RIMS Upcoming Events

This spring, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project is excited to hear from agitators, advocates, and allies on the front lines of the immigrant rights movement. Join us for a free webinar with former clients Magdiel L.G., Mirna A.D., and their NWIRP attorney Bruna Estrada Fortanelli as they discuss the challenges asylum seekers face both on their journey to the United States and once they cross the border. This panel discussion will touch on the many ways racist systems impact BIPOC community members. RSVP for free here or via the link below. Tuesday, April 27th from 1pm - 2:30pm

Hollaback Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Asian Harassment and Xenophobia

See webpage for training dates and to register for free online.

One-hour, interactive training will teach Hollaback!’s 5D’s of bystander intervention strategy: distract, delegate, document, delay, and direct.  Learn about the “spectrum of disrespect” and types of disrespect that Asian and Asian American folks face (i.e. microaggressions to violence).  Learn what to look for and the positive impact that bystander intervention has on individuals and communities.

On Thursday, January 28th, at 8am the WA State Senate’s Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs Committee will hold a first hearing for SB 5172. If passed the bill could prevent dairy workers, and possibly thousands of agricultural workers in Washington State from receiving retroactive (back) overtime pay. TAKE ACTION NOW The bill is due for its first hearing in the Senate Committee on Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs this Thursday morning at 8am. It’s important that farmworkers and their advocates and supporters show our opposition to the bill. HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please share this message widely with people in Washington state who care about fair wages for farmworkers. Let the committee know that you are opposed to this bill by going to the link below and selecting “Con” (against). The latest you can sign in is 6:59am Thursday morning. https://app.leg.wa.gov/CSIRemote/Testimony/Form?chamber=Senate&meetingFamilyId=28358&agendaItemFamilyId=138984&remoteLocationId=50&testify=False&fbclid=IwAR3qxGOQwEqnBF1ErLfHGfcCHlf1qJprYHp-DFzU1oJpuc9hpd98_5bl2h4

Since Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) launched the WA COVID-19 Immigrant Relief Fund, over 55,000 people have applied and 16,000 applications have been approved! This is thanks to the tireless work of our community and our organizational partners doing vital outreach and application support. We have two weeks left to get as many applications as possible. That’s where you come in.  Due to COVID-19, we haven’t been able to host in-person events to help our community members apply. But you can help by volunteering to be a Virtual Application Helper. The timing is completely flexible–just list the hours you’re available to help and wait for a community member to sign up. We also welcome any languages, so no need to only speak Spanish. Ready to volunteer? Join a required Application Assistance training:

• Nov. 30, 5:30-7:00 
• Dec. 1, 6:00-8:00pm
• Dec. 2, 5:30-7:00pm
• Dec. 3, 6:00-8:00pm

Click here for the Zoom link

What's Next: Moving Into the Great Turning WWFOR Fall Retreat, November 21, 2020

Register Here

Did you know partners across the state are helping our community fill out their applications for the Washington COVID-19 Immigrant Relief Fund? Share the image below and visit www.immigrantrelief.org/application-help to see the full list of counties and languages served. The deadline to apply is December 6th, 2020. Applications are processed on a rolling basis.  

We are proud of the ways our Faith continues to #SideWithLove and be present to the World. We are in the final days before a historic election and we want to offer you an opportunity to provide Faithful Witness at The Polls. Whether your congregation is a polling site or is interested in offering some warmth and kindness at undoubtedly tense polling stations, we have ideas for how we can offer faithful responses that are at the heart of Side With Love. You can view the 30 minute webinar here. What does it mean to continue to “harvest our power” when we are tired or overwhelmed? There's no magical fix, but knowing you are NOT alone and that others can help find the answers helps. Join Side With Love on Monday Movement Moments for a 30-minute check-in and highlights of what’s happening across the country and ways you can get involved. Monday Movement Moment Nov. 2,9 at 9:30am PT. You can watch past episodes here.

How can organizers of nonviolent mass protest actions help ensure those actions won't be "hijacked", and thus made less effective, by violent flanks, outside groups, and covert provocateurs?  How can we help ensure that health guidelines are followed during protests, to minimize the risk of harm from a deadly virus? Basic Training for Peace Teams: Keeping Non-Violent Discipline October 25, 6:30 to 8:30 pm     Dr. Tom Hastings, of Portland State University Conflict Studies Program and Adam Vogal of Portland Peace Team will provide a Zoom training on basic peacekeeping and de-escalation theory and skills to keep mass protests nonviolent. This training is designed for those who want to be trained to serve in a "peace team."

Please join NW Immigrant Rights Project for the following conversations. You can RSVP or read more about each of these topics by following the links provided below:     NWIRP's Past, Present, and Future: A Lunchtime Virtual Discussion (LIMITED TO 20). Sign up for the best date for you: October 19 OR November 12 @ 12pm The Cascade Divide: Unique Immigration Challenges in Eastern & Central Washington. October 20 @ 1PM Imagining the End of Deportation with UW Law Professor Angélica Cházaro, October 27 @ 1PM Intersection of Immigration, Gender, and Survivors of Violence with Grace Huang, policy director at the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-based Violence. November 16 @ 2PM

We invite you to join us to for bi-weekly Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) General Meeting Covid19 HUB #ImmigrantHealthResponse calls for exciting news and updates! This is reminder that WAISN will be hosting its weekly COVID-19 Response HUB call September 24th and every Thursday from 3-5 PM over Zoom. Call information below:

#ImmigrantHealthResponse

 EXCITING UPDATES 

• Are a Washington resident;
• Are at least 18 years of age;
• Have experienced hardship due to the pandemic; and
• Are ineligible to receive unemployment insurance compensation or federal stimulus dollars due to immigration status.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE WAISN IMMIGRANT HEALTHCARE SURVEY

How, during an unprecedented pandemic, can we educate all children equitably—with closed schools, disruptions in food assistance, and lack of internet access for home-learning affecting some far more than others? Especially now, how can we not?

Believing that educational equity is a moral imperative, Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church has asked Dr. John B. King, Jr., former US Secretary of Education, to address the needs and possibilities for accessible, equitable educational opportunities for low-income and otherwise disadvantaged children and youth, especially those of color. We invite you to join us on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, 4-5:30 pm. PT for this free, virtual event.

Register

A wonderful opportunity!

We need volunteers

Letter to UUJEC from Pablo DeJesus, council member UUA’s PPC Leadership Council:

I'm writing to ask if UUJEC can do several things to support UU involvement in the PPC, especially in these final days leading into Sat. June 20th -- a major milestone for PPC. See the UUA announcement on the formation of a UU leadership council HERE or UUSJ's promulgation in our May eNews, of which I am a part. (Several council members are CCed here.)

As you know, this is a deeply troubling moment in our nation, rife with an unfolding national conversation about the disproportionate economic impacts of the pandemic and the cross-cutting role of systems of criminalization and racial injustice as entrenched policy and social structures.  For this reason, it feels even more deeply important for UUs to support campaigns that center the leadership of poor and low-income people, people of color, and other disenfranchised folks in our society.  The PPC is such a campaign.

So I'd ask on behalf of the UUA’s PPC Leadership Council for several steps in the assistance of the council and our UU denomination's commitment to the PPC.

Four Asks:

1. UUJEC Contacts: Very Timely/Urgent -- Can you help connect the council with any UUs that are low-income folks, willing to speak of that experience (to witness) as part of a Church of the Larger Fellowship service on June 14, 2020, centered on PPC?  I'm thinking of folks perhaps like your brave UUJEC member who spoke directly to Sen. Portman (OH) during our joint UU conference in 2017 (Reversing Inequality: Healthcare Justice is a UU Value). Personal stories like his will help the PPC council win hearts and minds.

2. UUJEC Promotion: Can you promulgate the special UU RSVP for June 20th and encourage UUs in the UUJEC network to register and attend several times going into June 20th in ~10 days?  In so doing you'd be joining the UUA, SideWithLove, and UUSJ.   You can see in UUSJ’s June eNews and our events list how UUSJ is striving to promote (in part). You may have seen some of our eBlasts. UUSJ is also posting events and content to Facebook as possible. Please consider closely what UUJEC can do to support the promotion of PPC. Here is the PPC's digital toolkit that offers text & graphics to make things easier.

3. UUJEC Connection: Rev. Robin Tanner, NJ is a UU minister from NJ and also a lead national faith organizer for the PPC. She might be able to speak to UUJEC stakeholders to explain the PPC campaign and its goals and especially its economic justice commitments. I will comment here, I can think of few national campaigns beyond the PPC that are so clearly aligned with UUJEC's general interest in restructuring the American economy away from escalating inequality, rampant inequity, and towards justice, equity, and service to the human condition.

4. UUJEC Follow-on: Please consider having an internal conversation during the next month or so, on if or how UUJEC can support UU mobilization and participation in the PPC heading towards November. It is my understanding after we “click” past June 20th the PPC will be more focused on Voter Mobilization and GOTV activity engaging poor and low-income participation. As you know from our two conferences together, if we can get candidates who take structural inequity and inequality seriously as a policy area, we will have more traction and support for policies in the next congress that reflect UU values and principles.  This is generally consistent with UUA's UU the Vote campaign, and UUSJ's joint project with Reeb Voting Rights Project (review an upcoming event June 17 HERE or RSVP). On how PPC activity dovetails with UU the Vote, Susan Leslie, UUA might offer referrals to specific staff.

It is my sincere hope that UUJEC can look at what is possible in response to this request for connection and assistance from the UUA PPC Leadership Council.

In love and for justice, 

Pablo

Join us on Friday, May 15th at 11am for this free webinar!

Tell Congress to Include Immigrants in the Next Relief Package Congress's COVID-19 relief efforts have excluded many immigrants from their public health and economic stimulus policies. With Congress likely to pass additional legislation as soon as next month, it is time to speak up! Our partners at Protecting Immigrant Families have put together this easy way to send an email to your congressional representatives asking them to make sure the next relief package includes everybody. Urge Washington State Leadership to Create a Worker Relief Fund Particularly because the federal government has so far failed to adequately protect immigrant communities from the current crisis, we need our state and local governments to step up. That’s why NWIRP was proud to join over 430 organizations across Washington State in calling on Governor Inslee and our state legislature to create a “Washington Worker Relief Fund” to provide $100 million in emergency relief to undocumented Washingtonians and to work towards a more permanent system of support for unemployed workers who do not qualify for the current system. We invite you to join us: click here to directly support our call to action. Join Our “Immigration for Beginners” Webinar on Friday April 24th, 2020 Want to learn more about the basics of the immigration system in the United States and how NWIRP is defending and advancing the rights of immigrants? Please join us on Friday from 11:00 A.M to 12:00 Noon for this free webinar. Thank you for your continued support. We are proud to have you standing with us during this challenging time. Together, we can continue to make this country a more welcoming place for our immigrant neighbors.

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The Mass Poor People’s Assembly & Moral March on Washington on June 20, 2020 will not be postponed but will be transformed! We are going digital! We will hold the largest digital and social media gathering of poor and low-wealth people and people of conscience in this nation’s history. The COVID-19 global pandemic is exposing the already existing crisis of poverty in America, and we are going to bombard every member of Congress and the White House so that we raise up the demands of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. We will not be able to gather physically in Washington DC, but it is paramount that we have a forum where poor and low-wealth people can share their truths with a nation that needs its heart broken. If there was ever a time for a massive outcry, it’s right now. People are hungry for bold, visionary solutions, not just to this current crisis, but to systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. Poor and low-wealth people know the solutions we need. Stay tuned for more about how we are transforming our vision to adapt to the digital space. We may be isolated, but we remain united! Forward together, The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival

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