Since 2022, Puget Sound Sage has been organizing Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (CID) to ensure the historic neighborhood remains home for working class and immigrant communities for the #Next100years. Over the last several years we have held political teach-ins, public walking tours, movie nights, residential meetings, community assemblies and visioning workshops with elders, local businesses, youth, and families all over the neighborhood. Our elders even led the organizing during public comment hearings with Sound Transit last summer, urging officials to approve the North-South CID station location which will ultimately create opportunities for the CID to build more affordable housing, community gathering places and green spaces.
Today our neighborhood – and our city – faces an ongoing threat.
Already our region is experiencing increasing attacks from immigration enforcement agents, and community groups have been mobilizing to respond to ICE sightings and detentions. With Seattle preparing to host the World Cup this summer, we know FIFA will come with a substantial increase in federal presence and surveillance in the CID where the stadiums are right next to. This news has permeated a sense of danger and anxiety for many of our community members, and as an organization that is deeply invested in the safety of our neighbors, we developed an ICE-Free Zone Toolkit containing non-cooperation pledges for residents, local businesses and workers as well as posters our neighbors can display on their windows telling ICE agents that they are not welcome here.
We don’t have to wait for the City or County to enact policy protecting us from ICE, we ourselves can declare our neighborhoods ICE-Free Zones.
We believe community members are the eyes and ears of the neighborhood and the first line of defense against ICE. They are often the first people to respond and are best situated to support their neighbors. We share our toolkit in the hopes that other neighborhoods across the region adapt it to their needs and use it to support organizing in their own communities. Support this important work by making a donation today!
An organized neighborhood is an ICE-Free Zone.
Sage partnered with Whose Streets? Our Streets! to hold a workshop on Creating Neighborhood ICE-Free Zones on the morning of the MLK Day Rally. Over 80 people from across King County packed inside a classroom at Garfield High School where they heard from Sage organizers and elders who shared their own experiences talking to neighbors in the CID about non-cooperation with ICE. Community leaders from the Central District, Tukwila and Kent also spoke about how their communities have responded to ICE presence in their own neighborhoods.
The following Sunday we invited community members to set up ICE-Free neighborhood groups of their own and held a public Canvassing 101 Training, intending to support even more people across the County to engage deeply with their neighbors. This was the day after Alex Pretti was executed in broad daylight by ICE in Minneapolis. More than 250 people showed up to the training – an unprecedented amount we did not expect, so much so that we ran out of chairs – illustrating the palpable anger and fear we have all been feeling living in this country. Shortly after the training, people went on to canvas in their neighborhoods with the printouts and supplies provided from our toolkit.
Overall, we canvassed over 20 neighborhoods across King County that day, meaningfully connecting with more than 500 neighbors. We talked to small businesses, residents, workers, and families, most of which went on to sign up to be part of their own neighborhood organizing groups.*
There are many ways to support community members and defend against ICE intrusion and Federal presence.
We recognize the brilliance and courage of many individuals, workers, students, and impacted people who have been coming out of their homes, knocking on doors, organizing and leading the way. We believe that a decentralized strategy is our best defense. It is in this spirit that we offer our own experiences organizing in the Chinatown-International District – a neighborhood with diverse views and lived experiences – to serve as a resource and source of inspiration to facilitate deeper relationship-building among people within their own communities. When ICE comes to our neighborhoods, our people will be organized and equipped with tools and information to protect one another.
Support this critical work by making a donation to Puget Sound Sage today! There are many emergent needs, including translation, community toolkits, printing costs for posters and fliers for small businesses, and more. Your support ensures communities have the tools, training, and resources needed to stand together across our neighborhoods and fight for this future.
Our goal is to continue facilitating these workshops to equip community members across the region with the skills, framework and tools to talk to their neighbors, move perspectives, and create places where all of us – especially our immigrant neighbors – feel welcome and safe. Sign up here to receive alerts, updates, and upcoming training opportunities to organize neighborhood ICE-Free Zones!
*We provide training, tools, and educational resources to support community groups in developing their own independent work. These groups operate autonomously and are not affiliated with, governed by, or directed by our organization. We do not oversee their activities or communications and are not responsible for their decisions, actions, or representations.