1st Place – $138,150: Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP)
Big applause to our 1st place winner, NWIRP — raising an incredible $138,150!
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) serves immigrants in King County through direct legal services, community education, and systemic advocacy. Last year, NWIRP served more than 12,500 Washington State residents with direct legal services, with the greatest presence in King County. As reflected in the daily news cycle, immigrants are under attack. The passage of the federal reconciliation bill (H.R. 1) changed immigration policy and practice in ways that our country has not seen in close to three decades. This bill further criminalizes immigrant communities, such as through laws that expand mandatory detention, and establishes steep new fees, even for humanitarian protections, that effectively deny many asylum seekers the chance to even apply for protection.
Big applause to our 1st place winner, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP)! — raising an incredible $138,150!
These changes come on top of other recent changes, such as the Department of Homeland Security rescinding the Sensitive Location memos that protected areas such as courts, churches, schools, hospitals, and domestic violence shelters from immigration enforcement actions. NWIRP would utilize PYP funding to help meet the immigration legal needs of individuals residing in King County who are seeking asylum or other protections from deportation and family separation, including assisting these individuals with new fees implemented by H.R. 1. For example, individuals seeking to work lawfully in the U.S. must now pay an application fee of $550 – an overwhelmingly impossible amount to pay for individuals who usually have no income (as they are not allowed to work), are often housing insecure, and face other indicators of poverty and trauma.