Call to action for release of father apprehended by Homeland Security agents in Everson today / Noisy Waters Northwest

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January 24, 2020  Dena Jensen’

This morning Community to Community Development issued the following call to action on their Facebook page:

**ACTION ALERT***
Around 8 am this morning a family was pulled over by ICE in Everson on their way to take their children to daycare. We know that at this time at least the man is in custody, but it is unknown where in Whatcom County he is being held. We are asking all of our supporters to make calls to Customs and Border Patrol to demand the release of this father and community member. Please call all three numbers and let them know that it is unacceptable to apprehend and detain members of our community.

CUSTOMS AND BORDER PATROL OFFICES
Ferndale (360) 380-0408
Sumas (360) 988-5520
Lynden (360) 988-2971 Continue reading →

Whatcom County Severe Weather Shelters will open starting Sunday night, January 12, 2020 / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Click the graphic to access Whatcom County’s Winter Emergency Shelter Options page

January 10, 2020  Dena Jensen

Emergency Winter Shelter Hotline: (360) 788-7983

The big storm that weather services have been predicting for the last couple weeks is here.  People without shelter will be getting soaked, with extremely chilling temperatures closing in during the weekend. Whatcom County has posted Severe Weather Shelter openings starting Sunday night when lows are predicted to be 18 degrees according to the National Weather Service forecast specifically for Bellingham.

At this point, Whatcom County has said shelters will be open until Wednesday and that,
“The need for severe weather shelters to operate after Wednesday night will be reevaluated as forecasts are updated next week.”

Note that two shelters will be open January 12, at Garden St. United Methodist Church, serving families with children, and at Christ the King Church serving adult men. Seventh Day Adventist Church will open their shelter on Monday January 13 and it is projected to remain open until January 15, serving adults. Fountain Community Church, serving adults, will open on Wednesday January 15.  Continue reading →

Letter to the Whatcom County Homeless Strategies Workgroup RE the scarcity of access to severe weather shelters / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Click the graphic to access the Homeless Strategies Workgroup Meeting Information page on the Whatcom County website

January 8, 2020  Dena Jensen

To: Barry Buchanan <bbuchana@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Michael W. Lilliquist <mlilliquist@cob.org>; Daniel C. Hammill <dchammill@cob.org>; Ann Beck <abeck@co.whatcom.wa.us>; michael_parker@whatcomhsc.org <michael_parker@whatcomhsc.org>; Carol Frazey <cfrazey@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Michael Shepard <michaels@portofbellingham.com>; Mike Hilley <mhilley@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Cathy Halka <chalka@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Tyler Schroeder <tschroed@co.whatcom.wa.us>; rileysweeney@cityofferndale.org <rileysweeney@cityofferndale.org>

Cc: mayorsoffice@cob.org <mayorsoffice@cob.org>; Satpal Sidhu <ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us>; hahuthman@cob.org <hahuthman@cob.org>; laanderson@cob.org <laanderson@cob.org>; hestone@cob.org <hestone@cob.org>; Pinky T. Vargas <ptmvargas@cob.org>; Gene R. Knutson <gknutson@cob.org>

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Farm Workforce Modernization Act poses setbacks for workers and growers / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Community members, along with representatives of Community to Community Development and Familias Unidas por la Justicia join in a 2019 People’s Tribunal addressing the mistreatment of H-2A farmworkers at Crystal View Raspberry Farm in Bellingham, WA

November 30, 2019  Dena Jensen

Update, December 14, 2019: On Thursday December 12, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, HR 5038, was passed out of the House in the Congress. It now moves to the United States Senate.

Local farmworker advocacy organizations, Community to Community Development,  and Familias Unidas por la Justicia have been of significant support to H-2A visa workers, locally in Whatcom County, and in other areas in the state, as they were in June of 2019 in Grant County, Washington, at the King Fuji Ranch in Mattewa. Continue reading →

Who is going to help us make the sheriff obsolete? / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Click the graphic to access the February 16, 2018 GQ persepective by by Drew Magary, “The Case Against Sheriffs”

October 19, 2019  Dena Jensen

“The office of sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement. We must never erode this historic office.” – Jeff Sessions, February 12, 2018

If you read GQ correspondent, Drew Magary’s perspective piece from February of 2018, “The Case Against Sheriffs,” a social climate that embraces overtly racist and violent Sheriffs, a sampling of which Magary highlights, is not one found in Whatcom County.
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Progressive candidates should say no to events sponsored by organizations that negatively target Native Americans and immigrants/ Noisy Waters Northwest

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October 16, 2019 Dena Jensen

I am calling on everyone to just say no to participating in events sponsored by Common Threads Northwest, along with the Whatcom Business Alliance, whose leadership is pushing forward untruths that people want to deindustrialize Cherry Point. 

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Most funding requests for immigrant services are flipped the Byrd at recent Health Board meeting / Noisy Waters Northwest

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October 13, 2019 Dena Jensen

On October 1, 2019, Whatcom County Council, meeting as the County’s Health Board, received an update from the Public Health Advisory Board (PHAB) and a presentation from the Health Protection for Immigrant Families Task Force. The task force had made recommendations to PHAB in accordance with the County Council’s Resolution 2018-050, “Health Protection for Immigrant Families,” passed by the Council in early December 2018.

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