Washington

Washington state exploring options to fight to Trump's travel ban

Published

9 months ago

June 10, 2025

Washington state exploring options to fight to Trump's travel ban

Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown said his office is taking a careful look at the Trump administration’s new travel ban and considering whether the state has a legal basis to challenge it.

“We know that this order will affect so many families in Washington,” Brown said at a press conference Tuesday. “This ban sweeps up medical patients, students, and families and people fleeing persecution. Those people are not [a] national security risk.”

RELATED: Trump’s travel ban is now in effect. Here’s what to know

The ban took effect Monday, barring people from 12 countries from entering the U.S. and adding partial restrictions for seven other countries.

Brown said his office is “actively looking at ways to challenge this ban, but it will be difficult.” He referred to a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a travel ban during President Donald Trump’s first administration. It initially targeted seven majority-Muslim countries before a series of legal challenges led to some revisions.

“The court has gotten increasingly hostile to challenges like the one that may be necessary here, because the Supreme Court has, frankly, gotten worse since 2017,” Brown said.

Gov. Bob Ferguson said his office is closely working with the AG’s office and other organizations to monitor how the ban affects Washington residents from the targeted countries who may face new barriers to entering or reentering the U.S. So far, just one day in, responses have been mostly muted at airports and border entry points, in contrast to chaos that erupted at various airports when the first travel ban in 2017 left many foreign travelers in limbo.

Trump said the ban is necessary for national security.

According to his administration, some of the countries on the list need to improve their vetting processes and communication about security concerns. The executive order also says some countries are on the list because they’ve previously refused deportations.

Hamdi Mohamed is a commissioner for the Port of Seattle, which is tasked with managing Seattle’s international entry points, like Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where the impacts will be felt most. Mohamed said the commission is calling for more transparency in how federal officials enforce these bans at the airport. But it’ll also have an impact within communities living in the U.S., she said. That includes first- and second-generation immigrants.

RELATED: Seattle protesters block ICE vans from leaving immigration court

In addition to her work at the Port of Seattle, Mohamed is also the director of the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs for the City of Seattle. She is from Somalia, which was among the countries targeted during Trump’s last term. The current travel restrictions affect predominantly African and Muslim countries, including Somalia.

“[The travel ban] deepens mistrust. It sends a message that some communities will always be treated with suspicion, regardless of how long they’ve called the United States home or how much they’ve contributed,” she said.

Port authorities expect people from countries on the banned or restricted list will be stopped before they get on a plane to the U.S., but it’s still unclear how that will actually play out in the coming days.

Late last month, Port commissioners also raised their concerns about people who had been held at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility at the airport for an extended period of time. People are only supposed to be held there for a maximum of 72 hours, according to a joint statement commissioners that cited federal standards. Prolonged detention without appropriate process, they said, undermines public trust.

Malou Chávez, the executive director for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, said she’s especially concerned about people who have been given asylum in the U.S. and are now trying to get their families here from banned countries. Part of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project’s work includes family reunification efforts for people from some of those countries, like Afghanistan.

“It’s just going to lead to further suffering of our communities. It also sends a clear message of who is welcome and who is unwanted in this country,” she said.

RELATED: A Seattle immigration attorney on ICE and your rights

Chávez said her organization is working with people who have been waiting overseas and have been given federal authorization to travel here. Now, it’s unclear if they’ll face additional hurdles when they attempt to come to the U.S.

For the Washington Attorney General’s Office, the legal fight ahead is only a part of the equation.

Speaking to a crowd of immigrants and their advocates, Brown said there are other ways to address what he calls “dictatorial” and “fascist” actions by the Trump administration against immigrants.

“We need to use our love and our character as well in this moment,” Brown said. “Because it’s going to take all of these things, pulling together to reject the hate that we are seeing from Donald Trump, to reject the lawlessness that we are seeing from Donald Trump, and to reaffirm that the people in this country deserve to be here, and they add value to our state and to our entire nation.”

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Washington

PHOTOS: Long Beach State Dirtbags vs. Washington State, Baseball

Published

11 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

PHOTOS: Long Beach State Dirtbags vs. Washington State, Baseball

The562’s coverage of Dirtbags Baseball for the 2026 season is sponsored by P2S, Inc. Visit p2sinc.com to learn more.

Long Beach State dropped a 9-7 decision against Washington State on Sunday afternoon, closing out a busy weekend on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field.

The visiting Cougars took the lead for good in the eighth inning when Long Beach Poly grad Ryan Skjonsby delivered a game-winning two-run single with two outs and the bases loaded. Skjonsby was 2-for-4 with a walk, a run scored and three RBIs for Washington State in their road victory.

For the Dirtbags, catcher Damon Valdez scored twice and had a key two-run single in the sixth to help lead a Long Beach comeback. Trevor Goldenetz had a pair of hits at the top of the order, including an RBI triple. Camden Gasser walked twice and singled, improving his on-base percentage to .574 on the season.

Long Beach State (4-7) will be back in action at home on Tuesday with an exhibition match against Waseda University from Japan. The Dirtbags will then visit San Diego State on Wednesday and open Big West play at UC Santa Barbara this weekend.

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Washington

Week Ahead in Washington: March 1

Published

23 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – Operation “Epic Fury” — the weekend military operations carried out by the U.S. and Israel against targets in Iran — tops the agenda for Congress as lawmakers return to Washington.

Sunday, President Donald Trump said the new leadership in Iran wants to talk to the Trump Administration.

Democrats in both chambers called for Congress to return as soon as possible for classified briefings on Iran, followed by a move to vote on the War Powers Act. The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war on another country.

Congress’ return to Washington was originally delayed due to the start of the 2026 midterm elections cycle.

Tuesday, voters in Arkansas, North Carolina and Texas head to the polls for primary elections.

North Carolina and Texas are drawing significant attention, as both states are facing congressional redistricting and competitive primary races for Senate seats.

In Texas, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R) is facing primary challenges from state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt. On the Democratic side, Rep. Jasmine Crockett is facing state Rep. James Talarico.

In North Carolina, candidates are vying to replacing retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R) . They include former Governor Roy Cooper (D) and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley.

Also this week, the Rev. Jesse Jackson is laid to rest. He will be honored Wednesday in Washington before a final memorial service Saturday. Jackson died Feb. 17.

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Washington

Caps Fall in Montreal, 6-2 | Washington Capitals

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Caps Fall in Montreal, 6-2 | Washington Capitals

Cole Caufield scored in the first minute of the first period and added another goal later in the frame, sparking the Montreal Canadiens to a 6-2 win over the Capitals on Saturday night at Bell Centre.

Washington entered the game with a modest three-game winning streak and six wins in its last seven games. Although they were able to briefly draw even with the Habs after Caufield’s opening salvo, Caufield and the Canadiens responded quickly and the Caps found themselves chasing the game for the remainder of the night.

“I didn’t mind some of the things that we did tonight,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “I thought we created enough offensively, we just made way too many catastrophic mistakes to be able to sustain that.”

In the first minute of the game, Caufield blocked a Jakob Chychrun point shot, tore off on the resulting breakaway and beat Charlie Lindgren for a 1-0 lead for the Canadiens, half a minute into the contest. Lindgren was making his first start since Jan. 29, following a short stint on injured reserve for a lower body injury he sustained in that game.

After the two teams traded unsuccessful power plays, the Caps pulled even in the back half of the first. With traffic in front, Declan Chisholm let a shot fly from the left point. The puck hit Anthony Beauvillier and bounded right to Alex Ovechkin, who had an easy tap-in for career goal No. 920 at 13:16 of the first.

But Montreal came right back to regain the lead 63 seconds later, scoring a goal similar to the one Ovechkin just scored.

From the left point, Canadiens defenseman Jayden Struble put a shot toward the net. It came to Nick Suzuki on the goal line, and the Habs captain pushed it cross crease for Caufield to tap it home from the opposite post at 14:19.

Less than two minutes later, Lindgren made a dazzling glove save to thwart Caufield’s hat trick bid.

Midway through the middle period, Montreal went on the power play again. Although the Caps were able to kill the penalty, the Habs added to their lead seconds after the kill was completed; Mike Matheson skated down a gaping lane in the middle of the ice and beat Lindgren from the slot to make it a 3-1 game at 12:22.

Minutes later, Montreal netminder Jakub Dobes made a big stop on Aliaksei Protas from the right circle, and Suzuki grabbed the puck and took off in the opposite direction. From down low on the right side, he fed Kirby Dach in the slot, and Dach’s one-timer made it 4-1 for the Canadiens at 16:34 of the second.

In the waning seconds of the second, Dobes made one of his best stops of the night on Beauvillier, enabling the Canadiens to carry a three-goal lead into the third.

Those two quick goals in the back half of the second took some wind out of the Caps, who were playing their third game in four nights following the three-week Olympic break.

“We kill off a penalty, and then we end up going down 3-1right after the penalty,” says Caps center Nic Dowd. “Those are challenging to give up, right? You do a good job [on the kill], it’s a 2-1 game, and then all of a sudden, before you blink, it’s 4-1 and then the game gets away from you.

“And they defended well tonight; It’s tough to score goals in this League, and you go into the third period, and you’ve got to score three. You saw that [Friday] night when we played Vegas; they were able to score two, but it’s tough to get that third one. I think we have to manage situations a little bit better. It’s a 2-1 game on a back-to-back, we just kill a penalty off, or maybe we just have a power play – whatever it is – we have to manage that, especially in an arena like this, where the crowd gets into it on nothing plays. They can really sway momentum – and in a good way – for their home team.

“We just have to understand that if we don’t have our legs in certain situations, because of travel, it’s back-to-back or whatever, we really have to key into the details of the game and not let things get away from us quickly.

With 7:28 left in the third, Ovechkin netted his second of the game – and the fifth goal he has scored in this building this season – on a nice feed from Dylan Strome to pull the Caps within two goals of the Habs, who have coughed up some late leads this season.

But Montreal salted the game away with a pair of late empty-net goals from Suzuki and Jake Evans, respectively.

In winning six of their previous seven games, the Caps had been playing with a lead most of the time. But playing from behind virtually all night against a good team in a tough building is a tall task under any circumstances. And it was exactly that for the Caps on this night.

“They score on the first shift,” says Strome. “Obviously, Saturday night in Montreal is as good and as loud as it gets. They just got a fortunate bounce; puck was off Caulfield’s leg, and a perfect bounce for a breakaway. It’s just one of those things where we got down early and now they kind of fed off the momentum of the crowd.

“But I still think our game is in a good spot, and we’ve just got to keep stacking wins. Obviously, we’ve played more games than everyone so we’re going to need some help, but we’ve just got to keep stacking wins. It’s tough on the back-to-back in Montreal, but we’ll find a way to bounce back on Tuesday [vs. Utah at home] and then go from there.”

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