Earlier this year, thousands of caregivers and clients took action to stop immigrants from losing their care just because of where they were born. Under the Trump administration’s HR1, millions of refugees, asylees, and other immigrants who have had access to Medicaid-funded care for decades will lose it for no reason other than being immigrants.

We didn’t stand by and let it happen. We took to the streets in Yakima and Olympia. We spoke out at hearings and in the media. We explained to lawmakers what it meant to lose everything in war and violence, and then come to the United States only to be told we might lose everything again.

And the Washington legislature listened. They passed a budget this year that attempted to redirect state funds to fill in the gap for thousands of immigrants who would lose care.

But it turns out, what the Legislature did wasn’t enough. Trump’s cuts are even more extreme and more immediate than legislators anticipated. The action taken by our legislature will still leave thousands without care.

That means over a thousand elderly clients and people with disabilities in WA are about to lose their caregivers just because they're immigrants. And nearly 14,000 immigrants who rely on Medicaid for their healthcare will be completely cut off.

For immigrants across WA, this is an emergency. It’s an emergency for people like Olga, an 86-year-old woman who fled the war in Ukraine after her husband died. Olga is mostly blind, unable to walk, and relies completely on Medicaid-funded care to get by. It’s an emergency for Manuel, a ninth-grader with Down syndrome who has been awaiting asylum for three years with his older sister Mercedes after fleeing violence in Nicaragua. Mercedes feeds him, helps him shower, manages his medication, and takes him to the hospital regularly. If his care is ripped away, it would mean losing every step he's made towards becoming self-sufficient. It’s an emergency for 22-year-old Anastasia, whose family came to the US from Ukraine. Born with a neurological disorder that causes seizures every single day, she relies completely on Medicaid-funded caregiving. Without access to care, her life will be at risk.

An emergency of this scale requires emergency action. Our governor has the power in his hands: he can redirect emergency funds to fill in the gap for immigrants about to lose their caregivers. Gov. Ferguson campaigned on the promise of Trump-proofing Washington state, and now it’s time for action.

Click through to send a letter to Gov. Ferguson telling him it’s time to use emergency funds to fill in the gap for immigrant care.