Supporting Immgrant Rights in our Communities
Supporting Immgrant Rights in our Communities
Organizations Relevant to Immigrant Rights Struggles:
1. By County in Northwest Washington
Thurston County:
CIELO: https://cieloprograms.org/
CIELO is a community hub that supports immigrants from Thurston and Mason counties. CIELO supports the immigrant community with education and counseling services, as well as advocacy for those who have been victims of crimes. In Thurston County, CIELO hosts evening English classes at multiple levels. For contact with the Shelton office, write:
Write: cieloshelton@cieloprograms.org or call: (360) 868-2431
AANHPI: Asian American, Native Hawaian and Pacific Islander Coalition: https://www.apicsouthpugetsound.org/
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Pacific County:
Pacific County Immigrant Support: https://www.pcisupport.org/
Supports immigrants and allies in Pacific County, where dozens of people have been deported. PCIS visits with family members, arranges visits to the Northwest Detention Center, and raises money to provide for the needs of the detainee and the family.
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Mason County:
Elevate Mason County: http://www.elevatemasoncounty.org/
Elevate Mason County was particularly active supporting immigrant community members during the worst of the COVID pandemic.
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Kitsap County:
KAIRE: Kitsap Advocating for Immigrant Rights and Equality: https://www.facebook.com/KAIREorganizing/
KIAC: Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center: http://kitsapiac.org/legal-services/
Provides low-cost legal services to immigrants and their families
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Seattle/King County:
Kids in Need of Defense: https://supportkind.org/
Colectivo Legal del Pueblo: https://colectivalegal.org/
Refugee Women’s Alliance: https://www.rewa.org/
Catholic Immigration Legal Services: https://ccsww.org/get-help/specialized-services/refugee-immigration-services/
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Pierce County:
AIDNW: Advocates for Immigrants in Detention Northwest: Supports immigrants in detention at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, provides transitional services as people are released.
La Resistencia (formerly Northwest Detention Center Resistance): http://laresistencianw.org/
“Our goal is to shut down the NWDC, and to end all detention and deportation in Washington State.“ https://laresistencianw.org/
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Whatcom County:
Community to Community Development: Women and farmworker-led. C2C's program work includes 3 program areas: Participatory Democracy, Food Justice and Movement Building. The program areas are taken to action via projects that are hands-on, and community-based. https://www.foodjustice.org/
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2. Washington State-wide Immigrant Rights Organizations:
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WAISN: Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network
An immigrant-led organization building immigrant and refugee power; WAISN has a hotline to report ICE activity, is active in crafting and advocating for state policies in support of immigrant rights, health and economic sustainability, and operates as a communications and coordination hub for organizations around the state.
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Northwest Justice Project Farmworker Unit: workplace health & safety, legal advice and
representation, community education. https://nwjustice.org/farmworker-unit
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One America: www.oneamerica.com
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ACLU of Washington: https://www.aclu-wa.org/
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Northwest Immigrant Rights Project: www.nwirp.org
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Lutheran Community Services Northwest: https://lcsnw.org/
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Commission on Hispanic Affairs: www.cha.wa.gov
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Latino Civic Alliance: https://latinocivicalliance.org
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Hispanic Roundtable: http://hispanicroundtable.org
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Key Labor Organizations and Networks:
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Familias Unidas por la Justicia (Families United for Justice): independent Washington State Farmworker Union. https://www.facebook.com/FamiliasUnidas
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Centro Chinampa: Yakima Workers Center: https://www.fairworkcenter.org/know-your-rights/centro-chinampa-yakima-espanol/
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Washington State Labor Council: https://www.wslc.org/
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Labor Education and Research Center: https://georgetown.southseattle.edu/labor-education-research-center
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PCUN: Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste: Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United. Oregon-based primarily Latinx union--strong focus on farmworker health.
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Farmworker Ministry Northwest: https://nfwm.org/
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Blue-Green Labor Alliance: www.bluegreenalliance.org
Labor Notes: www.labornotes.org
United Association for Labor Education: www.uale.org
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Agencies in Washington State
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Labor & Industries: Health & Safety, Community Outreach
L & I has an Agricultural Compliance Unit which has conducted stakeholder sessions on emergency rules on heat/smoke and enforcement.
Dept. of Health: one of the leads on the Environmental Justice Council.. includes some focus on agricultural workers and communities.
https://waportal.org/partners/home/environmental-justice-council
Environmental Justice Council/HEAL cross-agency collaboration. This group also includes the Washington State Dept of Ecology, Office of Equity and Environmental Justice.
Employment Security Dept. Agricultural & Seasonal Worker Services Advisory Committee:
https://esd.wa.gov/newsroom/Ag-committee/minutes-recordings
This committee includes multiple agencies and community representatives. Minutes and recordings of the meetings are available. Their focus is on H2A workers.
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Higher Education:
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The Evergreen State College has a Center for Community Based Learning and Action which organizes a yearly Farmworker Justice Day.
https://www.facebook.com/CCBLATESC/
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Evergreen also has an organic farm and a program in Ecological Agriculture.
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University of Washington, School of Occupational Health:
PNASH: Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Program:
https://deohs.washington.edu/pnash/
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UW Envir Occupational Health – FW Health “Nothing about Us without Us”
https://deohs.washington.edu/hsm-blog/nothing-about-us-without-us
PNASH report on FWs, with Latino Ctr for Health, Community to Community
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Regional Efforts:
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Western PACT: WA/OR/CA regional effort to press for more protections for farmworkers, especially focused on heat/climate.
Key organizer: Northwest Regional Primary Care Association (NRPCA): https://www.nwrpca.org/ With involvement from: Community to Community, Familias Unidas, United Farmworkers, PCUN, and primary care providers such as the Quincy Community Health Center.
“Western Forum for Migrant & Seasonal Health”
Annual conference focusing on farmworker Health, involves a wide array of agencies, organizations, health care providers, and frontline advocates.
NRPCA is one of the key organizers of this conference.
Northwest Toxics Communities Coalition (NTCC) https://nwtoxiccommunities.org/
This group holds an session on vulnerable communities and promotes information and strategy sharing across communities in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
National connections:
National Council on Occupational Safety and Health (COSH): www.nationalCOSH.org/climate-justice
National movement network on occupational safety and health, organizational links across the US, strong support for immigrant workers, strong focus on climate change and worker health. COSH annual conferences have a strong focus on heat/climate impacts on farmworkers and other outdoor workers.
https://www.thestand.org/2023/01/coshcon-builds-a-movement-for-workplace-safety-and-health/
Public Citizen: https://www.citizen.org/
Public Citizen has pushed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for a rule-making and meaningful national legislation protecting workers rights in the face of climate change. They have launched a national Heat Stress Network..
Their report released June 2022 has a strong focus on agricultural workers.
https://www.citizen.org/article/boiling-point/
Union of Concerned Scientists: https://www.ucsusa.org/
Heat Project: UCS Too-Hot-to-Work project…. includes science, congressional district actions, GIS map and video: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/too-hot-to-work
Farmworker Justice: www.farmworkerjustice.org A key national organization on agricultural workers. They focus on working conditions, wages, safety and health, anti-discrimination, and H2A workers.
Farmworker Justice hosts conferences and offers vital information, including spotlighting stories around the country.
Federal agencies have been holding on-line and in-person sessions with implications for farmworkers on: heat, smoke and climate.
Agency websites will provide some links to these sessions:
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sessions – preparing for wildfire smoke, environmental justice;
NIOSH/NIH (National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health and National Institute of Health): session on climate change. environmental justice and unequal impacts of climate.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSCHA): sessions on protecting workers from heat;
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM)
Heat Injury & Illness Prevention – Outdoor & Indoor Work Settings
https://www.osha.gov/heat-exposure/rulemaking ;
NIHHIS (National Integrated Heat Health Info System);
Centers for Disease Control (CDC), OSHA, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) on national/state/regional efforts to protect communities, esp. high-risk areas, from heat/smoke/climate change;
EPA and White House Environmental Justice Advisory Panels with participation from Washington State Dept. of Ecology Environmental Justice staff;
Making links between EJ and OSH/just transition/climate justice.
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