The funds granted to me by the Abe Osheroff and Gunnel Clark Fellowship in 2024 have been vital to engaging a community of students to support La Resistencia and Tsuru for Solidarity in their weekly monitoring of deportation flights out of Boeing Field. These organizations have called upon the Seattle community to scrutinize the abuses of power enacted by ICE officials, Geo group, and flight- based operator Signature on our “sanctuary city” soil. Using the funds, I initially continued to build upon the community Kiera Henson (2023 Osheroff and Clark fund recipient) had piloted through the Immigrant Rights are Human Rights RSO (Registered Student Organization). In our weekly meetings we planned actions, trips to Boeing Field, and discussed fund allocation toward mutual aid items. Through tabling and flyering on campus, myself and the other members of the RSO were able to grow a larger network of members and followers keeping eyes on and visiting Boeing Field as witnesses.
While the work to halt deportation flights out of Boeing Field is still ongoing, my project’s focus shifted to a second front of La Resistencia’s work following the untimely death of Charles Leo Daniel, a 61-year-old detainee at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC). Daniel had spent nearly four years in the facility, most of which were in solitary confinement. The lack of transparency from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the NWDC regarding the circumstances of Daniel’s death prompted me to reallocate some of my fellowship funding to this second site of resistance work. In particular, funding was used to support La Resistencia’s encampment outside the NWDC, providing essential items such as tents, canopies, and a heater, among other necessities. This material support has helped to broaden La Resistencia’s public profile and reignite student interest in the issue.
My efforts to engage students in the multiple fronts of human rights work will continue, with continued visits and organizing at Boeing Field and the NWDC. This work would not be possible without the help of the Abe Osheroff and Gunnel Clark Endowed Fund. I am grateful to have been granted the opportunity to further support and learn from un-docu led, abolitionist organizations fighting for human rights. I would also like to thank Angelina Godoy for her unwavering support and guidance on how to effectively organize throughout my time both as her student and as a fellow for the UWCHR. This project has empowered me with the confidence and tools to fight against the profiteering of human suffering and helped fuel my passion for the fight for universal human rights. While the work is far from done, I am honored to have been trusted with resources to support the fight. Basta con la migra!