Remember and Resist 2023

February 19, 2023 was the 81st anniversary of Executive order 9066.  It ordered the forced removal and incarceration of over 120,000 people of Japanese descent from throughout the west coast. 

In commemoration, an event was held at the Washington State Fair Events Center in Puyallup, Washington.  The organizers were Minidoka Pilgrimage, JACL Seattle Chapter, JACL Puyallup Valley Chapter, La Resistencia and Tsuru for Solidarity.

Over 7,000  people were incarcerated in make-shift shelters and animal stalls on the fairgrounds in 1942  for about five months until the incarceration sites were completed. 

The event also included a gathering at Tacoma’s Northwest detention center to support the detainees inside and call for an end to immigrant detention and deportations.

Listen in on the voices and sounds from Remember and Resist 2023. 

Producer: Yuko Kodama

Photos: Widder Sessions

LGBTQ Immigration Detention in Washington State

As of January 28th, Washington’s Northwest Detention Center is intentionally housing LGBTQ detainees. Monserrat Padilla Co-Director of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) describes the efforts to protect this population of immigrants.

Producer: Yuko Kodama

Photo: torbakhopper

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.