The below text is featured in the UWCHR 2022-2023 Annual Report. Written by Phil Neff Over the past five years, the Washington state legislature has passed a landmark series of laws aimed at safeguarding immigrant rights, including the Courts Open to All Act (2019), Keep Washington Working (2020), HB 1090 (2021), and HB 1470 (2023). The

The below text is featured in the UWCHR 2022-2023 Annual Report. Written by Angelina Godoy In 2023, conditions at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) came once again under scrutiny as those detained in the facility staged a series of hunger strikes to protest conditions, while legislators passed a bill mandating increased state oversight of all

This report is part of a series regarding Human Rights Conditions at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, based on ongoing research efforts and released to highlight initial findings in the urgent context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Contents: • Introduction • Background, Methodology, and Human Rights Standards • Sanitation of Food and Laundry •

Immigrant rights groups protest first King County deportation flight since May 2019 On the morning of May 2, 2023, an ICE Air deportation flight departed King County International Airport (Boeing Field), the first such flight in nearly four years, following a federal judge’s decision overturning a 2019 King County executive order barring ICE from using

This research update is part of an ongoing multi-part investigation of human rights concerns at the Northwest Detention Center. Contents • Introduction • Background, Methodology, and Human Rights Standards • Sanitation of Food and Laundry • Allegations of Medical Neglect • Use of Solitary Confinement • COVID-19 and Health Standards • Reporting of Sexual Assault

Introduction In recent years, local and state governments in Washington have taken important legislative and executive action to protect vulnerable residents from rights abuses. Many of these actions, such as the so-called “sanctuary” laws of Keep Washington Working (2019) and Courts Open to All (2020) Acts, seek to protect the rights of migrants by limiting

This spring quarter, the Benjamin Linder Fellowship has allowed me the opportunity to continue the research into the enforcement of the Keep Washington Working (KWW) and Courts Open To All (COTA) acts which UWCHR’s Immigrant Rights Observatory team began conducting in 2019. Their August 2021 report, Protecting Immigrant Rights: Is Washington’s Law Working?, analyzed the

This report is part of a series of research reports by the University of Washington Center for Human Rights examining Immigration and Customs Enforcement Air Operations nationwide.  Download additional resources and one pagers: Haiti: Sports Travel & U.S. Deportation of Haitian Asylum-Seekers Syracuse University & Haitian Deportations Texas Universities & Haitian Deportations Introduction Every week,

This report is part of a series regarding Human Rights Conditions at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, based on ongoing research efforts and released to highlight initial findings in the urgent context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Contents: • Introduction • Background, Methodology, and Human Rights Standards • Sanitation of Food and Laundry •

Research Informs Debates Over Tacoma’s Northwest Detention Center For years, people detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma have reported human rights concerns, though a lack of transparency regarding the facility’s operations has made these difficult to investigate independently. Recent years have seen Congressional inquiries, cases in federal court, and numerous campaigns by advocacy