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Spring Fund Drive

The on-air portion of our fund drive has ended, but there's still time to help close the gap in our overall goal by March 31st. If you've yet to donate, please give now! If you've already supported or are a sustaining donor to KBCS, thank you so much!

$110,000 Goal

98.11%

Drive ends: March 31, 2024

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Asylum Seekers in Washington State

 
Though the Pacific Northwest is far from the southern border, about 14,000 new cases of immigrant documentation have been filed in Washington state within the past year according to Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN). KBCS spoke with WAISN, Policy Manager, Vanessa Reyes about current conditions for immigrants, particularly at Riverton Park United Methodist Church  in Tukwila where about 200 are staying.
 
Stories on immigrants who have been at Riverton Park United Methodist Church:
 
Ways to help (links offered by WAISN and announcement from Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church)
 
(Diners are also urged to bring new blankets for the Riverton migrants.) 
 
Producer: Yuko Kodama
 

Remember and Resist – Day of Remembrance

 
On February 19th, a number of Japanese American organizations and La Resistencia partnered to observe the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin Roosevelt.  This act authorized the US military to forcibly remove and  incarcerate 120,000 people of Japanese descent across the west coast in 1942. 
 
The action started at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. Most Japanese Americans in the Seattle area were detained at the Puyallup Assembly Center before their transfer to concentration camps at Minidoka, in Idaho and Tule Lake, in California. Formerly incarcerated Japanese American elders attended alongside their families and the public.   Then the group gathered at the ICE Northwest detention facility in Tacoma to raise their voices in support of the detainees inside. 
 
 Listen in on some of the speakers and sounds from the event.
 
Producers: Kasumi Yamashita and Yuko Kodama
 
Photo: Pictured are Kennedy Philbrick (left) and Erin Matsuno (right). Photo taken by Kasumi Yamashita
 

Border Crossing

The border town of Arivaca, Arizona, is no stranger to migrants crossing through the desert and mountains in hopes for a better life in the U.S. The documentary film Undeterred, shows how militarizing the border can result in migrants dying in the desert and in the neighborhoods of towns on the border. The film was featured at the 2018 Social Justice Film Festival in Seattle. KBCS’s Ruth Bly recorded the panel discussion following the screening.

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Asylum Status

What is asylum status, the process for applying for asylum, and what are the chances of  attaining it?  Maggie Cheng, a Northwest Immigrant Rights Project staff attorney, speaks with KBCS’s Yuko Kodama about what it’s like to seek asylum status in the United States today.

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Activist Reflects on Immigration Issues and DACA

KBCS’s Yuko Kodama recently spoke with Maru Mora Villalpando, community organizer of Northwest Detention Center Resistance and activist and organizer for #Not1More Deportation, about immigration issues and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

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Potential Impact of the DACA Repeal

The Trump administration recently announced a repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program which shelters young undocumented people who were brought to the U.S. as children, in good standing with the law and who are educated. There are 800,000 of these Dreamers throughout the country and 18,000 of them reside in Washington state.

KBCS’s Yuko Kodama spoke with Community to Community and Detention Watch Network Community organizer and DACA recipient, Jose Manuel Carillo yesterday about how the repeal of the DACA program impacts the national conversation on immigration policy.

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Sanctuary Services for Undocumented Immigrants

Legal representation for undocumented immigrants is a large need to fill. In April, the King County Council approved funding to assist this need. Even with the county’s funding, a gap remains. At a recent YES! Magazine panel, immigrant experts gathered to discuss support for sanctuary services and legal support. This four-part series features excerpts from various speakers from the event.

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Immigration And Sea-Tac Airport Protesters

President Trump’s recent executive order, which restricts immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries, was met with widespread protest and confusion over the weekend. People who had just arrived in the U.S. were held at airports, and some were sent back out of the country, as Customs and Border Protection, activists, lawyers, and elected officials struggled to interpret the order’s implications. 7th District Representative Pramila Jayapal was working to get people released from Sea-Tac airport. Also at Sea Tac airport Saturday, Seattle city council member and activist Kshama Sawant led close to one thousand people in a protest. They voiced support for arriving immigrants and opposition to the ban. Listen to criticisms of the executive order, and find out what it was like for those who were protesting at Sea-Tac airport.