Immigrants Long Beach Washington

The Hispanic community in our small area on the Long Beach Peninsula in southwest Washington is under siege – 33 arrests by ICE in less than two years.  The cost – emotional and financial – is devastating to impacted families.  Families, many who have lived here for decades, are being torn apart by these actions.  Those arrested are not criminals.  They are hard-working, tax-paying residents of our community.  One detainee, who came to the U.S. as a teenager, is a mother of three young daughters and she was arrested and deported after spending many weeks in detention.   These actions are having devastating effects on children, many of whom are U.S. citizens, who suffer from the separation of families or fear of separation.

Some detainees have already been deported, others have been released on bond, and some are still being detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, WA. The process is very costly – attorney fees, bond costs (which must be paid in full) and transportation back to Mexico can run into the tens of thousands of dollars.  For some families, the main wage earner is in detention and the family left behind needs help paying for items such as rent and food.  For others, the remaining spouse and children have decided to join the deportee in Mexico and they need help getting appropriate travel documents, and paying for transportation to Mexico.  

 A series of weekly stories in our local newspaper, The Chinook Observer, called ‘Stories from the Heart’ has been ongoing since June of 2017.  Local writer and Historian, Sydney Stevens, has joined with a local interpreter to tell the true stories of devastation and struggles that families are currently facing as a result of harsh anti-immigration policies and practices taking place in our small coastal community. You can connect to the stories through the following links:

 Stories From the Heart, week 1
http://www.chinookobserver. com/article/20170725/ARTICLE/ 170729973

Stories From the Heart,  week 2 http://www.chinookobserver. com/co/local-news/20170801/ stories-from-the-heart-the- first-13-years-were-fine- x2026-now-not-so-much

Stories From the Heart, week 3
http://www.chinookobserver.com/co/local-news/20170808/stories-from-the-heart-a-family-fractured-leaves-children-in-flux

Stories From the Heart, week 4
http://www.chinookobserver. com/co/local-news/20170815/ stories-from-the-heart- growing-up-in-two-communities- part-i

Stories From the Heart, week 5
http://www.chinookobserver. com/co/local-news/20170822/ stories-from-the-heart- growing-up-in-two-communities- part-ii

Stories From the Heart, week 6
http://www.chinookobserver. com/co/local-news/20170830/ stories-from-the-heart-when- ice-takes-papa-who-steps-into- his-shoes

Stories From the Heart, week 7
http://www.chinookobserver. com/co/local-news/20170905/ stories-from-the-heart-in- troubled-times-who-to-tell- who-to-trust

Stories From the Heart, week 8
http://www.chinookobserver.com/co/local-news/20170912/stories-from-the-heart-running-from-a-community-under-siege

Stories From the Heart, week 9
http://www.chinookobserver.com/co/local-news/20170919/stories-from-the-heart-now-they-are-taking-our-grandfathersx2026

 The beneficiaries of funding are identified through individual family reports. We have volunteers who meet with the families impacted by ICE arrests on an individual basis to identify specific needs of the family and children who are left behind after an arrest takes place.

Donations will be administered by a committee of three members.  Donations will support expenses such as: rent, food, moving expenses, attorney fees, counseling, etc. All donations go directly to Long Beach Peninsula families in crisis.

We want to show our support for these members of our community who are being unfairly targeted by ICE by raising money to help the families who are in need right now.  Please help us by contributing.   Whatever you can afford, no matter how small, will combine with other contributions to help families.  And, please forward this request to your friends.  

Thank you for your consideration!