About the event 

Regional Funder Briefing Series

Despite the barrage of troubling headlines out of D.C., the reality of how Americans experience their daily lives plays out at the state and local levels in the communities where they live. As has long been observed, states are laboratories of democracy, where innovative and promising policies can be tested before being replicated in other states and/or at the federal level.

In the context of heightened threats to immigrant and refugee communities – and indeed residents of any immigration status standing up against oppressive federal militarization – states and localities can and have advanced a range of policies designed to keep all of their residents safe, healthy and thriving. From banning 287(g) agreements, limiting data sharing and pushing back against masked and unidentified federal agents, to expanding access to health programs and higher education, many of these ideas originated and were shepherded into law by community-based organizations and advocates at the state and local level. At the same time, mutual aid, legal services and power-building strategies are being deployed to mitigate harm and lay the foundation for a better tomorrow.

In this regional funder briefing series, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, Four Freedoms Fund and philanthropic intermediaries across the country are partnering to spotlight the work of creative and powerful organizations that will provide a current state of play in their home states, as well as uplift contemporary needs, strategies and opportunities for funder support.

Washington State Briefing

With 1.2 million immigrant residents – over 15% of the population – Washington State ranks among the top 10 states in the nation for both its overall foreign-born population, as well as for refugees resettled per capita over the last decade, outpacing well-known refugee resettlement destinations such as Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and New York. Though immigrant Washingtonians are significantly over-represented in key industries, including nearly half of all agricultural workers and over a third of all health care aides, the community has not been immune from ICE enforcement actions, including the high-profile raids of a Bellingham roofing company and a beverage manufacturer in Kent. In the Yakima Valley, enforcement has steadily ticked up, with arrests surging to five to ten individuals per day, largely targeting farmworkers that help feed the nation. Controversially, Custom and Border Patrol agents even went so far as detaining individuals actively working to help contain the state’s largest wildfire last summer.

Washington had previously put measures in place to protect its immigrant population, most notably via the 2019 Keep Washington Working Act, which placed restrictions on data sharing with ICE and CBP as well as prohibited local law enforcement from inquiring about immigration status, notifying ICE of non-citizens in its custody or detaining individuals for civil immigration enforcement. Despite the law however, the Washington Department of Licensing was later found to have provided ICE with private driver’s license and vehicle information. This data breach is among the factors that led advocates to push for increased protections, including stronger safeguards on the state’s automated license plate reader system.

In this funder briefing we will hear from the state’s top advocates on the recently concluded legislative session, the road ahead and how philanthropy can support reforms and protections of immigrant and refugee communities in the Evergreen State.

Speakers and Moderator

• Moderator: Lilliane Ballesteros, Executive Director, Latino Community Fund of Washington State
• Brenda Rodríguez López, Executive Director, Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN)
• Malou Chávez, Executive Director,  Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
• Melissa Rubio, Deputy Director, OneAmerica