The US has failed to articulate a coherent and just immigration policy. Now, under the current administration, even the meager protections we have for those who come from outside US boundaries are being stripped away.

 

The Trump administration has engaged in new levels of cruelty against immigrants – terrorizing people, shackling them in chains, deporting them to countries other than their own, and undertaking these acts regard- less of the person’s citizenship or paperwork status. The administration is threatening sanctuary cities and states with funding cuts, mobilizing the military and national guard to engage in the apprehension of migrants, and seeking millions more in funding for this war on immigrants. They have allies in our state among many county sheriffs who are flouting our “Keep Washington Working” law and using their local law enforcement officers to assist ICE.

 

Everything else being equal, people don’t choose to migrate. Most of us prefer to remain with our families, on the land in which we’ve been raised, and in the culture with which we’re familiar. Yet, huge numbers are migrating for a number of reasons. They are forced to migrate because of brutal conflicts, rampant lawlessness and criminal violence in their home countries, a lack of safe, well-paying jobs, crop failures and food scarcity, and increasingly severe climate disasters.

 

In our country we now have more than 200 jails and prisons for immigrants. Approximately 90% of detained immigrants are held in private detention centers. The current Trump regime has announced plans to build many more.

 

PSARA, takes the following position on the attack on immigrants:

 

• We will follow the lead of immigrant rights groups locally, working to support their efforts toward defending and strengthening rights, protecting those being targeted, and securing sanctuary.

• We welcome all migrants and fight alongside them for housing, healthcare, living wage jobs, and public education, among other things.

• We emphatically oppose repression, detention, deportation, and the racist attacks to which migrants are being subjected.

 

We act from a commitment to joining hands in respect and solidarity to build a new – and more just – Beloved Community.