🚫 Nisqually Tribal Council says no to ICE

Nisqually Tribal Council Tells ICE ‘No’

The Trump administration recently approached a Nisqually Tribal Council staff member to see if they will allow their facilities and land to be used to detain immigrants. “The Nisqually people are not in favor of, nor will the tribal council allow, the detention of individuals by ICE on our reservation or in our facilities,” said Tribal Chair E.K. Choke in the statement. The council said it also discovered ICE has been reaching out to other tribal governments and cities in Washington in an attempt to secure detention space. [Seattle Times]

• Current Detention Center at Capacity: Our region’s only immigrant detention center, the 1,575-bed Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, has been stretched beyond capacity with the surge in detentions due to the Trump administration policy.
• Human Rights Complaints: The privately-run facility’s conditions are already the subject of many human rights complaints, but the overcrowding has led to a surge in protests and hunger strikes. At one point this past summer, ICE transferred immigrants held there to Alaska. [KUOW]
• Indigenous Sovereignty and the Bill of Rights: The Bill of Rights does not apply on reservations, which could mean detained immigrants have fewer rights, as well as any protesters relying on First Amendment protections.
• What the Nisqually Council Has to Say: In saying no to ICE, the Nisqually tribe said it was making a decision “consistent with the tribe’s history and values, which have always included treating all individuals with humanity and compassion.”

Washington has a long history of taking tribal land: HistoryLink details how Joint Base Lewis-McChord took two-thirds of then Nisqually land in 1917 to expand training grounds.

✈️ All Restrictions on Commercial Flights Lifted: Airlines were allowed to resume their regular flight schedules beginning Monday. Sea-Tac was previously on the list of 40 major airports under flight restrictions during the country's longest government shutdown. And, just in time for the holidays, Sea-Tac reopened Checkpoint 6 to accommodate the increased number of travelers. Don’t forget to book your Spot Saver appointment to cut the security line! [KUOW]

🪧 Seattle Workers Preparing for General Strike: Workers gathered at a town hall over the weekend to begin mobilizing for a General Strike at the Seattle Labor Temple (5030 1st Ave S, Seattle). The town hall was coordinated by the group Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity and was heavily attended by both union workers and workers interested in unionizing. Attendees said they were searching for “real action, aside from protesting and voting.” [KOMO]

• Attendees also shared lessons from the 1919 Seattle General Strike where 65,000 workers walked out on their jobs for five days.

📳 New Hotline to Report Hate Crimes without Involving Police: The King County "Stop Hate Hotline" is live, three years after the King County Council unanimously approved the proposal in 2022. The County is partnering with local nonprofit Crisis Connections to run the line as an alternate option to calling the police. Since this year, 21 hate crime cases referred by police have been charged by prosecutors. [South Seattle Emerald]

• Nine cases involved anti-race/ethnicity, and the majority of the rest of the cases involved anti-sexual orientation and anti-gender/gender identity. Two anti-national origin cases were also prosecuted.
• The Stop Hate Hotline number is 833-786-7481, or 833-STOP-H81, available 24 hours a day in 200 languages.

🏚️ New Federal Funding Cuts to Housing Services: The Trump administration has announced changes to HUD’s Continuum of Care program, which provides and operates homes for thousands across King County. Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck released a statement saying these changes put 4,500 Seattle and King County households at risk of losing housing and essential services without regional intervention. To address this funding gap, Rinck introduced an amendment (HSD-082-A-1) to provide $11.8 million in the city’s budget to be used to sustain CoC-funded programs. [Seattle City Council Blog]