Dear Friends Across the Region,
Thank you for your involvement and leadership in our immigrant accompaniment and solidarity network, created For Such a Time as This. The tragedy of forced separation of children from their parents continues today at the border and in the interior of the country through an expanding regime of exclusion, detention and deportation. People of faith and good will have been confronting such injustice and standing in the breach. In the Puget Sound Region, the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma has grown to a capacity of 1,575 detainees per night, part of the number of 55,000 incarcerated people daily in the United States. There is no reason, legal or moral, for the detention of immigrants. The Church Council has joined La Resistencia, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network in calling for the closure of the Northwest Detention Center. We do so in order that families can stay together, so that individuals can pursue legal remedies free from the inhumane conditions of detention, and so that the rights and dignity of every immigrant are upheld and affirmed.
We send our love to our brother Jose Robles currently in the NWDC. He had been in Sanctuary for 13 months at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Seattle. He is applying for a U-visa, as a victim of a crime, that if granted would give him peace and security with his family. We stand with Jaime Rubio-Sulficio, in Sanctuary at Saint Mark’s Cathedral (Seattle). Both Jose and Jaime who have been at risk of deportation took the courageous step of Sanctuary so that they would not have to be permanently separated from their families. We applaud and are moved by the welcome by Temple Beth Hatfiloh in Olympia of Maria Pablo Matias and her son into sanctuary, having fled violence in Guatemala and seeking a pathway not to have to return to a dangerous situation. We are honored to work with the host congregations in each experience of Sanctuary. It takes a village of many congregations and committed people for the moral and practical aspects of Sanctuary to take root.
Thank you for your actions with and on behalf of these and other people impacted by “untimely and unwise” policies and practices that do such damage to our moral fabric as a nation.
Peace,
Michael Ramos
Executive Director
Maria Pablo Matias and her son
Temple Beth Hatfiloh in Olympia, WA
In Sanctuary since 9/5/19


Jaime Rubio Sulficio
Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, WA
In Sanctuary since 3/9/19
Jaime Rubio Sulficio is entering his seventh month in Sanctuary at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle. You can find periodic updates from Jaime and Saint Mark’s on the Cathedral’s website.

Dear friends and families,September has arrived, and we entered the sixth month since Jaime has been in Sanctuary in St. Mark’s Cathedral. Despite his case moving very slowly, We have an amazing team working on his case and we have carefully put strategies in place to seek a legal remedy to keep Jaime home.At the end of July, Jaime and I were interviewed by Yuko Kodama at KBCS 91.3fm radio, titled, “Taking Sanctuary”, describing our experiences adjusting to this new chapter in our lives in Sanctuary. We hope you can listen to the 3 segments of the radio interview.
That same week, we had an amazing fundraising event organized by the salsa community at Century Ballroom on July 25, 2019. This event was not only for fundraising purposes, but also to build community, stand in solidarity, share stories of Jaime, and build a network to respond to urgent immigration issues that affect our local communities. The event was a huge success and was packed with 425 participants and 80 volunteers! Many participants wore the the color red to share our collective message that we want our community member, Jaime, to stay here with us.Jaime and I are truly grateful that you have been there for us whenever we felt discouraged. We are truly humbled with your unconditional love and support for our family. Because of you ,we can keep our heads high and continue to raise the awareness of how common our story is in our city and how easily a family can be separated heartlessly by our current immigration system.We sincerely thank you for giving us a chance to stay together.Keiko Maruyamaon behalf of The Rubio Family

Photo by Cruz Sanjuan- Century Ballroom #KeepJaimeHome fundraiser
Jose Robles
Detained in Tacoma, WA since 7/17/19
Took Sanctuary at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Seattle, WA 6/28/18 to 7/17/19



