WFSE member Sarah Shaw detained by ICE

Shaw and her son are being held in a South Texas facility, far away from their Washington community and legal representation

EVERETT, WA (August 11, 2025) — WFSE sister Sarah Shaw and her six-year-old son Isaac were taken at the Canadian border on July 24th on their way home to Everett after dropping Shaw’s two eldest children at the Vancouver, B.C. airport for a flight. Despite legal status, Sarah and Isaac have been held at the privately-run Dilley Immigration Processing Center in south Texas for more than two weeks.

While detained, Sarah and Isaac have been denied both access to their legal counsel based in Washington and the opportunity to prove that they are in the United States legally, per information shared in a GoFundMe set up to support the Shaws’ legal and living costs. Because ICE is limiting Sarah’s ability to communicate outside the Texas facility operated by the private prison corporation CoreCivic, most of the information about her case comes from the close family friends who set up the fundraiser.

WFSE sister Sarah Shaw and her three children. Photo via GoFundMe.

ICE reportedly refused to release Isaac to loved ones, despite his visa, or detain Sarah and her son in Washington, instead shipping them hundreds of miles away to a facility where she is isolated from her community, and where her lawyer cannot advocate for her, as only lawyers practicing in Texas can speak to those held in immigration detention centers there.

Sarah is a public servant in the Washington state Department of Children, Youth and Families and is a member of WFSE Local 341. She works at Echo Glen Children’s Center, providing direct rehabilitation services to troubled youth.

“The trauma this has already caused for her and her son may never be healed,” said WFSE President Mike Yestramski, a psychiatric social worker at Western State Hospital. “But our union stands ready to help and support them in any way possible. An injury to one is an injury to all.”

WFSE is calling for humanitarian parole for Sarah, which would effectuate the immediate release of her and her son. Per the Shaws’ GoFundMe, Sarah has been given no charge paperwork and she has not been added to ICE’s detainee locator system, demonstrating the extreme lack of accountability that is all too common in immigration enforcement.

While sister Sarah’s legal team works hard to secure her release, supporters are encouraged to donate to the Shaws’ GoFundMe to cover legal costs as well as living costs in Everett, like rent.