Donald Trump has promised to deport immigrants, triple the number of ICE agents, and cut all federal funding to âsanctuary citiesâ like Seattle, where local police donât participate in arresting undocumented immigrants.
The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project will be on the frontlines of fighting those efforts here. âThe only thing thatâs predictable is the unpredictability,â says Executive Director Jorge Baron of Trumpâs promises. âWe know itâs going to be bad. We donât know exactly whatâs going to happen first.â
Baron says he fears the return of large-scale immigration raids like local communities saw during the Bush administration. âThese were people who dropped off their kids at school or childcare and went to work and then the next thing you know theyâre facing deportation hearings,â Baron says. âThe rhetoric of âimmigrants are taking peopleâs jobsâ and wanting to increase the number of deportationsâweâre certainly concerned.â
Today, the organization is educating immigrants about their rights, giving them advice on preparing for potential raids, and preparing to defend local immigrants in court. Undocumented people donât have a guaranteed right to an appointed lawyer, so organizations like the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project work to provide them representation. But the demand is huge: In Seattle, 815 domestic violence and sexual assault survivors are waiting for a lawyer to take their case, Baron says, and only 8 percent of inmates at the detention center in Tacoma get a lawyer.
âMost people are going through probably the most important legal decision thatâs going to be made in their lives without representation,â Baron says. âIâm worried about those numbers getting even worse.â
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