Washington anti-ICE group slashes over half its staff amid financial crisis, union fight

The Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN), which operates a statewide hotline used to report Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, has laid off more than half its workforce amid a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall and a dispute with employees attempting to unionize.

WAISN laid off 18 of its 32 employees in September, including administrative staff, Rapid Response coordinators and hotline operators.

WAISN's Deportation Defense Hotline provides immigration resources and receives reports of ICE activity. It handled more than 5,000 calls in 2024, according to the group's annual report. Following the layoffs, hours were reduced from 12 hours per weekday to seven, from 7 am to 2 pm.

WAISN blamed the cuts on disappearing financial support. "Intimidation and threats from the current administration have led funders who once saw themselves as allies to our movement to reassess political risk and pull back funding," a WAISN spokesperson told KUOW.

The organization told the Seattle Times that it entered 2026 with a $2.6 million budget deficit. Tax filings show WAISN's revenue fell from approximately $9.36 million in 2023 to $3 million in 2024. Contributions and grants alone dropped from $9.3 million to $2.9 million, a decline of about 69 percent. WAISN nevertheless finished 2024 reporting approximately $7 million in assets.

Some significant funding has continued. Communities of Opportunity, a partnership launched by King County and the Seattle Foundation, lists WAISN for $135,000 annually in 2026 and 2027 for "Systems and Policy Change."

The financial crisis has also sparked a labor fight. Employees formed the WAISN Worker Collective and requested voluntary union recognition in September. The collective says all 14 employees terminated during the largest round of layoffs supported the union effort.

Federal records show a National Labor Relations Board case was filed Sept. 30 seeking representation for a proposed bargaining unit of 18 employees. An unfair-labor-practice charge was also filed against WAISN that day. WAISN says it supports employees' right to decide whether to unionize and maintains that its financial problems necessitated the layoffs.

Executive compensation also became an issue during the dispute. WAISN's 2024 tax filing shows co-executive directors Catalina Velasquez and Brenda Rodríguez López each received $160,000 in salary, plus $7,455 in other compensation.

Workers criticized leadership after employee hours and compensation were reduced. WAISN subsequently said both executive directors took 25 percent salary reductions effective Sept. 11, according to KUOW.

WAISN's separately funded immigrant bond program will continue operating. According to the Seattle Times, it spent approximately $133,000 to secure the release of 17 people from immigration detention in 2024. WAISN says designated bond donations do not pay salaries or administrative expenses and that returned bond money is recycled for future cases. The organization says it has distributed more than $1.5 million in immigration bonds since 2016.