On May 1, 2018, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stating her support for the UWCHR’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) research: “As an organization established by the Washington State Legislature, CHR relies on data collection and research to achieve their mission… I support this educational pursuit as well as the need for research and data collected by CHR. I urge the timely release of the FOIA information to the extent that the law permits.”

At the UW Center for Human Rights, student researchers use the Freedom of Information Act (also known as FOIA) and state public records laws to investigate local and international human rights issues, in partnership with human rights organizations working for justice and accountability. Meet recent members of our research team in our new video.

In early 2018, videos of Customs and Border Protection agents questioning and arresting passengers on Greyhound buses went viral on social media. Border Patrol forms obtained by the UWCHR via a Freedom of Information Act request document the detention of 9 people in bus searches in Washington state during the five month period from January through May, 2017.

The ACLU of Washington and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project have written a letter warning local law enforcement agencies that they could be exposing themselves to liability if they continue to use immigration enforcement policies provided by Lexipol, a for-profit company which provides policy language to public safety agencies. The letter cites research by the UW Center for Human Rights, which filed public records requests to obtain local law enforcement agencies’ policies relevant to collaboration with immigration enforcement activities.

Update: On February 15, the Mijente network published the results of a public records request submitted by Maru Mora-Villalpando’s legal team revealing that the Washington State Department of Licensing provided her personal information to ICE. UWCHR later received similar copies of the same documents in response to its request. On February 26, Maru’s supporters published

On January 10, 2018, the ACLU of Washington and Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) announced the settlement of a lawsuit filed in September of 2017 against the Spokane Police Department, regarding the detention of an immigrant resident who was involved in a motor vehicle accident in August. The UWCHR highlighted this case in our report,

Since we last spoke with Professor Gunnar Almgren about his book Health Care as a Right of Citizenship: The Continuing Evolution of Reform, congressional Republicans again attempted, and failed, to pass a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Shortly after, President Trump issued two executive orders impacting insurance markets and access to health care. We

This research memo represents the first in a series reporting results of UWCHR’s new initiative on Human Rights at Home, which we hope will help increase transparency and inform human rights advocates, the public, and our elected leaders on immigrant rights issues in our state. As part of this effort, UWCHR has requested information from

During early 2017, U.S. political headlines were dominated by political maneuvering and grassroots organizing prompted by Congressional attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Now health care reform is in the news again with the announcement of Senator Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare For All” bill. Gunnar Almgren is a Professor at the UW School of Social

On June 19, 2017, the first day of the summer strawberry harvest, farmworkers at Sakuma Brothers Farm in the Skagit Valley began picking berries in the early morning fog. As they did so, they were making history. After four years of struggle that grew from local walk-outs and strikes to a national boycott against the