The LWVWA’s position titled “Protecting the Rights of Immigrants” won a significant endorsement earlier this month when the national League recommended members across the country adopt the position by way of the process known as concurrence.  

Adopting the position would allow all Leagues to lobby for legislation that would protect the rights of immigrants residing in our communities. 

Meanwhile, state and local Leagues across the country also continue to extend their support for the position as the 57th biennial national convention nears. Members attending the June 25-27 event in Columbus, Ohio, will vote on whether the position, which affirms the rights of immigrants, should become a national policy.  

The endorsement does not guarantee national adoption but rather encourages members to vote in favor of it. Two years ago, the Washington state League’s position on Local News & Democracy also received a recommendation to support and membership handily adopted that position by a 859-63 vote.  

“We are extremely grateful to the national League for its support and for their decision to recommend our position for adoption,” said Susan Martin, chair of the campaign to secure concurrence. She, along with Lobby Team Immigrants Issue Chair Lydia Zepeda, wrote the study that led to state adoption of the Washington position. 

"The acknowledgement from the national League reinforces that the League is an organization that is committed to our democracy and is willing to stand tall to make ours a better world,” added Martin, former executive director of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. 

In informing Washington State League leadership of the national board’s recommendation, LWVUS consultant Betsy Lawson wrote, “As part of the recommended program, the LWVUS board is recommending concurrence with the LWVWA position-in-brief, Protecting the Rights of Immigrants.” 

She explained that the position-in-brief provides “a thorough and overarching position that will complement the existing LWVUS position on Immigration. 

Nearly 10 state Leagues and more than three dozen local Leagues have indicated they will vote to adopt the position, Martin noted. 

The Port Washington-Manhasset League on Long Island’s north shore in New York, wrote last month to salute the study the League published in 2024, and the respective position on Protecting the Rights of Immigrants: 

We appreciate all your efforts in creating such a readable, comprehensive, inspiring study — and a position which is both general enough to be aspirational and specific enough to use for advocacy. That is a tough balancing act. 

Your ease with the subject matter is apparent ... and clearly speaks to decades of involvement and passion in building your expertise. We benefited tonight and we hope many more Leagues will be able to use your position in the coming months and years. We, as a country, certainly need it." 

Martin and Zepeda will attend the convention, titled “Women Unite & Rise.” Representing the state League will be President Karen Crowley, Director Roberta Soltz and Alison McCaffree, who chairs the LWVWA Washington Redistricting Reform Task Force and is the Lobby Team’s Issue Chair for Democracy. 

Washington members adopted the position in June 2025 at the state convention. At the upcoming national convention, using a process called concurrence, other Leagues can adopt the position without the rigorous study required of an initial adoption. Concurrence would enable League members nationwide to advocate legislatively on behalf of immigrants. 

Meanwhile, LWVWA is using its position to educate Washingtonians about the rights of immigrants and to lobby and advocate for measures that ensure that immigrants, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, are treated with respect and dignity.  

Martin prepared an op-ed article, “Immigrant Detention in America,” which was published late last month in the Journal of the San Juan Islands newspaper. Zepeda’s “Weekly Legislative Update: Immigrants” published during the 2026 state legislative session, provided important information on legislation affecting immigrants for League members as well as legislators.