AID NW training

Dennis and I spent much of the day at some training for the immigrant's rights organization serving the the detainees of Northwest Detention Center.  Another organization, Northwest Detention Center Resistance has a political protest point of view.  Marches, protests, chanting, etc.  Another loosely knit group informally known as the Vigilists maintain tables for those visiting detainees.  Mainly church groups, they have food, books, blankets and some gas money for families in distress.

Aid NW has 'welcome wagon,' an RV set up to serve those released from the center.  Usually in late afternoon or at night, the Center releases detainees... in a location in the industrial tide flats two miles from the nearest bus stop.  They have a plastic bag of their belongings, maybe some toiletries.  They are happy, thrilled no doubt, but what now?  So the Welcome Wagon is there to greet the newly released, gives them something to eat and figure their next step, know their benefits, help them make arrangements to go home, wherever that is.  Also hooks them up with local social services.  They also have some short term transitional housing.

On the left is Peggy H, who ran the training and a lot of the organization.  They also run some visitation programs.  Which we did informally, for sure breaking some of the guidelines discussed today.  Aid-NW looks at visitation (visiting detainees) as a bleak activity.

And out very own AG  Fightin' Bob Ferguson has brought a suit against Geo Corp for paying detainees $1/shift for working inside the facility.  They are NOT prisoners.  Go Bob!