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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

97.48%

Drive ends: March 31, 2024

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Border Angels Water Drop

Back in 2019 (like today) immigration was one of the most pressing issues in the United States. There was an often-proclaimed humanitarian crisis at the southern border. And, while the Trump administration was implementing a remain in Mexico policy, those who crossed the border faced life threatening heat and long walks. Border Patrol recognized that 283 people died attempting to cross into the US through the desert in 2018. In the calendar year ending in October of 2021, US Customs and Border Protection recorded 568 deaths, over twice as many.

Mari McMenamin Dana Schuerholz Yuko Kodama met the then Executive Director of the immigration non-profit, Border Angels back in November of 2019. The organization supports mobile schools and shelters at the border for migrants waiting for their asylum claims to be processed. They also lead water drops, trips through the desert where volunteers leave jugs of water to help people survive on their journey through the desert.  Here’s their story from a water drop in the Sonoran desert.

Producers: Hans Anderson, Mari McMenamin, Yuko Kodama

Photos: Dana Schuerholz and Mari McMenamin

Your skin color is power!!

 

Marian Ruiz

Dulce Garcia

      

Update from the Southern US Border

 
Dulce Garcia, Executive Director at Border Angels gives us an update of Ukrainians and other migration patterns at the border.
 
Producer: Yuko Kodama
 
Photo: Dana Schuerholz

On the Ground in Poland to help Ukrainians Fleeing War

What’s happening on the ground in Poland where Ukrainians are fleeing to by the thousands? A local Sammamish resident and his brother are there to help.

Here is information on their project, Suitcases for Ukraine.

Producer: Yuko Kodama

Photo Credit: Lance and Thury Foster

KBCS Border Stories – Living Undocumented

How does being undocumented impact your life? Does it impact where you go shopping for groceries, where you rent your apartment, whether you drive or buy a car or have access to a cell phone? Dulce Garcia, Executive Director of Border Angels, speaks to how being undocumented shaped who she is today.

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Courthouse ICE Arrests

The New York Times has published a number of articles on the trend of ICE arresting undocumented immigrants at courthouses.  Monserrat Padilla, Co-Director of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) describes the increase of ICE arrests at public courthouses here in Washington state.

You can call the WAISN 24 hour hotline  at 1-844-724-3737 for help, information and resources.

The Northwest Detention Center and The City of Tacoma

Demonstrators demanding the shut down of the Northwest Detention Center disrupted a Tacoma City Council hearing on Tuesday.  It was organized by La Resistencia and supported by more than a dozen other local organizations.  KBCS’s Samuel Britt was there to give us a snapshot of why the protestors were there that afternoon.

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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Pramila Jayapal Visits Texas Border

Immigrants at the southern US border are facing unprecedented obstacles and are being separated from their children.  On July 20, 2018, Jayapal co-led a group of eight U.S. Congress members to the U.S. border in Texas, where they watched a mass criminal prosecution of immigrants in a federal court and witnessed immigrant parents being reunited with their children.   Jayapal shares what she saw in Texas with KBCS’s Yuko Kodama.

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Yes! Magazine: Sanctuary Policies and Deportation

We have some new information about how the US government is addressing deportations. According to a new study from the Pew Research center, nationwide deportations made by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2017 increased 30% from the previous year. These increases are not distributed evenly. In regions where city and state governments worked hand-in-hand with ICE, deportations increased more than 75%. In regions where sanctuary policies are more prevalent, increases remained relatively low. YES! Magazine’s Bailey Williams speaks with magazine fellow Micheal Dax who wrote the article “A Year Later, Fewer Deportations in Cities That Adopted ‘Welcoming’ Policies“.

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Maru Mora-Villalpando: The Department of Licensing and ICE

Maru Mora-Villalpando is an Undocumented Immigrant rights Activist, founder of NWDC Resistance and #Not1More Deportation. In January, 2018, she was served a letter from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ordering her to appear in immigration court at an unspecified date. Then, in February, 2018, the Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) admitted that it furnished records to a request from ICE about Mora-Villalpando and other undocumented Washington residents. KBCS’s Yuko Kodama spoke with Mora-Villalpando last month about her experience with the DOL and how she expects the state to respond to the DOL’s actions.

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