September Newsletter
September 1, 2025 • 8 Elul 5785
TASTE OF HONEY
On this Labor Day, we express our gratitude for the labor of workers - especially the labor of immigrant workers including farmworkers - who face exploitation including low wages, unsafe conditions working in extreme weather conditions, and under threats of deportation.
We lift up the posts (click to see the full series) of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network from Farmworkers Appreciation Day, seeing the power and agency of laborers to organize, cultivate, and build futures rooted in dignity and justice.
As allies, we reject narratives that reduce immigrant communities to economic impacts or benefits and know that our futures and well-being are interconnected today and every day. Advocating for worker rights and immigrant rights benefits all of us.
TAKE ACTION
Send a Letter to You Representatives
Within 48 hours hundreds of individuals and elected officials came together with organizations from across Washington state including the Jewish Coalition to protest the detention of Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry, a disabled U.S. Veteran who has lived in the United States for 25 years.
He was arrested by ICE during his citizenship interview in Tukwila on August 22nd and continues to be held in solitary confinement at the Northwest Detention Center without access to his medication. Zahid uses a wheelchair because of injuries that he sustained in the National Guard. His wife, Melissa, 2 year old and 8-month-old are fighting for his release.
His arrest shows just how much DHS and ICE have changed their tactics in the last year. Arrests in immigration hearings have historically been incredibly rare, but under new DHS rules, more and more people are at risk. As Melissa Chaudhry said in an interview with KUOW, “This is a little, teeny, tiny individual situation that is a reflection of what is at stake for us as a nation.”
Zahid has been organizing in Washington State and has been a part of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network’s Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Day for many years (see front row center in photo above).
Protect Our Data and Our Communities
A local Seattle news station reported that a man was arrested because the state of Washington provided his license plate number to ICE. This is now the third time that local media has discovered state agencies are giving our data to the Trump administration to deport and disappear our neighbors.
Our state officials must do more to protect our communities. Click here to send a letter to your state legislators. Ask them to call on the governor to safeguard our data.
EVENTS
JCIJ’s Annual Summer Gathering
Sunday, September 7 at 10:30 AM
Save the date and join us for the Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice's 3rd annual Summer Gathering to come together in community! JCIJ's Summer Gathering will take place at a Seattle park on Sunday, September 7th at 10:30am. Please register for location; tickets are free.
Together we can grow an even stronger community of JCIJ advocates, action takers, and accompaniment volunteers. Come learn more about how to get involved or deepen your engagement in accompaniment and advocacy over brunch and music. There will also be time for chatting ~ schmoozing (Yiddish) or to echar lashon (Ladino)!
Register for JCIJ's In-Person Accompaniment Training for New Volunteers
Sunday, October 26th @ 2:00-5:30PM
Meet this moment as an ally and show solidarity by getting trained to accompany immigrant community members to high stakes immigration appointments and hearings.
Tickets are $18 to attend, which helps defray the costs of event expenses and materials. Registration is required. We will send you the in-person location in North Seattle closer to the date of the training.
Be a part of deportation defense efforts and show solidarity with immigrant community members by getting trained to accompany neighbors to immigration court hearings, ICE check-ins, biometrics, and ankle monitor appointments. Training will be participatory and practical and include what to do if the community member is detained.
Is this training right for you? Accompaniments happen between Monday-Friday 8am-5pm and can last several hours, especially if driving someone to/from their appointment or hearing. If you work a 9am-5pm job, accompaniment unfortunately would not be the right volunteer role for you, but scroll down and stay in touch for other volunteer opportunities! If you have questions about this training, feel free to contact us at team@jewishcoalition.org.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Jewish Family Service - Torah for Tumultuous Times
Sept. 11, Oct. 9, Nov. 13, Dec. 11 at 12:00-1:30 PM
WAISN Know Your Rights with ICE Training | August 14
Do you know what to do if ICE comes to your home or workplace? Do you know what a judicial warrant looks like? Learn more at WAISN’s upcoming training.
Church Council of Greater Seattle Presents The Detention Lottery: An Immersive Theater Experience
Sunday, September 7 at 4:00 PM
Join the Church Council of Greater Seattle on Sunday, September 7 at 4 PM (doors open at 3:30 PM) at Seattle First UMC for a one-hour production of The Detention Lottery to bring awareness to the realities of migrant detention in our country; the hidden costs of detaining migrants to our democracy and to our communities; and the effect on millions of US citizens and permanent residents, including millions of children, of our immigration enforcement system. Following the production there will be a 45-minute talk back.
Ticket proceeds will benefit the Church Council’s Fondo de Grupo.
LCYC (Legal Council for Youth and Children) - Immigrant Safety Planning
Sept. 12 at 12:00 PM & Sept. 16 at 4:30 PM
Know your rights: Develop an Immigrant Safety Plan for Youth and Children. Presentations will be in Spanish - share widely with Spanish speakers!
Casa Latina’s Annual Fundraiser: Rhythms of Resilience | October 4
Join JCIJ at Casa Latina’s Rhythms of Resilience Gala on Saturday, October 4, 2025, at the Hilton Motif in Downtown Seattle for an evening of community, music, and joy.
Hear powerful stories, live music, and meaningful connections. And of course, no Casa Latina gala would be complete without a fun dance afterparty!
Early bird tickets are available for $170 through September 2.
MEETING THIS MOMENT
Read the latest report from the UW Center for Human Rights: tinyurl.com/WAdisappearances.
The latest report finds evidence of greater local involvement in such cases than previously known; including cases where people with Washington state ties were illegally expelled to a notorious El Salvador prison or transferred to U.S. military detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
➡Seven migrant Washingtonians who were expelled by ICE to El Salvador’s notorious megaprison CECOT, in violation of a federal court order, where they were likely subjected to torture and other forms of abuse;
➡Six Washingtonians who were sent by ICE to U.S. military detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, without access to counsel or information to their families;
➡One Washingtonian who was expelled by ICE to South Sudan, a country where he has no personal ties, following attempts to remove him in violation of a federal court order;
➡Two families, including U.S. citizen children, who were held incommunicado in Customs and Border Protection facilities for weeks in Washington state.
While primary responsibility for these abuses rests on the U.S. federal government, the report also documents the involvement of local public and private institutions in these practices, some to a greater extent than previously known. These include:
➡Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and King County International Airport (Boeing Field), both of which provide the infrastructure through which deportations happen daily;
➡Washington State’s Department of Corrections, which collaborates with ICE in the detention of migrants completing a prison sentence;
➡Signature Aviation, a private company supporting private ICE charter flights at King County International Airport;
➡and the Washington State Investment Board (WSIB), which invests the retirement funds of public employees in GEO Group, as well as the firms that own Signature Aviation.
VOLUNTEER
JCIJ supports free legal clinics!
A monthly day-long Asylum Clinic for past and current residents of Riverton Park United Methodist Church. 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. Volunteer at tinyurl.com/jcijvolunteer.
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 Planning Webinar hosted by Legal Counsel for Youth and Children (LCYC) and Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP)
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 available for iPhones and is in 16 languages, including Asian languages, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Russian. It has the ability to read your rights out loud to an ICE or law enforcement agent and send a message to an emergency contact. It has other resources as well such as the ability to look up a consulate and a sample family preparedness plan. It will be ready for Android phones soon.
LOCAL NEWS
‘This should have been prevented’: Leaders respond to state slashing ICE database access after KING 5 investigation | King 5
A KING 5 investigation prompted the state of Washington on Tuesday to admit they unwittingly allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hunt down and deport undocumented residents with the help of state data.
The Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) and the Office of the Governor told KING 5 they've cut off ICE’s ability to search a state database filled with driver and vehicle licensing information.
The move comes after the KING 5 Investigators provided the state with proof that ICE had misused personal DOL data for immigration enforcement. In Washington that's against the law. The Keep Washington Working Act prohibits this kind of collaboration between state departments and ICE. The 2019 law states the federal government may not use state data solely for the purpose of arresting and deporting undocumented residents.
Under Trump’s ICE, People without Criminal History Increasingly Targeted in WA │KUOW
ICE made over 780 arrests based on a violation of immigration law between President Trump’s inauguration through June 25; over 42% of those arrested are immigrants with no criminal history. ICE has also increased arrests of people facing criminal charges but who have not been convicted.
These two groups of immigrants arrested comprise 59% of Washington State ICE arrests in the last five months. Meanwhile messaging from the federal government emphasizes that its immigration crackdown targets serious offenders.
Governor Ferguson Responds to Shameful Letter from U.S. Attorney General Bondi │Office of the Governor
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson responded to a letter from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi regarding the state’s sanctuary policies and practices. Bondi stated that these policies and practices violate federal law, although no evidence or analysis was cited. In his response, Governor Ferguson stated that Washington will not redirect state resources to aid President Trump’s cruel federal immigration policies.
State legislators, cabinet members, and representatives from organizations supporting immigrant rights voiced their support for Ferguson’s response. “Washingtonians have a long history of welcoming ALL people to our state,” said Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle. “That will not change. We will protect the safety and security of the families who are living here and following our laws. We will not weaken our state laws or put people at risk to appease this administration and its latest attempt to intimidate us.”
Federal agents arrest firefighters working on WA wildfire
Two people fighting the Bear Gulch fire on the Olympic Peninsula were arrested by federal law enforcement Wednesday. Read more how lawmakers and the Governor have reacted here.
It is unusual for federal border agents to make arrests during the fighting of an active fire, especially in a remote area. “You risked your life out here to save the community,” the firefighter said. “This is how they treat us.”
Federal policy under President Joe Biden’s administration stated that without “exigent circumstances” agents would not conduct their operations at natural disaster or emergency sites.
FEDERAL NEWS
DACA Recipients Keep Getting Detained, Despite Protections│American Immigration Council
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin recently told NBC News that “DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country.” Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is a policy meant to provide work authorization and temporary protection from deportaion for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. This policy has been supported by both political parties for decades, but recently it appears that certain DACA recipients are being targeted for detention.
Army base used for WWII Japanese internment will be nation's largest ICE detention center | USA Today
Stewards of Japanese American history are calling out the use of Fort Bliss to detain immigrants. Mike Ishii, executive director and co-founder of Tsuru for Solidarity, an immigrant rights advocacy group, said he sees parallels with the current administration “coming in and removing people from their homes, from their workplaces, often with no explanations. [...] Right now, it's very frightening for people,” he said. “In 1941, it was also frightening.”
Eighty years ago, Fort Bliss housed dozens of people labeled "alien enemies" by the government in a detention camp that included two compounds surrounded by double barbed wire fences, according to Densho. [...]
For the vast majority, "there were no accounts of wrongdoing other than being seen as 'enemy aliens,'" said Karen Umemoto, director of the Asian American Studies Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention facility to be empty 'within a few days' | NPR and ‘Light at the end of the tunnel’: Injunction a win for Miccosukee against Alligator Alcatraz | ICT
Thanks to powerful advocacy from Miccosukee against Alligator Alcatraz, a federal judge on ordered the Department of Homeland Security to cease construction and stop taking new detainees at Alligator Alcatraz in Florida.
In an email sent to a South Florida rabbi inquiring about serving as a chaplain at the facility, the executive director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, replied, "We are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days."
Asked Wednesday about the declining population at the detention center, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said, "I do think they've increased the pace of the removals from there."
“Honestly, this is just another battle in our decades-long, centuries-long battle to make sure our presence is still out there and we still have access to it (the Everglades),” said William “Popeye” Osceola, secretary of the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia requests asylum in the US, hoping to prevent his deportation to Uganda | AP
Detained again after just three days of being freed, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose case has come to encapsulate much of President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda, wants to seek asylum in the United States, his lawyers told a federal judge Wednesday.
This is the third time Kilmar Abrego asks for gag orders against Bondi and Noem. Defense attorneys have complained that public statements from government officials are threatening Abrego’s right to a fair trial.
Offices of New Americans Visit New York and New Jersey to Learn, Connect, and Inspire│American Immigration Council
As states face tougher-than-ever challenges to advance immigrant integration, the Office of New Americans (ONA) State Network provides a forum for state policy leaders to share best practices. At a forum this summer for officials from 13 states, the New Jersey and New York State ONAs shared some innovative initiatives.
The New Americans Hotline connects callers with information and referrals relating to immigration matters in 200 languages. New legal programs offer free legal assistance and naturalization support. New Jersey’s Legal Representation for Children and Youth Program offers free legal representation to unaccompanied immigrant children.
Federal Judge Delays Expiration of TPS for Hondurans, Nicaraguans and Nepalese│NPR
A federal judge’s recent decision on the Trump administration’s effort to terminate Temporary Protected Status for people from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal extends their protection until November 18, 2025, the date of a hearing to discuss the merits of the case. This affects approximately 60,000 immigrants, many of whom have lived in the U.S. for over 20 years.
In her decision, Judge Trina Thompson (San Francisco) said: "The freedom to live fearlessly, the opportunity of liberty, and the American dream. That is all Plaintiffs seek," Thompson wrote. "Instead, they are told to atone for their race, leave because of their names, and purify their blood. The Court disagrees."
SONGS IN THE KEY OF JCIJ
Curated by Dina Burstein
Halleluyah (Psalm 148) - Joey Weisenberg—In the highest heavens and in the deepest depths, from stars to stones, through oceans and air, all of creation sings its gratitude and praise: “Halleluyah!”
Callecita Colonial - Ana Cecilia Loyo—Venezuelan artist Ana Cecilia Loyo sings of her home town.
Alison Brown & Steve Martin - Dear Time (feat. Jackson Browne with Jeff Hanna)—Ruth Egger suggested this song for all of us who are aging.
MaMuse | Oh, River | Thrive East Bay—A song for the High Holidays, introduced by Kavana Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum: Here at Kavana, several years ago, Traci Marx introduced us to the music of MaMuse (an acoustic folk duo), and specifically their song "Oh River," which now regularly runs through my head this time of year. Its lyrics, too, pick up on the journey theme, although in this articulation it's a more cyclical journey of becoming:
Part 1: Finding my way (x5), finding my way back home. Finding my way (x5), finding my way back home.
Part 2: Oh river, I hear you, feel you calling me. Oh river, who will I be when I reach the sea.
Natalia Lafourcade - Mi Tierra Veracruzana (En Manos de Los Macorinos)—Mexican singer Natalia Lafourcade sings of home.
Be in touch with the Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice NW
at team@jewishcoalition.org and learn more at jewishcoalition.org.
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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.