Responding to this query from the Yakima Immigrant Response Network, League members in Kittitas County are providing second-hand suitcases for immigrant families who’ve had a family member taken into custody.  

Charli Sorenson, Kittitas League vice president, said a YIRN contact explained the suitcases are needed by families relocating closer to where the Department of Homeland Security has sent a loved one. Additionally, if DHS shares details about where a family member has been moved, the suitcases are used to send fresh clothes and other items.   

“Otherwise, the resident is often deported with nothing—no clothes except for what they were arrested in—and with no money,” Sorenson said. 

Sorenson said the initial request from YIRN came shortly before Christmas. “Our members responded with eight suitcases and we agreed to keep collecting them.”  

The following month, another request came—and League members donated eight more.  

“The families have been very happy to receive them,” Sorenson said learned. 

In addition to YIRN, Kittitas League also collaborates on other projects to serve immigrants with the Student Leadership, Involvement & Community Engagement program at Central Washington University and Central Washington Legal Aid.