More than a dozen immigrants and advocates met with Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson's policy advisers last week in Olympia. They are asking the state government to address immigrant detentions and housing issues affecting asylum seekers in the region.
The group is asking for a state of emergency to be declared, to protect migrants from evictions and rent hikes.
“If we do not resolve the immediate issue of the housing crisis that migrants are facing, then we are setting them up to have to be houseless again and really making them more vulnerable to the federal government's attacks against migrants with increased ICE raids,” said Kassandra Seda, who is part of International Migrants Alliance (IMA).
The group also wants Ferguson to do more to stop federal deportations and transfers to detention centers in El Salvador, Guantanamo Bay, and third countries — being transferred to a country that is not a person's country of origin or the country where a person is currently located — without the consent of those detained.
John Cespedes Rincon, an immigrant from Colombia, was one of the people who shared his story with Gov. Ferguson’s team. He talked about being detained for 14 months at the Tacoma Northwest Detention Center and suffering anxiety and depression.
Cespedes said he was released after posting a $25,000 bond and was seeking housing assistance while awaiting a job permit. Just a week after the meeting, a spokesperson from IMA said he was detained again during an ICE appointment in Tukwila, Wash.
According to ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System (ODLS), Cespedes Rincon is in ICE custody at the Northwest Detention Center.
Immigrants and advocates also requested that future activities of the Washington Migrant and Asylum Seeker Support Project (WA MASSP) be implemented with migrants' participation. WA MASSP was established to assist immigrants and asylum seekers in accessing essential resources and services.
According to Brionna Aho, a spokesperson with the governor’s office, people met with multiple senior policy advisers to listen to concerns, requests and individual stories. She said they are following up on questions and issues raised to support immigrant communities better.
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