SeaTac, WA – Today, immigrant, labor, community, and elected leaders came together to speak out against the Trump Administration’s racist travel ban. The ban, which went into effect on June 9th, fully restricts and limits the entry of nationals from 12 countries including Afghanistan, Eritrea, Haiti and Somalia, and partially restricts entry of people from seven additional countries. Watch the livestream recording here.
In a statement, Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson said: “Washington was the first state to challenge the initial travel ban in 2017—and we won. While it is difficult to believe we are back here again, Washington will lead on this issue just as we did before. We have a president who does not understand some basic things about what our country stands for, and what we believe in. Washington will uphold our values in the face of the chaos from the Trump Administration.”
In a statement, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown said: “The president says his travel ban is about national security. But this racist order will not make anyone safe. The ban has stalled life-saving medical treatment for Haitian children who need to travel for care. It has struck fear into Afghans who helped defend the United States and the US military and were expecting and deserving of sanctuary here from the Taliban. And it’s issued at a time when thousands of international students are working every day to renew their visas for their school next year, including here in Washington state. This ban sweeps up medical patients, students and families, and people fleeing persecution. Those people are not national security risks. They add value to this country and it is obvious that this order is driven by Donald Trump’s bleak, absurd social views and not protecting the public. We know that this order will affect so many families in Washington and we are taking a careful look within the Attorney General’s office on whether or not we have a legal basis to challenge it.”
In a statement, Zia, OneAmerica Organizer, said: “I immigrated to the United States after serving as an interpreter for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. Like many others, I was forced to leave due to increasing violence and threats to my safety. For many Afghans, this isn’t just a policy—it is a crushing blow to their hopes for safety, reunification, and stability. It has turned dreams into despair. As someone who organizes within this community every day, I have witnessed the pain, the frustration, and the fear our families carry. But I have also witnessed something else—strength, resilience, and a powerful commitment to keep moving forward, despite every setback. I speak today not to point fingers, but to call for compassion—to call for fairness, dignity, and a future where no family must suffer because of where they come from or how they pray.”
In a statement, Abdullahi Shakul, member of the Drivers Union, said: “I’m Somali American, also a rideshare driver and a member of Drivers Union. In addition to that, I’m also a service member. The current policy—the separation of families—as rideshare drivers we are having a lot of bad things to deal with, and we are not forgetting the previous ban. During the last ban, there were rideshare drivers who could not attend the wedding of their daughter, the birth of their child, the funeral of their parents. This new ban is an added burden. It is unfair to us, and has to be reversed.”
In a statement, Hamdi Mohamed, Port of Seattle Commissioner, Position 3 said: “At the Port of Seattle, we stand firm with our workforce and community advocating for their rights and recognizing that they are essential. They play an essential role in making our airport a welcoming gateway for millions and millions of passengers each year. I was born in Somalia, one of the countries listed in the ban. I arrived in the U.S. as a 3-year-old refugee after my family went through a rigorous vetting process to bring us to safety. That process is still in place, and it gets tougher each year, but it’s being undermined by this travel ban. Growing up, I watched my mother work tirelessly at SeaTac airport juggling multiple jobs to make ends meet and to support businesses in our region. Today’s travel ban is driven by fear instead of facts, driven by fear instead of evidence. It singles people out based on where they’re from—people like my family—based on how they pray, and not on credible fear. It is reckless and it weakens our national security and it devastates families.”
In a statement, Darya Farivar, Washington House of Representatives for the 46th district said: “I’m proud, fiercely proud, to be the first Middle Eastern woman elected to our legislature. I’m proud to be Iranian American, proud to come from a nation that’s been banned, not because of who we are, but because of what we represent: resilience, strength, hope. I’m the daughter of parents who fled Iran, who left everything behind for the promise of liberty. I’m here because my grandparents, brave souls, packed up their family across oceans and borders in search of a better life for their children and their grandchildren. I am that dream fulfilled. I am living proof of that hope. And yet here we are again. This travel ban is not new. It is hate repackaged. It is fear recycled and it is xenophobia dressed as policy. We reject it. We reject the lie that our families are threats. We reject the silence that tells us the way our turn. We reject the cruelty that treats immigrants as disposable.”
In a statement, Imraan Siddiqi, Executive Director at CAIR-WA said: “In 2017, I was a plaintiff on the first lawsuit filed against Trump’s Muslim Ban. This version of the travel ban is driven by the very same anti-Muslim animus, the very same anti-refugee sentiment and the very same xenophobia is the original version. It is preventing people from being reunited with their families in the U.S., disrupting our economy, and disproportionately impacting Black and Brown travelers, who, regardless of their immigration status, are facing increased scrutiny at ports of entry. Hate is spiking as well. In the last 72 hours, I’ve heard of an attack at a mosque in Texas, a bomb threat against a mosque in Bothell and a high school student in Washington who received a death threat from a classmate. These bigoted policies have real world impacts on our communities—and we call on all people of conscience to stand up against these bans.”
In a statement, Roxana Norouzi, OneAmerica Executive Director said: “OneAmerica is an immigrant rights organization founded after 9/11 as immigrants of color, particularly Muslim and Sikh communities, faced hate crimes and government targeting. And 24 years later, we continue to fight. This travel ban is an extension of this Administration’s cruelty – it is racist and xenophobic and perpetuates a pattern of targeting and terrorizing Black and Brown communities. Rather than enacting travel bans and snatching and disappearing our communities, they should be focused on ensuring we all have what we need to thrive: healthcare, housing and affordable groceries. Instead, they want to distract us from their inability to deliver what our families need by blaming, threatening and targeting us. But we know the truth is that we belong here. We know that when we come together, like the immigrant, labor, community and elected leaders here today, we are powerful and we can win.”
In a statement, Sumayyah Waheed, senior policy counsel at Muslim Advocates said: “The Trump Administration’s sweeping, racist travel ban on 19 majority Black and Brown countries repeats a shameful history that we remember all too clearly: chaos, cruelty, and family separations. This hateful ban exacerbates months of devastating humanitarian crises in countries such as Sudan and Afghanistan. Impacted Muslim communities spent Eid weekend, a time for celebration and family gatherings, in anxiety and grief over the ban. Our communities are frightened, terrorized and heartbroken by the many abuses of this runaway executive branch. Just over the weekend, we were also horrified to see the administration deploy the national guard against people in Los Angeles exercising their basic rights to protest. In the face of an administration that seeks to ban Black, Brown and Muslim bodies, we are united in defiance.”
In a statement, Girmay Zahilay, King County Councilmember and candidate for King County Executive said: “As a former refugee from Sudan, I know firsthand what it means to seek safety and hope in the United States. Donald Trump’s travel ban is a cruel, discriminatory policy that would have slammed the door on families like mine. It separates loved ones, blocks students and workers who contribute to our economy, and shuts out refugees fleeing violence—all while doing nothing to make us safer. I stand with leaders across this country in condemning this ban and fighting against racist and Islamophobic policies like this.”
In a statement, Bruce Harrell, Mayor of Seattle, said: “This is bad for our country, bad for our city, bad for our country. We know who we are. We know how much we treasure and value people coming from different countries, we are better because of that. And to be very candid with you, most of the countries on the list are African or Middle Eastern nations. That is not a coincidence. That is intentional. Now is the time to reaffirm our commitment to being a destination that the world can trust. This is our time to shine with our great immigrant and refugee and asylum seeker communities. This is the time to brag about how welcoming we are, to show this beautiful diversity here. This is us at our best, fighting against us at our worst.”
Thank you to the offices of Governor Bob Ferguson, Attorney General Nick Brown, and Representative Pramila Jayapal, along with The Port of Seattle, ACLU-WA, American Muslim Advancement Council (AMAC), Muslim Advocates, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), OneAmerica, and the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA) for coordinating and organizing this event.
Elected officials in attendance included: Governor Bob Ferguson, Attorney General Nick Brown, State Rep. Osman Salahuddin (LD 48), State Sen. Yasmin Trudeau (LD 27), State Rep. Darya Farivar (LD 46), State Sen. Javier Valdez (LD 46), State Sen. Tina Orwall (LD 33), King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, King County Councilmember Jorge Baron, Tacoma City Councilmember Olgy Diaz, Tacoma City Councilmember Sandesh Sadalge, Deputy Mayor of Bothell Rami Al-Kabra, Seattle Port Commissioner Hamdi Mohamed, SeaTac Mayor Mohamad Egal, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, and others.
The coalition has collected resources which can be found here: https://linktr.ee/travelbanresources