Seattle, WA – 30 people in council chambers came together January 13, for a protest organized by the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (SAARPR) to demand the Seattle city council strengthen its stance against ICE.

Members of the Seattle Alliance had presented the Seattle city council with a list of demands, including refusal of any and all cooperation with ICE, and an end to the Seattle Police Department’s expanding surveillance system – invasive surveillance cameras which community members previously spoke out against due to the potential for them to be accessed by ICE if requested.

Public commenters spoke out in favor of the demands. Kevin Rosewood, a local educator stated “As a teacher, my main goal is keeping the kids I work with safe. When the council says we are a sanctuary city, I feel like that’s just lip service when I see ICE coming and taking people from our communities,”

Rosewood continued, “I’m tired of living in fear that one day my classroom will be raided, and I want you to live up to the promise that Seattle is a sanctuary city.”

Protesters echoed the demands, chanting “We want safety, we’ll tell you how! Defend our sanctuary city now!”

“To all of you who didn’t sign on to our demands, I say: ‘What are you doing?’” said Jonathan Toledo, branch chair of the Seattle Alliance. “While our streets are being terrorized by ICE, we’re hearing nothing from you. You sit up there and don’t interact with the people who make up our communities. We want ICE out of Seattle, and if the next words after my comment aren’t addressing this, we won’t be happy.”

Chants of “ICE out of Seattle!” after this statement drowned out Council President Joy Hollingsworth’s next words and forced the council to call a recess where a meeting was arranged.

Hollingsworth initially claimed that the council had reviewed the Alliance’s demands. During the meeting it was revealed that only one progressive council member had actually read them, and as such they could not sign on to it. Protesters and community members then left the chambers chanting “We’ll be back!”

#SeattleWA #WA #ImmigrantRights #ICE #SAARPR

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