SEATTLE—Immigrants’ rights advocates, community supporters, and families of those abducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents gathered today to condemn the unprecedented increase in immigration enforcement actions in Washington State. They called on state leaders to work during the upcoming legislative session to slow down ICE’s enforcement in Washington State and ensure that the state budget invests in deportation defense, legal support, and citizenship.
“In recent years, we’ve all seen the devastating growth of deportation and detention, families being torn apart, and the villainization of our immigrant communities,” said Roxana Norouzi, executive director of OneAmerica, which co-organized the event at Casa Latina. “In the last few months, this activity has spiked and has grown more forceful. Our neighbors are being targeted in increasingly violent traffic stops and workplace raids. The cruelty, violence, and scale of this enforcement are increasing drastically as we approach midterm elections. We are united in protecting our immigrant communities and our democracy—and we are calling on civic leaders across the state to act now.”
Alondra Miranda Garcia, a OneAmerica member, was one of several people who shared the impact ICE raids have had on their families. Her father, Daniel Miranda Correa, was stopped by ICE agents Oct. 17 on his way to work. He is now being held in the Tacoma Northwest Detention Center.
“My dad is a hardworking, humble man who has spent more than 23 years building a life centered around his family,” she said. “He has no criminal record. He is the kind of father who sacrifices for his children, who wants to see his family succeed, and who has always put the people he loves first. Now, we are left wondering when we will see him again. We worry about his well-being. We miss his presence in our home. And we are trying to explain an absence to little children who are too young to understand why their grandpa is no longer here.”
The event was co-organized by OneAmerica, Casa Latina, and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and had over 50 attendees. It included community organizers and speakers from Khmer Anti-Deportation Advocacy Group, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and the Washington for All Coalition. Pa Ousman Joof, Executive Director of Washington West African Center, shared about the impact of raids on the West African community: “Today, fear is spreading throughout our communities. People are afraid to work, travel, attend appointments, or even seek help. This is not how any community should have to live.”
OneAmerica and their partners assert that the ramp-up in activity serves as part of an intentional, coordinated effort to instill fear among Washington immigrants in the weeks preceding the midterm elections. The Department of Justice’s request to withhold 400 Washington ballots on Monday is an effort to undermine the results of the election in advance, using baseless claims of large-scale noncitizen voting. (Earlier this year, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said that noncitizens have voted in the state just 15 times between 1982 and 2025.)
Tuesday’s gathering at Casa Latina featured a community ofrenda, or altar, in the tradition of Día de los Muertos coming Nov. 1. Participants paid respect to all the families separated and lives lost due to ICE enforcement and raids.
Lucy Vazquez-Martinez, Field Director at SEIU 775 (the Caregivers Union), closed the event with a direct address to Washington’s elected officials: “To our elected leaders: we need you to work with us to come up with solutions and act. We’re on the ground every day responding to emergencies, supporting families, and protecting our communities when we can. We need you meet this crisis with the same rigor and urgency that the community is.”