Since our inception, UWCHR has conducted research on topics related to immigrant rights in Washington state, as specified by the state law under which our center was founded. These ongoing efforts are now grouped under our Immigrant Rights Observatory project. Over the years, our reports have documented both serious concern for the rights of migrants in our state, as well as areas of significant progress in protection of immigrant rights. In recent months, however, threats to the rights of immigrant Washingtonians have increased severely, to the point where egregious violations including enforced disappearance and refoulement are now taking place in our state. Over the next year, we hope to strengthen both our methodologies and our partnerships with impacted communities and frontline advocates to better document and denounce these mounting abuses.
Gross Human Rights Abuses Against Migrants in Washington State
In August this year, we published a report documenting the cases of 14 individuals and two families who have been subjected to enforced disappearance by the U.S. government, including seven Venezuelans illegally expelled to the CECOT megaprison in El Salvador; and six people sent to military detention at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, prior to their deportations. UWCHR researchers compiled information across multiple sources to document these individuals’ ties to Washington state and the circumstances surrounding their disappearance and deportation. In addition to specific cases of enforced disappearance, our research raises concerns of a much larger universe of deportations occurring daily without real due process, under conditions which may constitute refoulement, or the practice of sending a person in government custody to a place where they are likely to face grave danger.
We also documented the role of local institutions in facilitating these deportations: from Boeing Field and Sea-Tac Airport, which provide the infrastructure through which deportations occur daily; to the state Department of Corrections, which collaborates in the detention of Washingtonians completing prison sentences; and the Washington State Investment Board, which invests public funds in businesses that profit from the brutalization of our neighbors. The goal of this research is to make all Washingtonians witness to what is happening on our watch, in the hopes that we might come together in new ways to stop these abuses.
Human Rights Conditions in Immigration Detention
Over the last year, we published two reports as part of our ongoing research regarding human rights conditions at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. The concerns raised by these reports have only deepened as the detained population at the facility has increased in recent months.
The first of these reports, “‘TPD Doesn’t Respond Here’: Patterns of Neglect in Tacoma Police Department’s Response to Reports of Crimes at the Northwest Detention Center,” reviewed ten years of reports of abuse and assault at the detention facility, documenting systematic failure by local law enforcement in its response to reports of crimes at the facility, especially when detained people were the victims. We presented these findings to Tacoma stakeholders including city and TPD officials upon release of the report. Unfortunately, ongoing research suggests that, despite assurances, detained people continue to have little recourse to report crimes in Tacoma.
The second report, “Compliance Theater: The NWDC’s Unenforced Contract,” examined the provisions on ICE’s contract with the GEO Group for operation of the detention facility. Our research found no evidence that ICE has ever exercised its authority to sanction GEO Group under the terms of the contract, even in cases of documented failures to uphold contract provisions. In addition, when UWCHR researchers submitted a series of FOIA requests for documentation mandated under the contract, ICE responded in multiple cases that the required documents did not exist, including reports relating to sexual assault and use of force at the facility. These findings are particularly alarming given the fact that the contract between ICE and GEO Group for the facility expired in September 2025 and is likely to be renewed for an extended period.
Monitoring State Immigrant Rights Laws
UWCHR continued to monitor compliance with state immigrant rights laws including the Keep Washington Working Act and Courts Open to All Act, which have come under threat as the federal government pressures local and state governments for collaboration with immigration enforcement. In coalition with a broad array of immigrant rights organizations, we investigate cases of potentially unlawful local collaboration with federal immigration enforcement activities, and have provided analysis in support of advocacy efforts seeking to protect Washingtonians from federal attempts to access their private data via state institutions like the Department of Licensing.
