City Hall’s New Progressive Bloc Tells ICE To Get The Fuck Out Of Seattle

After a long, terrifying week of violence from immigration enforcement, Seattle’s new Mayor Katie Wilson and City Council Members Alexis Mercedes Rinck, Dionne Foster, and Eddie Lin say ICE is not welcome in Seattle. Their vocal opposition to ICE marks a shift in rhetoric from City Hall, which recently replaced pro-business incumbents with progressive, more economically populist challengers. Only time will tell if their louder bark is accompanied by a stronger bite.

“We cannot stand by while the Trump regime erodes the foundations of our constitutional republic and kills people in our streets,” Rinck said in a joint press release with Foster. “Whether it’s in Minneapolis or here in Seattle, the regime’s ongoing terror campaign is causing real harm and perpetuating senseless violence across our communities. We need accountability and justice for the countless people who have been abducted, killed, and abused at the hands of DHS agents. To ICE: Get out of Seattle. Get out of Washington. You are not welcome here.”

Not only did an ICE chud unjustly execute a 37 year-old woman in her vehicle earlier this week in Minneapolis, border patrol agents shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon just a day later. Even closer to home, masked and armed chuds self-identifying as ICE agents with an unmarked vehicle abducted three men in North Seattle on Wednesday, according to the Seattle Times.

Lin, who represents the most racially diverse district in the city, said that his constituents have faced an “uptick of activity” from ICE and other federal agencies hellbent on tearing families apart. 

“Residents should feel safe to be out in our community, going to work, school, or visiting friends and family,” Lin said in a press release. “But currently, constituents are sharing that they are too afraid to leave their homes. This is heartbreaking and unacceptable.”

In her press release, Wilson said she’s “furious at the federal government’s abuse of power.” 

“It is unacceptable to kidnap people who are simply going about their lives,” Wilson said “There is no place for it in Seattle.”

Wilson acknowledged that the City has “limited authority” in regards the actions of federal agents. But she recognized that current laws, such as those forbidding the Seattle Police Department from aiding immigration enforcement, are not enough to protect Seattleites from the Trump regime. She didn’t present any new strategies in the press release, but said she’s working with Police Chief Shon Barnes, City Attorney Erika Evans, and immigrant rights groups to “identify every possible legal argument, public resource, and creative tool we can use to keep the people of Seattle safe.”

Here’s a freebie, Wilson: Turn off the fucking surveillence cameras you and every advocate opposed like four months ago. 

For now, it’s all words from Seattle elected, but some words are better than others! Not every council member told ICE to kick rocks. 

Council Member Bob Kettle, who heads the council’s Public Safety Committee, published a press release condemning ICE’s tactics in Minneapolis (you mean, shooting a mother at point blank range over nothing? Those “tactics”?). But he didn’t go so far as to condemn the existence or presence of the modern day gestapo, affirming ICE has the “right to conduct their duties” in Seattle.

“This tragedy was entirely preventable, and this type of reckless conduct is unacceptable,” Kettle wrote. “As I repeatedly emphasized, it undermines the progress we have worked hard to accomplish here in Seattle. While federal law enforcement agencies have the right to conduct their duties within the city, we expect them to carry out their missions unaided by our local police, except in clear emergency situations, and in a safe manner.”

At least the progressives say they want ICE out of Seattle. And yes, I know the bar is in hell.