Yes! Access began as a story-first, disability-led movement. It was a place where disabled people could share their lived experiences, tag it with #YesAccess, and build a community too big to ignore. With roots in disability justice ideas such as intersectionality, leadership by those most impacted, interdependence, and recognition of wholeness, we sought to elevate the power of collective solutions, educate around our inherent worth, and build solidarity.
The mission has not changed. Our values have not changed.
But the world has.
The Problem
Disabled people are forcibly disappeared, detained, and abused through immigration enforcement actions. People with disabilities – among the most vulnerable in our community – are deprived of support by family members or caregivers who have been forcibly disappeared and detained.
And they are the least prepared to navigate this persecution.
Immigration enforcement practices are disproportionately impacting disabled people.
Facts:
These risks mean that, with immigration enforcement encounters increasing, disabled people face new dangers that no one is preparing them for.
We need to know:
- What ICE or DHS demands from us in an encounter.
- How to prepare and what we must do to support our own safety.
- What to do if family members or caregivers are forced to leave us behind.
- How to advocate for our access needs.
We need resources created by us and for us that understand us, prepare us, and don’t make harmful assumptions about what we can and can’t do for our safety and dignity.
We need to meet the moment with efforts grounded in disability justice.
Real Stories
Wael Tarabishi
On October 28, 2025, 30-year-old Wael Tarabishi’s father, Maher Tarabishi, was detained by ICE when he left his routine immigration check-in appointment. Wael, a disabled man with a rare condition, insisted that without his father’s caregiving, he would die. After a month in the intensive care unit, Wael passed away on January 23, 2026. Wael’s death was the direct result of ICE action. Adding to the indecency, ICE denied the request for Wael’s father to be released to attend his son’s funeral.
Aliyah Rahman
On January 13, 2026, Aliyah Rahman, a disabled U.S. citizen, was violently arrested and detained by ICE on her way to a medical appointment. She told officers, “I am disabled. I am autistic.” They ignored her. She was denied her mobility aids, physically harmed, and left without timely medical care. It nearly cost her life.
15-year-old student, Los Angeles
Federal immigration agents handcuffed and briefly detained a 15-year-old student with significant disabilities outside Arleta High School in Los Angeles in a case of presumed mistaken identity. The teenager was enrolling at Arleta High School on Monday morning when he was handcuffed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
Hector, 21
In March 2025, 21-year-old Hector, who has developmental disabilities, was left confused and unable to communicate in an immigrant detention facility in Tacoma, WA.
15-year-old detainee
In August 2025, a 15-year-old boy with disabilities was handcuffed by ICE agents in what they now claim was a “mistake” while the child waited with his mother for his sister in a car outside a school.
Vidal Palomar
In July of 2025, ICE agents violently threw Vidal Palomar, who uses a cane due to a work-related disability that impacts his ability to walk, onto the ground multiple times. Palomar was driving himself to a physical therapy appointment when he was apprehended by ICE. They broke his window, pulled him out of the car, slammed him to the ground (injuring him on the broken glass), picked him up and slammed him on the hood of their car. He let them know he was disabled, but they didn’t care.
Alex Pretti
Deceased Veterans Affairs nurse Alex Pretti was a vital partner to the disabled vet community. His last action prior to being shot and killed by ICE was to provide care to a protester suffering the effects of tear gas.
Arrests and abductions
Disabled immigrants and U.S. citizens, including Aliya Rahman, are forcibly removed from their vehicles and brutalized; others have been abducted from hospitals and healthcare facilities. People with disabilities experience detention conditions that completely deny them access to essential healthcare and vital disability supports.
Denial of rights and care
In multiple incidents, disabled people have been denied interpreters, other communication tools, or medical care in ICE custody, according to an August 2025 letter filed by 30 Democratic lawmakers, led by Representatives Julia Brownley and Judy Chu of California.
What We’re Building Now
We’re rapidly developing disability-first, digitally accessible preparedness resources for disabled people facing immigration enforcement — and for the families, educators, advocates, and organizations supporting them. Like disaster preparedness, we are helping people with disabilities understand the processes and make a plan to prepare for encounters with immigration enforcement that could be essential to preventing harm and supporting their safety in a high-risk situation.
These materials are plain language, visual, multilingual, and trauma-informed. They are free. They will always be free.
We are also running free, accessible educational webinars — American Sign Language (ASL) and Lengua de Señas Mexicana (LSM) interpreted, captioned, and secure — for anyone who needs them.
This is harm prevention. This is what access looks like in 2026.
Fund access to safety
Every dollar funds disabled creators, legal review, interpreter pay, and free webinars for families who need them most.
This is the first step toward $100,000 in resources that will reach families across the country. If you can give — now is when it matters.