When news broke that the World Cup was coming to Lumen Field, it brought a heightened mix of anticipation and anxiety to the Chinatown-International District (CID). For the many working-class immigrant families that live and work here, the largest sporting event conveyed the prospect of bigger crowds and more business, alongside concerns about heightened surveillance and an expanded federal presence.
Creating a World Cup CID Worker Hub
In our commitment to maintain the CID as an ICE-Free Zone, Puget Sound Sage along with community partners organized the World Cup CID Worker Hub, a space for workers to rest, grab food, enjoy the games, or get resources in the event of ICE presence in the neighborhood. We partnered with Working Washington to host wage theft workshops, legal immigration clinics, family emergency preparedness workshops, and Know-Your-Rights training in the weeks leading up to the tournament. Neighbors came ready to plan and help each other think through hard scenarios.
Over 80 volunteers came through orientations to staff the Hub, especially during the six match days, but when the crowds turned out smaller than expected, volunteers pivoted to helping around the neighborhood where people were needed most. We handed out water and supplies to residents and elders on the hottest days, supporting existing mutual aid efforts on the ground. We shared fliers and information to passers-by about the sharing of Department of Licensing data that facilitated the increased ICE detentions of immigrants along the I-5 corridor in King County suburbs. Along with other community organizations, Sage supports the push urging Governor Ferguson to stop sharing Washington drivers’ data with ICE and Border Patrol. By the end of the last match, we connected with 50+ workers in the CID, many of whom spoke Mandarin, Cantonese and Spanish.
Celebrating Community Through the Beautiful Game
The World Cup also brought great moments of connection in the neighborhood. We opened the Hub with a summer barbeque. Community events such as the CID Block Party set the Guinness World Record for the largest dim sum meal. Hundreds of people sat together at Hing Hay Park during the watch parties, cheering together in a public space that belongs to them. Sage staff teamed up with other workers in the CID to play at the No Soccer Without Workers Community Soccer Match in Volunteer Park organized by Working Washington, reclaiming the beautiful game while getting resources on worker and immigrant rights, and reiterating our demand of No ICE in the Cup!
Preparing for the Next 100 Years
Across the country, Chinatowns are disappearing largely from rising costs and rapid urban development. The World Cup CID Worker Hub is part of a long-term effort to make sure that when the next big moment inevitably lands here – whether that’s an international sports event, a new commercial development, or the construction of a new light rail station, residents and workers are ready to meet the moment.
Our commitment to building an ICE-Free Zone is a commitment to a neighborhood that thrives. This how we keep the CID a working-class immigrant neighborhood for the #Next100Years.
Many thanks to our sponsors and community partners for helping make the World Cup CID Worker Hub happen:
- Asian Counseling and Referral Service
- CID Coalition
- City of Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs
- Indivisible
- InterImCDA
- LELO
- Massage Parlor Organizing Project
- MLK Jr County Labor Council WA AFL-CIO
- National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON)
- Protect Our Pitch 206
- Satterberg Foundation
- Seattle IWW
- Unite Here Local 8
- UW Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies
- WA Neighborhood Defense
- Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network
- Working Washington
- And many other grassroots groups and volunteers who made this work happen!