On Monday, September, 29, Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson announced an executive order to ensure state agencies protect their data from illegal collection efforts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and other agencies that seek to target immigrants.
“We won!” said Soumyo Lahiri-Gupta, OneAmerica’s Immigration Advocacy Manager. “This is a huge win for our communities – and it only happened because we organized alongside our allies to protect our people.”
In June, OneAmerica learned that data held by the Washington Health Care Authority, which manages Washingtonians’ access to Medicaid, had been breached by DHS, who planned to use this data for immigration enforcement. In July, they learned that the state’s Department of Licensing had also shared license plate data with DHS.
OneAmerica immediately called on Gov. Ferguson to audit state data collection practices, and stop sharing any data that could lead to the disappearance or deportation of immigrant Washingtonians. They gathered nearly 200 signatures and sent more than 2500 emails to state legislatures with the same demand.
“We’ve seen evidence of ICE using our private data – license plates, names, addresses – to find our loved ones and upend our lives,” said Roxana Norouzi, OneAmerica’s Executive Director. “Our public safety and our economy are at risk, and we can’t stand idly by and wait for things to escalate.”
In mid-September, OneAmerica joined allies, including the ACLU of Washington, the Washington State Labor Council, and the Latino Community Fund to publicly demand the governor take immediate action, and he did. The new executive order takes effect immediately.
“Here in Washington, we have a long history of our state stepping up for immigrants and refugees,” said Lahiri-Gupta. “We look forward to building with our governor, our state legislators, and all of you over the coming months to strengthen protections for immigrants and refugees and to create a Washington where everyone can thrive, no matter where they were born.”