Report on barriers to access to information regarding immigration enforcement, presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington, D.C. on December 5, 2018 during the Commission’s session on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders of Migrants in the United States.

For Immediate Release December 3, 2018  Contacts: Alejandra Gonza, agonza@uw.edu, 508-648-1331 Maru Mora Villalpando maru@latinoadvocacy.org 206-251-6658  Immigrant Activists Targeted by US Testify Before International Commission Washington DC- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is meeting in Washington, D.C. on December 5th to dialogue with the Government of the United States of America about the Situation of Human Rights Defenders of Migrants

UWCHR student researchers took a deep dive into ICE arrest data released by Syracuse University’s TRAC. The data shows that almost half of ICE arrests in Washington state involve collaboration with local jails, and reveals a high rate of at-large arrests in King County.

Court records documenting immigration-related offenses in Washington State reveal numerous cases of Washington residents being federally prosecuted and potentially deported as a result of consequences cascading from what was an initially minor offense.

A few days ago, a neighbor thanked me for my work in human rights. She shook her head as she said it, as if to convey the impression that our work is a depressing act of service performed amid challenging times—but I told her it’s quite the opposite.

Megan Ybarra is an Associate Professor in the UW Department of Geography, and a faculty associate of the UW Center for Human Rights. Her new book, Green Wars: Conservation and Decolonization in the Maya Forest, published by University of California Press, examines how environmental projects have contributed to the criminalization and displacement of Q’eqchi’ Maya communities in lowlands Guatemala.

On Thursday, October 11, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the death penalty violates the Washington State constitution‘s prohibition on “cruel punishment.” In its ruling, the Court cited research by UW Center for Human Rights Faculty Associate Prof. Katherine Beckett and UW Lecturer Heather Evans, who conducted the first study regarding the impact

The University of Washington Center for Human Rights has received the first major cache of newly-declassified documents from our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the US Department of Defense, filed in December 2017. The documents, which are publicly accessible via UW Libraries, reveal key operational details about military operations, deeply relevant to many families’ ongoing search for basic information about the context in which loved ones were victimized or abducted. Sadly, they also reveal frustrating limitations to agencies’ compliance with FOIA, underscoring the need for greater transparency across the board.

On September 21, 2018, the University of Washington Center for Human Rights filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its two sub-agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The lawsuit aims to hold ICE and CBP accountable for failing to respond lawfully to twelve requests for public information filed by Center researchers since 2017.

UW Center for Human Rights Director Angelina Snodgrass Godoy and faculty associate Prof. Jamie Mayerfeld have recently published opinion pieces in local and national media, highlighting important concerns regarding immigrant rights, international human rights law, and torture.