NEWS & CURRENT EVENTS
Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center
Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center
(Español abajo) Recent events in Texas have cast a spotlight on the problematic immigration policies that continue to inflict harm upon those seeking safety in the United States. Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s latest border patrol measures have escalated this week, with the installation of floating buoys along the Rio Grande River and razor wire installed …
Continue reading “Immigration Policies in Texas: A Call for Compassionate Reform”
Cinco de Mayo has a misconception in the U.S. as being the Mexican Independence Day, or Mexico’s version of the 4th of July. In actuality, Mexico’s Independence Day is September 16th and Cinco de Mayo is largely a U.S. holiday. Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican Battle of Puebla against the French, but the Cinco …
Continue reading “A Little PSA For Folks Without Mexican Heritage”
Comment template below. Act now! The U.S. government’s Covid-19 public health emergency is lifting in May, and it is expected to take the 2020 pandemic expulsion order, Title 42, along with it. Although this might seem like an advantageous time to restore the right to seek asylum at the border, The Biden administration has signaled …
Continue reading “STAND WITH KIAC IN OPPOSITION OF EXPANDED ASYLUM INELIGIBILITY BY MARCH 27”
Last Thursday, 64 members of KIAC’s community gathered in Olympia to advocate for two pieces of legislation that would positively impact the lives of immigrants – HB1095/SB5109 and a health equity budget proviso. As you may recall, HB1095/SB5109 would create an unemployment system for undocumented workers who currently pay into unemployment but are ineligible for …
Continue reading “Did you hear what happened last Thursday? “
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently rolled out a new app for asylum seekers to apply for asylum at the U.S.-Mexican border. This app presents several barriers for asylum seekers, including that many have outdated phones that are not compatible with the app, or do not have internet access to utilize the app. However, …
Continue reading “App for Asylum Seekers Presents Barriers and Racial Bias”
Our hearts are broken for the communities in Syria and Turkey who have been impacted by the devestating earthquakes today, Monday February 6, 2023. Not only has this natural disaster destroyed homes and buildings throughout the area, causing significant loss of life, but the harsh winter weather conditions put displaced residents and those still trapped …
Forwarding the below email from our friends at WAISN! “Our bill, SB 5109, which would allow all of Washington’s undocumented workers to apply for unemployment insurance without affecting immigration status, will be heard in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee tomorrow, Thursday January 26th, at 8:00am. We need your help to make sure legislators vote …
Continue reading “Act TONIGHT! State your position on Senate Bill 5109”
We are saddened and frustrated by the Biden Administration decision to expand the use of Title 42. This recent announcement places limits on the number of people who can seek asylum in the United States, and prohibits some immigrants from seeking their right to asylum at the U.S. border. The changes outlined in this policy …
Continue reading “Our Thoughts on the Biden Administration Expansion of Title 42”
We at KIAC are paying close attention to the events unfolding in Afghanistan. Like all of you, we are heartbroken for the human beings caught in this humanitarian crisis, especially women, girls and LGBTQ+ Afghans. We are in touch with the national immigration legal community, and have heard detailed reports from lawyers with clients in …
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Delaina Ashley Yaun Xiaojie Tan Daoyou Feng Paul Andre Michels Soon C. Park Hyun J. Grant Suncha Kim Yong A. Yue These are the names of the eight human beings whose lives were brutally cut short in this week’s massacre in Georgia. Seven of those killed were women. Six were of Asian descent. One was …
On December 4th, a federal judge in New York recently ordered the Trump Administration to restore the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program to the way it existed prior to September 2017. While community members who do not currently have DACA status are now eligible to apply, it is important to note that ongoing …
Despite the partial court shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, this year immigration judges managed to decide the second highest number of asylum decisions in the last two decades. The rate of denial continued to climb to a record high of 71.6 percent, up from 54.6 percent during the last year of the Obama Administration in …
On Friday, July 17, a U.S. District Court Judge ordered the administration to restore DACA to its “pre-September 5, 2017” status. This means that people with DACA can renew their status AND that people can apply for DACA for the first time. We all celebrated this decision until we found that the US Citizenship and …
Continue reading “DACA denied – USCIS is defying our courts”
On June 15, 2020, the Trump Administration proposed a new regulation which, if implemented, would gut the U.S. asylum system. This new policy will result in America turning its back on thousands of immigrants every year who flee horrific conditions such as domestic violence and threats due to gender identity and sexual orientation. Women escaping …
Continue reading “ADD YOUR VOICE TO PROTECT THE AMERICAN ASYLUM SYSTEM!”
At Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center, we are heartened that the Supreme Court today rejected the Trump Administration’s attempt to end DACA. The Court found that the administration did not follow the necessary legal procedures in attempting to end the program. This is welcome news for the hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients in the country …
We at Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center condemn the murder of George Floyd, the unarmed black man who was strangled last week by a Minneapolis police officer. Derek Chauvin now has been charged with the killing, but we recognize that this was not an isolated incident. Racist violence against black and brown people in America is …
The Ninth Circuit has again stopped the administration from making people who arrive at the southern border, from a country other than Mexico, apply for asylum in the first country they entered on their way to the US. Several people have already been returned to Guatemala (an alleged “safe” third country) to apply for asylum …
Continue reading “Ninth Circuit reinstates Injunction against “safe third country””
On Friday February 28th the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling blocking the Trump administration’s Migrant Protections Protocols, more accurately named Migrant Punishment Protocols. While this rule has been in effect, more than 60,000 people seeking asylum have been forced to wait in dangerous conditions along the border in Mexico. Since the program …
COMMENT PERIOD EXTENDED Fee changes proposed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, will significantly increase filing fees for various immigration benefits, including Naturalization, Lawful Permanent Residency, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, and Employment Authorization. The agency has proposed, for the first time, to charge a fee to apply for asylum. It …
We ask that you consider commenting on the new rule that the Justice Department put into effect on August 26th. This rule further limits the neutrality of immigration judges and could seriously constrain the ability of accredited representatives, like all the volunteers who do legal work at KIAC, to provide representation for immigrants in our …
Today ICE agents stopped and detained several people in Port Orchard and Bremerton. They attempted to intimidate a US citizen by blocking his car but he was familiar with his rights and made them back off. We consider this a case of racial profiling. You can see the video he made here. KIAC is reaching …
Today, Friday, September 20, people of all ages are taking to the streets to demand immediate action on climate change from our leaders. Climate change will cause the forced migration of many millions of people over the course of this century, and the bulk of those displaced will have played little role in the emissions …
We at KIAC are disappointed in and angered by the statement of Acting USCIS Director Cuccinelli to NPR that the Emma Lazarus poem on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty would more correctly read, “Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and not become a public …