For the week of February 16, 2026

🎙️Feb 16, 2026 Weekly Actions Audio – available for when you’re on the go

🔷 We had a great turn out at our in person meeting on Sunday! Here are the notes with links to lots of resources. Our next meeting will be March 21st online. Stay tuned for more details coming.

🔷 On March 28th, Indivisible Eastside will be hosting NO KINGS Kirkland – rally, food drive, and peaceful march. Event details including schedule are at https://bit.ly/IE-Rally-Details and will be updated as plans become solidified. Many volunteers are needed to support our biggest No Kings event! Sign up to help HERE with access code ‘rally’.

🔷 King County District 6 Representative Claudia Balducci is requesting input from constituents. You can share your thoughts using this survey link.

🔷 Join Indivisible Eastside Tuesday Feb 17th, 6-7:30 pm in making safety whistle kits for Lake Washington School District staff at the Newport Library in Bellevue. We will be making 2,000 kits and need all hands on deck. Register HERE to attend. All supplies will be provided, however, if you’d like to make a financial contribution to offset costs, you can donate online at https://bit.ly/IE-Donate-W.

Weekly Actions

✊ Action 1 – Stop enabling Palantir

From Purge Palantir and other sources

Palantir is an American technology company founded by Trump ally Peter Thiel. It’s at the heart of the worst actions of the Trump administration, including working with DOGE to create a searchable “mega-database” of sensitive personal data, including taxpayer data (in violation of federal law), and developing an app used by ICE to help choose their victims and track them.

It’s fair to say that Palantir is one of the primary enablers of authoritarianism in the U.S. and around the world. As early as June 2025, ten Members of Congress sent a letter to Palantir warning them to respect privacy statutes concerning data such as taxpayer records. Given that, you would think that democratic lawmakers would want nothing to do with Palantir. Sadly, many lawmakers have accepted their donations, including both of our senators, along with Adam Smith, who ranks 4th overall on their list.

The top Democratic recipient of Palantir donations, Pat Ryan (D-NY), said this week that he would donate the funds to an immigrants rights advocacy org, but Adam Smith remains defiant, saying “If you give the money back … you’re saying, ‘Oh my God, I don’t trust myself’… I personally and strongly feel it undermines representative democracy.” While he says “I don’t love how Palantir’s technology is being used”, the fact that he is now Palantir’s favorite Democrat is more than a little troubling.

Please call or email Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell, and especially Adam Smith (for those in the 9th district) to demand that they stop enabling Palantir.

🔷 Sen. Patty Murray: DC 202-224-2621 | Seattle 206-553-5545 | EMAIL

🔷 Sen. Maria Cantwell: DC 202-224-3441 | Seattle 206-220-6400 | EMAIL

🔷 Rep. Adam Smith (9th): DC 202-225-8901 | Renton 425-793-5180 | EMAIL

☎ Sample Script:

My name is [NAME], and I’m a constituent from [CITY, ZIP] in Washington state.

I’m calling to demand that [Senator Murray / Senator Cantwell / Representative Smith] stop accepting donations from Palantir and to return all prior donations, or donate the funds to support immigrants.

Palantir is a clear threat to democracy. Their work with IRS and other government databases violates federal law, and their technology is fueling the daily outrages in Minnesota and around the country.

Thank you.

[IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied]

✊ Action 2 – City of Tukwila- Do not allow ICE more office space!

From Wired

The City of Tukwila is already the location of a large Department of Homeland Security Office building. The journalists at Wired have done an investigation and their research shows that there is potential for another office building being leased just minutes away to help with the regime’s ICE expansion. This Seattle Times article suggests that these are supposed to be administrative offices only, but we have information from immigrant community org leaders that have told us they have been detaining people, including a mother and her two US citizen children who were kept there for 72 hours in unsuitable conditions in the existing DHS offices before being deported. It’s unclear whether this solicitation contract opportunity document is in any way related to the office space listed in the Wired article, but we oppose any further expansion of ICE/DHS facilities in our region. The City of Tukwila is having their next Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday February 23rd, 7-10 pm. Public comment is allowed in person, or online. Please express your concern of this ICE expansion in our region using the instructions below.

Those wishing to provide public comments have the ability to address the City Council both on-site at City Hall or via phone or Microsoft Teams for up to 5 minutes for items both on and not on the agenda. To provide comment via phone or Microsoft Teams, please email citycouncil@tukwilawa.gov with your name and topic by 5:00 p.m. on the meeting date. Please clearly indicate that you would like to make public comment during the meeting, and you will receive further instructions.

THE PHONE NUMBER FOR THE PUBLIC TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MEETING IS:

1-253-292-9750, Access Code 670077847#

To view the meeting, join at this link: Join Microsoft Teams Meeting

For Technical Support during the meeting call: 1-206-433-7155.

Suggestions for testimony:

Briefly thank the City Council members for their time. They did not ask for ICE to lease more facilities, and they will be able to listen better if they know you appreciate them.
Include a personal concern such as: “I am concerned about the way ICE has treated immigrants and citizens alike across our country, including ____” {describe people you’re particularly concerned about, such as children, hardworking parents, teachers, day laborers, etc.}
Describe the kinds of actions that the City might take. Choose from possibilities such as:
– “I am aware that many cities are reviewing permitting processes and occupancy rules to identify ways of eliminating the suitability of buildings for enforcement and removal operations. Buildings can be prohibited for use as Family Staging Centers (FSC) or Holding Centers.”
– “Please be aware that some offices claim they have bunks for staff use when on extended duty, and then use those to hold detained individuals. There was a case of a mother and her 2 US citizen children this fall, who were held for 72 hours in the Tukwila office. ICE also rents non-office facilities and uses them for the same purposes.”
– “I urge the City of Tukwila to follow the lead of King County in prohibiting the use of city-owned private spaces being used for any Federal operations, including staging or processing during immigration detention actions.”
– “The City of Tukwila can take the important step of conducting Know Your Rights training for businesses, so they know they have the right to refuse entry to private spaces without a signed judicial warrant.”
– “A simple step that the City of Tukwila can take is to distribute Know Your Rights red cards to residents in the primary languages spoken in Tukwila. Some cities are producing and mailing this information to every household in the city.”
Make sure your ask at the end is clear (it’s fine for your ask to be similar to others’). An example: “ICE has demonstrated blatant disregard of rights and due process across our country. Please do all that you can to prevent harmful ICE actions in our community.”

⛅ Bright Spots

While election results have not yet been certified, it looks like Bellevue, Lake Washington, and Issaquah school levies will pass.
JD Vance got booed at the Olympic opening ceremony in Milan.
President Donald Trump had accused six Democratic lawmakers of “seditious behavior” after they urged members of the military and intelligence communities to refuse unlawful orders. Trump administration officials failed Tuesday to convince a single juror that they had met the threshold to bring charges against the Democratic lawmakers.
Homeland Security has announced that the occupation of Minneapolis by Federal agents is coming to an end (although we will all watch closely to make sure the withdrawal happens as planned). Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said, “They thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation.”

Upcoming Events

Tue Feb 17 – 4:30 pm – City of Redmond Public Safety & Human Services Committee – Slides show they plan to discuss successes of Flock. Attend if able.
Sat Feb 21 – 11-12 pm – 41st District Town Hall with Lisa Wellman and My-Linh Thai, Mercer Island Community Center. Submit questions in advance here.
Sat Feb 21 – 11-1 pm – Kirkland City Council will hold a Conversations with the Council meeting at Kingsgate Library, 12315 NE 143rd St, Kirkland. These meetings are designed to create more informal, accessible opportunities for community members to connect directly with City Councilmembers.
Sat Feb 21 – 12-1:30 pm – 45th LD Town Hall in person at the Lake Washington Institute of Technology, 11605 132nd Ave. NE, Kirkland – or Livestream on Facebook.
Sat Feb 21 – 3-4:30 pm – Community Conversation with Rep. Salahuddin at Woodblock, 16175 Cleveland Street #109, Redmond.
Sun Feb 22 – 2-3:30 pm – Indivisible Eastside Digital Safety Workshop – online. Register to attend.
Mon Feb 23 – 7-8:30 pm – Systems and Power: Lessons From Those Who Came Before Us. Online. Register to attend.
Fri Mar 6 – 6-8 pm – WAISN Rapid Response Training – online. Register to attend.
Wed Mar 11 – 6-8 pm – WAISN Know Your Rights Training – online. Register to attend.
Sat Mar 28 -1-4:30 pm – No Kings Kirkland – Marina Park, 25 Lakeshore Plaza Drive, Kirkland. Please see the link for schedule and other important details.

📣 Everyday Actions

See Eastside and Seattle Protests 2026

See Ways to Help our Immigrant Neighbors

See Postcarding & Letter Writing resources on our website

Sign up for Take Action Network to take state legislative action

Additional resources for your activism

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