Tag Archives: resisttrump

Capitol Hill’s Jewish Family Service deals legal blow to Trump refugee restrictions

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Tuesday, CHS reported that the groups planning separate marches to mark the one-year anniversary of the 2017 Seattle Women’s March against Donald Trump were joining forces for a 2018 march. That is good. Another good thing when it comes to resisting the policies of the Trump administration is a victory in court.

Capitol Hill-headquartered Jewish Family Service announced its part in a major legal victory battling Trump’s refugee restrictions last week:

We are gratified by U.S. District Judge James Robart’s rulingin the Jewish Family Service v. Trump and ACLU of Washington v. Trump cases, issued on December 23. Judge Robart’s order largely blocked implementation of the Trump administration’s most recent refugee restrictions, which suspended the admission of refugees from 11 countries, nine of which are predominantly Muslim, for a minimum of 90 days. The restrictions also stopped the follow-to-join process, which reunites family members with refugees already in the U.S. The decision follows our December 21 hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

“We are grateful families will be reunited, and refugees who have suffered so much will be able to make it to safety,” Jewish Family Service president Michele Rosen and CEO Rabbi Will Berkovitz write. “As we celebrate this moment, we remember our ancestors who did not have anyone standing with them or for them.”

The ruling on the Trump ban “granted a nationwide injunction that blocks the administration’s restrictions on the process of reuniting refugee families and partially lifted a ban on refugees from 11 mostly Muslim countries,” the Los Angeles Times reports. The JFS case was joined with a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.

JFS is located on 16th Ave. In 2012, the nonprofit celebrated 120 years of service and the opening of its new headquarters. Continue reading →

Organizers of 2018 Seattle Womxn’s/Women’s Marches to join forces at Cal Anderson

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Organizers planning two different Seattle marches on January 20th, 2018 to mark the anniversary of the 2017 nationwide protests against the inauguration of Donald Trump will work together on an event starting in Cal Anderson Park.

CHS wrote about the separate efforts earlier this month. Over the holiday break, organizers announced they will collaborate on a single anniversary march on Saturday starting in the Capitol Hill Park.

Power to the Polls: Anniversary of the Womxn’s March on Seattle/Seattle Women’s March 2.0 – 2018

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2018 Seattle Women’s March 2.0 will start on Capitol Hill — UPDATE: Power to the Polls

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UPDATE: Groups are working together to organize one march on Saturday, January 20th and a day of civic action and community gatherings on Sunday, January 21st:

Weekend of action: 2018 Seattle Women’s March is only the beginning

In January of 2017 to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump and his bizarrely sexist branding, women, womxn, and those who love them marched by the thousands in cities across the nation. In Seattle, the march stretched from the Central District to the Seattle Center, with an unofficial 120,000 filling the route.

In January 2018 as many Trump administration efforts have been turned back and plenty more have taken root, organizers from the 2017 march are readying a reboot. Continue reading →

‘Java with Jayapal’ in a Broadway cafe: Trump, GOP banking on resistance fatigue

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(Images: Alex Garland)


Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) met up with the Capitol Hill community Wednesday morning for some intimate updates and Q&A. The session inside Broadway’s Espresso Vivace showed the representative is busy doing the best she can to block Trump-esque bills with little time to push her own agenda through Congress.

“I mean, in reality, on the floor, our game is unfortunately a lot of opposition,” Jayapal said Wednesday. “We don’t get the opportunity to put bills forward the way they should be, or even craft them. There used to be hearings where you could offer amendments and reasonable people on both sides of the aisle would support a sensible amendment. That really happens hardly at all.”

As a result, Jayapal says she puts her priorities elsewhere. She explained to the gathered group that her focus remains on constituent services, getting more people involved, changing the makeup of who is involved, and being present in communities.

Jayapal is still able to find a way to move some efforts forward. Continue reading →

Seattle’s March for Science will start on Capitol Hill

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A message from January's Womxn's March (Image: CHS)

A message from January’s Womxn’s March (Image: CHS)

Cal Anderson’s role as a center of protest against the Trump administration will continue and Earth Day 2017 will take on even greater meaning as the Seattle component of the nationwide March for Science will start in the Capitol Hill park:

March For Science – Seattle

The march will gather in Cal Anderson on Earth Day morning April 22nd before stepping off for a journey to the Seattle Center’s International Fountain.

“Science is the best method we have for understanding the world. It should be an open process, used to serve all people,” organizers write. “If you wish to support those aims, please join us and march to support it.”

Seattle has been an enthusiastic participant in a series of marches and protests coordinated to demonstrate resistance to the social and economic policies pursued by President Trump. In January, the massive Womxn’s March stretched from the Central District to the Seattle Center and included more than 120,000 people in its ranks. Also that month, an immigration rights protest marched across Capitol Hill. In February, Cal Anderson hosted an LGBTQ solidarity rally. More spontaneous protests in the wake of the election have also crossed the Hill. In March, Black Lives Matter marchers crossed the Central District. In the midst of it all, victories — here and there — have been struck in the courts and some have been inspired to step forward into new roles to help build resistance.

Now, for Earth Day and in response to Trump policies seeking to erode progress on slowing climate change, Seattle will take a scientific approach to speaking up for the environment.

 

Seattle takes Trump to court over sanctuary city funding threats

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Millions in federal funds are on the line. But the City of Seattle is picking a fight with the Trump administration over sanctuary cities because of larger costs.

“Their war on facts has become a war on cities,” Mayor Ed Murray said Wednesday in an announcement of a federal lawsuit brought by Seattle demanding legal clarification on a Trump executive order that threatens so-called sanctuary cities that don’t collaborate with immigration authorities with the loss of government grants. Continue reading →

Nikkita Oliver’s run for mayor: housing, education, and ending the ‘school-to-prison pipeline’

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It's official. Nikkita Oliver turned in her paperwork Monday to enter the race to be Seattle's mayor

It’s official. Nikkita Oliver turned in her paperwork Monday to enter the race to be Seattle’s mayor

The newly formed Peoples Party of Seattle is putting all-in-one educator, attorney, spoken-word poet, and activist Nikkita Oliver forward as its candidate to take on Mayor Ed Murray for this year’s election.

Oliver’s decision to run and help launch the “community-centered grassroots political party” came after the election of President Donald Trump.

“I didn’t want to stand in a place of powerlessness,” Oliver said.

After the election, she started meeting people for coffee, talking about values and concerns. Oliver talked with the “aunties and elders” in her community about how people running on the same platforms yield the same results and maybe it’s time to try something different.

Over time, those conversations lead to the collective decision that “we need to transform our local government.”

The party formed and encouraged Oliver to run against Murray.

“I take what my community says to me to heart,” Oliver told CHS. “… I’m not going to act like I entered into this with ease. I take it very seriously.” Continue reading →

Writer behind ‘Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda’ chats with CHS

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CHS sat down with Ezra Levin, co-author of “Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda” ahead of his talk at Town Hall Seattle earlier this week.

The free, creative commons guide was born from Levin and his wife Leah Greenberg’s desire to have a positive impact following the election of President Donald Trump.

About 30 something 30-somethings, many of whom have worked for members of Congress, contributed to the first release of the guide on Google Docs. It has since seen a staggering amount of success with more than 150 Indivisible organizations in Washington state and 6,000 across the country. The guide has been downloaded more than 1 million times and viewed more than 17 million times since its release in December 2016, according to stats from Indivisible Washington, which helped to organized the event Tuesday.

“Every day we think this is going to plateau and every day more groups are registering,” Levin said. “There’s more interest. People are taking action.” Continue reading →

Rally and march, business closures, benefits part of Day Without a Woman, International Women’s Day in Seattle

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Thousands marched in January’s Womxn’s March in Seattle. Rallies, protests, and marches have continued as part of the ongoing opposition to the actions and policies of the Trump administration.

District 3 rep Kshama Sawant is calling on her constituents to “fight Trump’s misogyny and bigotry” at a Wednesday night rally in Westlake as part of International Women’s Day:

Join me, Shaun King from the Injustice Boycott movement and the New York Daily News, Nicole Grant of the Martin Luther King Labor Council, Nikkita Oliver from Black Lives Matter and the No Youth Jail movement, Morgan Beach and Ruchika Tulshyan from the Seattle Women’s Commission, Terri Lindeke of National Organization of Women Seattle, Tiffany Hankins from NARAL, and more!

Meanwhile, expect to see a few local businesses including 23rd and Union’s Squirrel Chops closed Wednesday as some take part in the Day Without a Woman movement while others like 12th Ave’s Rachel’s Ginger Beer host benefits to raise funds for causes like Jubilee Women’s Center. Continue reading →

Jayapal talks health care, climate change, fake news, battling Trump

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Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, representing Capitol Hill’s 7th District in Washington D.C., held her first town hall since taking office Monday night, appropriately enough, at a packed Town Hall Seattle.

“Some people have called me the anti-Trump, and I’m so proud,” Jayapal said in front of a crowd that put its “AGREE” signs to frequent use.

Jayapal’s office estimated 1,000 people attended the First Hill session.

Jayapal took questions about a number of issues surrounding work she’s done during her first two months in office and her fight against the president’s agenda.

Immediately notable as the first Indian-American woman to serve in the House of Representatives, Jayapal started her career in D.C. with an early stance of opposition against the new president when she declined to attend the Trump inauguration. Jayapal joined the protest against the first Trump immigration ban with a call for the release of individuals held at Sea-Tac and joined Governor Jay Inslee in declaring Washington a hate-free state.

Jayapal’s status as a resistance leader puts her in good company replacing Rep. Jim McDermott retired after representing the 7th District for 14 terms and was considered by many as one of the most left-leaning members of Congress. She sits on two subcommittees — the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security and the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law, as well as the Committee on the Budget.

Monday night, the crowd greeted Jayapal with a standing ovation and signs supporting the congresswoman, making the event feel almost like a rally, but members of the public did ask her about the next moves for the seemingly pinned-down Democratic Party and how she and her fellow party members plan to fight the administration and Republicans in Congress on a number of issues. Continue reading →