Immigrants and Refugees are at the Heart of our Communities and Economy

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We wish it went without saying: immigrants and refugees are a deeply valued, integral part of our communities. 

The United States has been shaped by people migrating, voluntarily and through forced displacement. For generations, the U.S. has also served as a place of refuge for people fleeing war, persecution, and political violence. However they arrived, immigrants and refugees have contributed to building our infrastructure, institutions, economy, and civic life, strengthening communities, industries, and democratic participation. Immigrants and refugees are parents and children, elected leaders, business owners, nonprofit directors and staff, community advocates, co-op enthusiasts, circular economy innovators, labor organizers, educators, and so much more. Our country is better for them.

The People’s Economy Lab Network includes many immigrants, family and friends of immigrants, and we are devastated by the increase in arrests and deportations tearing our communities apart. Washington should be a safe place for all of our residents to live, work, and play. Instead, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol are making our state and country more dangerous, spreading fear and division, using unwarranted force and firepower. 

We value our immigrant community members far beyond their economic contributions. Our communities deserve safety, stability, and belonging because of their humanity, not because of what they produce. But as an economic justice organization, we’d be remiss not to call out the ways immigration enforcement rends the fabric of our communities, disrupting local and regional economies and creating precarity. Worksite enforcement actions, surveillance, and arrests fracture labor, destabilize families, and undermine community safety. These actions aren’t only targeting immigrants. ICE has taken action against Indigenous community members and U.S.-born citizens, too.

ICE is known to raid workplaces and detain workers, targeting a wide range of industries. They’ve also been known to target workers on their way to and from work, patrol agricultural areas, stake out parking lots where day laborers often find work opportunities, and even wait outside schools and child care centers during drop-off and pick-up times. They’re threatening and kidnapping people at the heart of our food systems, caregiving networks, and built environments. They’re inflicting fear and violence on our beloved community members, separating families, forcing people to choose between safety and survival, and stagnating participation in public life.

We know that a relatively small group of corporations and wealthy individuals have way more resources and control than the rest of us. They’re using their capital to tip the scales in favor of their own self-interest, to accumulate and hoard more and more wealth. Right now, authoritarianism is serving their self-interest. Deploying ICE agents to terrorize communities is serving their self-interest. For example, ICE detention centers, many run by for-profit corporations, often coerce their detainees to provide cheap labor. The more detainees, the greater their profits. 

Washingtonians aren’t just sitting back and letting all of this happen. Along with people across the country, we’re showing up to protect our people and our community. We’re organizing through rapid response and mutual aid networks. We’re raising funds for bond and legal support, sharing Know Your Rights materials, documenting and reporting ICE activity, and showing up in community to support those at risk.

These are just a few of the organizations leading action in our state:

We encourage you to support these organizations with your money and time.

We also encourage you to fight back through economic noncooperation. Don’t spend your money or invest in the corporations that support ICE. Instead, spend your money at local businesses, especially those owned by immigrants. Take advantage of buy nothing groups and libraries. Organize mutual aid with your neighbors. 

Together, by resisting the extractive economy and advancing economic democracy, we can create an economy that supports all of us. We can defeat authoritarianism.