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Meet Israel:

"Hello good afternoon, my name is Israel Arrascue, I am currently detained at the Northwest Detention Center. At the moment we are worried here about the conditions that exist here inside detention. One of the things related to the pandemic, despite having offered vaccines to many of the detainees, many still have not taken them, and as well we understand that many of the officials haven’t taken them either. I want to tell you that although many of us who are high risk have gotten the vaccine, we still are in danger; this situation hasn't ended with the offering of the vaccine.

Another point I want to mention that is worrying is related to the topic of the food. The food isn’t the greatest, they don’t offer us anything adequate, the salads are in a bad state. They give us a lot of carbohydrates, a lot of flour, bread, rice, potatoes, cakes, nothing that can help us. In my personal case, recently I have developed pre-diabetes. I was put in detention just a year and a half ago and I didn’t have this condition, so it worries me, no? Part of this is my high risk, it increases my high risk for covid.

Well the other thing that I wanted to mention is the changes that are occurring internally with the officials, what I have noticed, there is a lot of movement of them, and as well i've seen a bit of reduction in people in the month of people who are detained at the moment. There are around 200, many of have stopped working outside, there are a few people working from outside, so what this has done is many staff are working in the kitchens, maintenance, cleaning, things they never did before. I would assume this causes some stress for them, problems for them and then this is perhaps reflected in the food; in the poor quality, in the small amount, and as well we don't have alternatives that we can buy at the commissary, there's nothing healthy, they don't even offer water at the commissary! We have to drink the water from the faucet, that they tell us to drink, it worries us because there aren’t alternatives, so many people have taken to eating nothing but soup; soups that have a high salt content, and this aggravates our situation with our health. What I've come to understand is that telling about these problems surely causes some stress for the staff, with the changes that are happening—they have to keep detention open so now its how they give us suitable treatment each month. I no longer see motivation, i don’t see the reason why they keep it open.

Right now i'm thinking about a lot of things related to this. It brings my attention to To date, we are, like I said, 200, in a detention facility for 1500 people, that's barely 12% of the population. It was one thing to be half or 30% of the population, were only 12%. So if they’re going to continue with detaining people, they should give us decent treatment. What were asking now is that the government of washington—the state of washington and the governance of the insiders—help, and look for a form of power that they can use for all of us, to try for a chance. Obviously we’ll continue our immigration case. We’re not going to flee or anything, we’re going to continue with our immigration case; outside and free . With dignified and just treatment. This is what we want to see. Thank you"

https://gofund.me/73e8a1ac

Help support Samuel and his family by contributing. Funds will go towards legal fees and support for his family while he's away.

"Join us in helping to bring Samuel back home to his family and support them in their fight to do so.

Last week Samuel was kidnapped by ICE while he was on the way to work, right out front. Samuel is now being held by ICE in a detention center instead of home with his family. He is a beloved community member in Sherman county, where he lives with his wife and 3 stepchildren. Samuel works hard in everything he does, work, family and community.

Samuels family has been devastated by this loss both emotionally and financially. He was temporarily the sole provider for the family after a car accident last year that made it necessary for his wife, Carmen to have a serious spinal operation. She has been at home recovering and also depends on him for help around the house due to her physical limitations as she heals. His kids want to know when their dad will be home to tuck them in and go on hikes again. School and every day activities have become difficult not knowing when they will be able to see their dad again.

We are helping to raise funds both for legal expenses to fight Samuels case and bring him home, as well as to help support Carmen and the kids to keep up with bills while she continues to recover from her operation, and funds for the family to be able to talk to Samuel while he is at the detention center.

Any help is appreciated, as this beautiful family is doing everything they can to get through this traumatic experience and make their family whole again.

Thank you for your love, kindness and support."

BREAKING! One More Positive COVID-19 Guard at Detention Center - ICE will not perform any contact tracing

Tacoma, WA- In a report filed yesterday by Jack Lippard, Assistant Officer in Charge at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC), Immigrations Custom Enforcement (ICE) revealed that a guard who worked at the NWDC on April 12th, 2021 began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms on April 15th, 2021 and tested positive for COVID-19 on April 16th 2021. In the report, Jack Lippard stated that ICE will not perform contact tracing.

The report states: “The index officer last worked at the NWIPC on April 12, 2021. On April 15, 2021, the index officer reported symptoms started on that day. The index officer went to get tested for COVID-19 on April 16, 2021. On April 21, 2021, test results returned positive for COVID-19 . . . ICE determined that further contact tracing is not necessary.” According to the CDC, “It's possible for people to spread the virus for about 2 days before experiencing signs or symptoms.” Because this window is approximate and the guard was working 3 days prior to reporting symptoms, it is very possible that the guard was contagious while working at the NWDC on April 12th.

ICE and GEO Group continue to show a lack of regard for the lives of people caged in NWDC and this report paired with the refusal to perform contact tracing is indicative of that pattern. People detained at NWDC warned of this continuing negligence in a video obtained by La Resistencia the same day the “index officer” last worked at NWDC, according to ICE, “At the moment we are worried here about the conditions that exist here inside detention. One of the things related to the pandemic, despite having offered vaccines to many of the detainees, many still have not taken them, and as well we understand that many of the officials haven’t taken them either. I want to tell you that although many of us who are at high risk have gotten the vaccine, we still are in danger; this situation hasn't ended with the offering of the vaccine”, said Israel Arrascue detained at NWDC.

People detained cannot practice social distancing inside of the NWDC, some guards have refused to get vaccinated and often do not wear masks, and people detained are forced to use single-use masks for several days. ICE and GEO Group cannot be trusted to adequately respond to this pandemic and keep people detained safe.

With the passage of law HB1090, Washington State has made it clear that this facility is not welcome in our state. La Resistencia calls on Governor Jay Inslee to do everything he can to empty the NWDC now: stop all DOC transfers to the NWDC, help release all Washington residents, and empty the facility.

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La Resistencia is a grassroots volunteer undocumented led group fighting alongside people detained at NWDC to end all detentions, deportations, and to shutdown NWDC