Maru Mora-Villalpando, a relentless, inspiring, and dedicated leader of NWDC Resistance, has been served a deportation order. Below is an urgent petition to ICE. Please take a moment to sign and share.

The Seattle office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has served a “Notice to Appear,” otherwise known as a deportation notice, to Washington-based community activist and mother, Maru Mora-Villalpando.

Maru leads Northwest Detention Center Resistance (NWDCR), an organization that was co-founded when immigrants held at the Northwest Detention Center began a series of hunger strikes in 2014 protesting their inhumane treatment. Mora-Villalpando’s efforts have transformed the NWDC from an ignored facility in an out-of-the-way location to a key site of local resistance, with weekly rallies and vigils outside its gates.

Now, in an unprecedented and arbitrary act of retaliation ICE has chosen to target Mora-Villalpando directly. ICE is now purposely targeting people such as Mora-Villalpando who are organizing against the agency and the Trump administration’s racially-motivated deportation agenda.
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“ICE only knows about me because of my political work,” explains Mora-Villalpando. “I have spoken out to defend immigrants in detention and shared my story as an undocumented mother. I have sat in meetings with immigration officials and challenged their practices. They are an agency whose actions have already been devastating to my community. But with the letter they delivered to my house, they are showing themselves to be an agency that silences any opposition to their practices,” she concluded.

Bangally Fatty, a UW student, has been detained and is facing possible deportation. He is currently imprisoned in the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, but his attorneys -- students at the UW Law School -- are requesting that he be released pending the adjudication of his application for a T visa. This would enable him to continue his studies, and to serve as a parent to his three-month old daughter, while he awaits a decision in his case. 

We have seen in other cases that public pressure can influence the outcome in immigration cases. Bangally has been an exceptionally conscientious student, is a valued member of our community, and especially because he is the first current student we're aware of who is facing deportation, I think it is important that our community stand by him to send a strong message that we support our students. 

Please sign and share this petition in support of Bengally Fatty.  

​For more information see this recent Stranger article. 

“You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.”
-Exodus 23:9

It is with all of our heart, with all of our soul, and with all of our means, that we, those affiliated with Kadima Reconstructionist Jewish Community of Seattle condemn the executive orders taken this week which effectively close our borders to Muslims, DACA recipients, and flagrantly violate America’s longstanding, values-driven commitment to serving as a safe haven for refugees. We likewise oppose any attempts to impose a “values test” on prospective immigrants as a backdoor method of screening on the basis of religion. Our tradition tells us of Abraham and Sarah as they welcomed three unknown travelers into their home modeling h achnasat orchim--welcoming guests--which the Talmud declared to be even more important than speaking to God.1 We join Jews around the world in condemning these acts having not forgotten our history, renewing our commitment, and anchoring ourselves in our interconnections to all.

​As Americans, we take pride in the fact that immigration and resulting cultural diversity are fundamental sources of our country’s vitality. We further regard respect for the human rights of all people as a fundamental responsibility that we all share.

We are proud that the Mayor, the City Council of Seattle and the County Council of Martin Luther King Jr County have designated our city and county as sanctuaries with respect to US immigration enforcement.

We strongly support the right and responsibility of cities and counties to deploy their limited resources to support the well-being of residents – both citizens and non-citizens, documented or undocumented -- rather than to fulfill the responsibilities of the federal agencies.
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In the same spirit we oppose the conspicuous waste of US national resources in building a border wall to impede the currently non-existent net flow of undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America.

Accordingly we strenuously oppose the anti-immigrant and anti-sanctuary policies of the Trump Administration and their expression in today’s Executive Orders. 

​1 We join with T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights in their statement.