Violetta Parra.
We Are the Ones ~ by Sweet Honey in the Rock, the powerful all female, African American a cappella ensemble.
Kelmti Horra (My Word Is Free) ~ EMEL, or Emel Mathlouthi, a Tunisian-American singer-songwriter, rose to fame with this protest song, which became an anthem for the Tunisian revolution and the Arab Spring.
Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key ~ by Billy Bragg, English singer, songwriter and political activist.
Be in touch with the Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice NW
at team@jewishcoalition.org and learn more at jewishcoalition.org.
Follow JCIJ on Facebook and Instagram.
Donate to build Jewish Coalition’s advocacy, accompaniment and community engagement.
Volunteer for or learn more about accompaniment, legal support, observing ICE flights, tutoring, interpreting, crafting JCIJ communications, and supporting immigrant-led partners.