For the week of August 17, 2026

🎙️Aug 17, 2026 Weekly Actions Audio – available for when you’re on the go

🔷 From August 1 through August 31, Indivisible National is matching the funds raised by individual chapters across the country, dollar for dollar, up to a maximum of $300 per chapter. Help us get our $300 match–donate HERE!

🔷 Before school let out for summer, we highlighted the Rose Hill Middle School Pantry program and you all came through and donated to help families out over the summer. They are looking to stock up again before school starts and in particular need laundry detergent and cooking oil. They can be dropped off at Claudia’s house in central Kirkland. Please email jensen.claudia@gmail.com to donate and arrange drop off.

🔷 Our local rapid response teams continue to show up to support families who have been impacted by ICE enforcement activity. Did you know that from Oct 2025 to Aug 16, 2026, there have been 196 documented incidents and 84+ confirmed abductions in Bellevue, Issaquah, Kirkland, Bothell, Redmond, Newcastle, and Sammamish? The number grows every week. In order to spread awareness of the scale of this on the Eastside, we have yard signs to distribute that will raise people’s awareness of what is happening in their neighborhoods. If you would like one please email us at hello@indivisibleeastside.com. There is a suggested donation of $7 per sign to offset costs. You can use the Donate link on our website.

Weekly Actions

✊ Action 1 – Keep Naturalization Affordable

From One America

The federal government is finding more ways to make daily life harder for immigrants and their families. A new rule they’ve proposed would substantially increase the cost of becoming a citizen.

The goal of this change is to make it so that fewer people can become Americans.

This rule is about changes to the filing fees for two forms. N-400s are Applications for Naturalization. N-336s are Requests for a Hearing on a Decision in a Naturalization Proceeding, which allow applicants to seek a review of a denied application.

Under this rule, online filing fees for N-400s would increase from $710 to $1,280 (+80%) and the cost of a paper filing for an N-400 would go up from $760 to $1,330 (+75%).

For N-336, the cost of an online form would increase from $780 to $1,425 (+83%) and the cost of a paper filing would go from $830 to $1,475 (+78%). The proposed rule further eliminates the availability of fee waivers and ends the reduced fee option for Form N-400.

Becoming a citizen opens up opportunities for immigrants that they wouldn’t have otherwise. It allows people to have their voice heard by voting and shaping their communities. And at a time when the federal government is detaining and deporting many immigrants, it offers safety and security.

By increasing the cost to become a citizen, the Trump administration is trying to keep immigrants from exercising their rights, while restricting who can be an American to the wealthiest few. The best comments explain how the rule change will impact you and your community.

Action: Use the suggestions below to write a comment, and submit it on the Federal comment page. The deadline is August 24, 8:59 PM PDT. Some ways to personalize your comment are:

How the naturalization fee waiver or reduced fee made a difference for you, a family member, or someone else in your community.
Your own experience of naturalization. What did you gain, and how have you contributed to the U.S. since becoming a citizen?
If you don’t have a personal story, share how the proposed changes will impact immigrant and refugee communities broadly, and why access to naturalization matters to you.

☎ Sample Script (please edit text based on prompts above):

My name is [NAME], and I am writing to say I strongly oppose the proposed increases in naturalization fees. Our country has been made better and stronger because of immigration. Naturalization doesn’t just help the person who is becoming a citizen, it makes our whole community stronger. This rule change will keep families divided. Do not adopt these fee hikes. Thank you.

✊ Action 2 – Midterm elections work is underway- choose your adventure!

The Primary Election (see results here) will be certified tomorrow, Aug 18th, which means we are on our way to the General Election! What will you do between now and November 3rd? Here are some opportunities to get involved:

💥 Volunteer for local elections

If these candidates share your values, consider supporting them.

LD 41 State Rep Pos 1 – Janice Zahn incumbent; help re-elect – Volunteer Donate
LD 41 State Rep Pos 2 – My-Linh Thai incumbent; help re-elect – Volunteer Donate

LD 45 State Rep Pos 1 – Roger Goodman incumbent; help re-elect – Volunteer Donate
LD 45 State Rep Pos 2 – Vanessa Kritzer has a Republican opponent. Volunteer Donate

LD 48 State Rep Pos 1 – Osman Salahuddin incumbent; help re-elect – Volunteer Donate
LD 48 State Rep Pos 2 – Jessica Forsythe currently leading in the primary by 25 votes! Volunteer Donate

💥 Postcarding

Local postcarding groups meet weekly and provide the materials via donations from participants. They will be writing for State Supreme Court candidates that share our values very soon!

If you haven’t written for Postcards4WA before, please fill out this interest form. If you HAVE written with them in the past, you’re already on the list! Look for the kickoff email very soon!

💥 WA State No on initiatives campaigns

No on 645 Campaign (Repealing the Millionaire Tax) is getting organized. Donate, Pledge to Vote No. Did you hear that travel guru Rick Steves endorsed No on I-645? Watch his video explaining why.

No Hate in WA State Campaign (IL26-001 & IL26-638) Volunteer Donate

💥 Phone Banking

Indivisible National has phonebank training videos and all their phonebanks come with the first 30 min of training, so it’s easy for beginners to get involved! https://indivisible.org/resource/phone-banking-resources/

💥 National Opportunities

Field Team 6 has a wide variety of volunteer opportunities. Textbanking

Vote Riders is a national voting rights organization that has a help line that people can call for assistance to get the proper ID to vote. You can volunteer for their help line. They are have a remote training on 9/24, 4-5 pm PDT: mobilize.us/voteriders/event/483780

Common Power has amazing canvassing opportunities if you really want to commit to helping in a very impactful way in a different state. Their 101 trainings give you a great overview to help you decide if you want to volunteer in this way. https://www.mobilize.us/commonpower/event/598636/

Is there a candidate you’re supporting you’d like us to elevate? Send a submission to be included in a future newsletter to hello@indivisibleeastside.com, and please include: candidate name, position, and website, as well as why you’re supporting them.

We also love to hear of any GOTV (Get Out The Vote) activities that we may not be aware of. Don’t hesitate to email us!

Cybersecurity Corner

Be careful using AI notetakers. Your data, and data and images of other meeting attendees, could potentially be at risk if you use an AI notetaker for meetings. This article explains how a security researcher found the data leakage from an AI notetaker named tl;dv. Before you use an AI notetaker, make sure you look for any data leak reports about that notetaker. Another best practice is to ensure the rest of the attendees are OK with you using an AI notetaker.

Also of interest in the security realm is John Oliver’s in depth piece about the surveillance state.

⛅ Bright Spots

Judge Indira Talwani granted a group of nonprofit organizations an injunction blocking Trump’s attack on mail-in voting — specifically, having the United States Postal Service refuse to deliver absentee ballots to voters not on a state-approved list. As a result of Judge Talwani’s order, USPS will continue to be required to deliver mail-in ballots to every voter who requests one.
The Renton City Council voted to physically cover their Flock Cameras, making them the first in the Western US to do that.
A WA State judge ruled it is constitutional for Washington ballots to include information about how a repeal of the high-income earners’ tax (Millionaire’s Tax) would affect the state budget.

Upcoming Events

Mon Aug 17, 5-7 pm – DeFlock Renton Rally, sign waving along Grady Way near Renton City Hall (1055 S Grady Way). Afterwards join Southend Indivisible at the council meeting.
Tues Aug 18, 2:30-4 pm – Whistle Kit Making Party. Together Center, 16305 NE 87th St, Redmond.
Wed Aug 19, 4-5 pm – Eastside for All Launch Event for Build for Belonging Action Fund, Woodblock Restaurant, 16175 Cleveland Street, Redmond. For more information, sign up at the link.
Thur Aug 20, 12-1 pm – No on Initiative 645 Briefing, online, register to attend.
Thur Aug 20, 3:30-5:30 pm – Stitch Squad at Downtown Kirkland Library, 308 Kirkland Ave. Sign up HERE with access code stitch
Mon Aug 24, 6:30-8:00 pm – Constitutional Observer Training, online, register to attend.
Tue Sept 8, 7-8:30 pm – Constitutional Observer Training, Bellevue, register to attend for full address.
Sat Sept 12, 10 am -2 pm – safeTALK Suicide Prevention Class, Together Center, 16305 NE 87th St, Suite 122, Redmond. Register to attend.
Tues Sept 15, 5:30-7:30 pm – Civics 101 – Local Government, Newport Way Library, 14250 SE Newport Way, Bellevue.
Sat Sept 19, 3:30-5:00 pm – IE General Membership Meeting, in person – Kirkland – Save the date. Registration link will be provided next week.
Tues Sept 22, 5:30- 7:30 pm – Civics 101 – State Government, Newport Way Library, 14250 SE Newport Way, Bellevue.
Tues Sept 29, 5:30 -7:30 pm – Civics 101 – Federal Government, Newport Way Library, 14250 SE Newport Way, Bellevue.
Tues Oct 6, 5:30- 7:30 pm – Civics 101 Trivia Night, Newport Way Library, 14250 SE Newport Way, Bellevue.
Wed Oct 14, 1-1:45 pm – Lunchtime Meeting w/ Sen. Cantwell’s Staff – virtual.

📣 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 actions by Indivisible groups around the state

Additional resources for your activism

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