Drafter

Clerk 01/30/2017

Title

A MOTION related to immigration, refugees and the freedom to travel; condemning the related Executive Order issued by the President on January 27, 2017.

Body

                     WHEREAS according to the 2015 American Community Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau, King County is home to almost four hundred fifty thousand foreign-born residents from every corner of the world, and

                     WHEREAS, in an effort to protect the constitutional rights of all persons King County required in Ordinance 16692 adopted in 2009 that county services must  be provided without being conditioned on an individual’s citizenship or immigration status, and

                     WHEREAS, in 2015, King County established the immigrant and refugee task force so the county can better serve its immigrant and refugee communities, including many who have come to King County because they have been persecuted or feared they would be persecuted on account of race, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social or political group, and

                     WHEREAS, the first amendment of the United States Constitution states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances". and

                     WHEREAS, Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 states that no person can be "discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of the person’s race, sex, nationality, place of birth or place of residence," and

                     WHEREAS, at 4:42 p.m. EST, Friday, January 27, 2017, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order titled "Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States," and

                     WHEREAS, hundreds of people were detained at airports across the United States by federal agencies effectuating the executive order, and

                     WHEREAS, up to thirteen people were detained in King County at Sea-Tac International Airport on January 28, 2017, by the United States Customs and Border Protection services in the enforcement of the afore mentioned executive order, and

                     WHEREAS, on January 28, 2017, United States Federal District Judge Ann Donnelly issued a decision and order concluding that there is a "strong likelihood of success in establishing that the removal of the petitioner and others similarly situated violates their rights to Due Process and Equal Protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution", and enjoining President Trump and other federal officers from "removing individuals with refugee applications approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as part of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, holders of valid immigrant and non-immigrant visas, and other individuals from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen legally authorized to enter the United States," and

                     WHEREAS, it is the duty of King County council to protect the constitutional rights of every person in King County regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, country of origin, religious faith or immigration status;

                     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:

                     It is the policy of King County that the Executive Order issued by President Donald J. Trump on 4:42 p.m. EST, Friday January 27, 2017, is hereby condemned as

discriminatory, unconstitutional and contrary to the county's adopted principles and ordinances, as well as the Constitution and laws we as a council have sworn to support.