More than 1,000 people attended a “mega workshop” hosted by the city of Seattle to provide citizenship assistance and legal consultations to immigrants over the Feb. 3 weekend.
The workshop comes as federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are cracking down on immigrant communities, picking people up outside of schools, courthouses and hospitals.
“This direction by ICE undermines the public safety of our city by undermining trust between community and all law enforcement,” according to the press release. “We have a duty to ensure public safety and protect all of our residents and workers in Seattle from increased, unjust enforcement actions.”
Mayor Jenny Durkan also bolstered local guidelines prohibiting city of Seattle employees from asking about immigration status by creating a process by which any ICE requests to city departments be routed to the mayor’s legal counsel and city attorney.
Ashley Archibald is a Staff Reporter covering local government, policy and equity. Have a story idea? She can be can reached at ashleya (at) realchangenews (dot) org. Twitter @AshleyA_RC
Wait, there's more. Check out the full Feb. 14 - Feb. 20 issue.