OIRA launches Rapid Response program at critical juncture in immigrant rights landscape

Seattle is not only a Welcoming City, it’s a city where immigrants and refugees belong and shape its future.

And as the federal government is launching attacks on our communities, the Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs echoes the Seattle City Council’s recent “Welcoming City” resolution, which makes clear that we are a city that cares for and offers services for all our residents, regardless of immigration status.

The Immigrant Rapid Response Program is one of the ways OIRA is addressing the changing federal landscape, with eight community partners who have been on the frontline for immigrant and refugee communities. The program repurposes $240,000 of New Citizen Campaign program funding to meet some of the most pressing community needs.

Our office designed this program in collaboration with immigrant service providers and community members, who communicated needs for more legal consultations, know your rights trainings and the bolstering of a hotline for reporting and tracking immigration enforcement incidents.

The Rapid Response Program is a community-centered initiative designed to protect and empower immigrants in Seattle during moments of uncertainty and crisis. Whether it’s a sudden policy change, increased immigration enforcement, or the risk of detention, this program connects individuals with critical support quickly and confidentially.

Following a competitive application process, we are happy to announce our new partners in this effort.

RR Program Flyer Download

Through trusted partnerships with local organizations, the program offers family safety planning, timely and accessible legal consultations for urgent immigration matters, support for preparing and submitting immigration applications (pro se) and Know Your Rights (KYR) trainings to educate community members on how to safely respond during encounters with immigration or law enforcement officials.

At its core, the Rapid Response Program ensures immigrants receive accurate legal information and access to safety planning resources, to help communities stay informed, prepared, and supported during a time of uncertainty and fear. Below is a breakdown of the partners, services, and eligibility requirements.

Immigrant Rapid Response Program Partners and Services

Deportation Defense Hotline — Call: 1-844-724-3737 (Mon–Fri, 6 AM – 6 PM)

In 2017, WAISN developed the Deportation Defense Hotline (the “Hotline”), the only statewide hotline for reporting immigration enforcement, serving all Washingtonians regardless of immigration status. WAISN has been building connections and trust with community members across the state, and through the hotline, can connect Washington immigrants to more than 1,400 resources, extending from food banks to homeless shelters and legal referrals.

The Hotline serves as an added accountability measure to the way immigration enforcement shows up in our communities. The hotline documents Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) activity and any violations of the U.S. Constitutional Rights or human rights abuses towards all Washingtonians by these agencies.

Immigrant Safety Plan

The Immigrant Safety Plan (ISP) is a vital community resource designed to help parents prepare for situations where they may be unable to care for their children, such as detention or deportation.

In partnership with Seattle-area service organizations, Legal Counsel for Youth and Children (LCYC) and Colectiva Legal del Pueblo will host community workshops to support families in completing Immigrant Safety Plans. Get help designating caregivers, gathering legal documents, writing essential care instructions for your child(ren), and getting other formal affairs in order.

Special sessions will also be available to train volunteers on how to support families in completing their plans.

Legal Consultations & Application Support

This portion of our program is meant to deliver time-limited, focused immigration legal services provided by licensed immigration attorneys or DOJ accredited representatives in support of rapid response efforts. These services are intended to assist low-income Seattle community members in obtaining legal guidance around recent changes in immigration enforcement practices and policy developments at the federal level.

Services include legal consultations and application support in response to recently changed policies including but not limited to removal defense, visa or parole revocation, travel ban, alien registration, change of address/venue assistance. Clients can receive up to 10 hours of legal support, including screening, legal consults and assistance in preparing applications.

Partners for these services include CAIR-WA, Catholic Immigration Legal Services (CCSWW-CILS), Colectiva Legal del Pueblo (CLP), Entre Hermanos (EH), and Horn of Africa Services (HOAS).

Know Your Rights trainings

Tailored Know Your Rights workshops will help educate immigrant communities about their rights, and ways to exercise them as it relates to immigration enforcement.

To support Seattle’s immigrant owned small businesses, our office has already hosted two Know Your Rights trainings in collaboration with the Seattle Office of Economic Development, geared at helping employers and business owners understand their rights and responsibilities while interacting with immigration enforcement.

To request a Know Your Rights workshop, please contact one of the partners for these services including CAIR-WA, Catholic Immigration Legal Services (CCSWW-CILS), Colectiva Legal del Pueblo (CLP), Entre Hermanos (EH).

Policy Information Sessions

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project will be hosting information sessions designed to educate legal service providers about the most recent federal policy changes. This program will help session participants adapt their work to best serve community members, and share information amongst each other at a critical time.

On April 3rd, OIRA Director Hamdi Mohamed and Legal Policy Specialist Oksana Bilobran worked with Northwest Immigrant Rights Project’s Executive Director Malou Chavez and Directing Attorney Henry Hwang to explain the local impacts of federal policy changes to immigrant service providers. The Policy session with NWIRP at the Seattle Public Library drew over 200 service provider participants, and a full video of the event is available for those who missed it as well.

Thank you to all of our partners who have been leading the way on this work, please see our flyer for detailed information on partner services and contact. For further information, please reach out to program manager Javiera Wood at Javiera.Wood@Seattle.gov.

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