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

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1 year ago

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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.

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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.

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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.

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“[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.

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“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.

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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

Inside Woodlawn Cemetery’s mission to preserve history

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3 hours ago

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June 24, 2026

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Inside Woodlawn Cemetery’s mission to preserve history


The iron gate to Woodlawn Cemetery is almost always locked shut, but Toni White-Richardson was more than happy to let News4 inside.

As president of the Woodlawn Cemetery Perpetual Care Association, she was excited to talk about what makes this resting place so special.

“It is major D.C. history, first. Then it’s also major Black history, second,” White-Richardson said.

More than 30,000 people, mostly African Americans, are buried among the 22 acres of Woodlawn Cemetery, which opened in Southeast D.C. in 1895. And like so many cemeteries that date back to the 1800s, particularly African American cemeteries, this one has fallen into disrepair, is overgrown and has headstones tumbled over, like those of Wilhelmina and her husband James, and Eliza Spencer, a mother who died in 1887.

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“Let me do a very upfront disclaimer,” White-Richardson said. “We have no idea where these stones go. And when we looked at the grid, it became even clear as mud, it became less clear as to where these stones should really go. Unfortunately, when we look back, we can tell there was a plan, but we could see we never got totally completed. Even back then, there are no markers saying this is Section H or this is Section G or this is 102 and this is, none of that.”

One of the most notable Washingtonians laid to rest here is John Mercer Langston, Virginia’s first Black congressman.

“Langston University came one year because they had a grand reunion in D.C., and we arranged for them to come to see […] John Mercer Langston, the university that was named after this man,” White-Richardson said.

And Blance Bruce, the first Black U.S. senator to serve a full term and register of the treasury, is also buried in the cemetery.

“He’s the signature on our dollar bill, you know, back in the late 1800s,” White-Richardson said. “So, oh, it’s history. It’s capital letters. No getting around it.”

Woodlawn is also the resting place of several of the original founders of two of the country’s most prominent Black sororities, Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta. Both organizations volunteer to help with clean ups.

The Perpetual Care Association recently received a grant from the D.C. Office of Planning to help with upkeep of the grounds and preserving the history here.

“These are important individuals who’ve made contributions to the District a century ago, but today still their history and their stories reverberate and really influence the trajectory of our city,” said Anita Cozart, director of the D.C. Office of Planning.

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The cemetery tucked away off Benning Road is only open to the public five days a year, but groups can request tours anytime. The next chance to visit Woodlawn when it will be open to the public is Labor Day.

They’re always looking for volunteers and donors to help with the upkeep of this sacred ground.



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Parsing Trump’s claims about Washington’s reflecting pool

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13 hours ago

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June 24, 2026

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Parsing Trump’s claims about Washington’s reflecting pool


US President Donald Trump wanted to mark the US’s 250th birthday with a renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall.

The makeover, including a new coat of “American Flag blue,” cost taxpayers $16 million (€14.1 million).

But the water is covered in green algae. The blue paint is already peeling. Trump has blamed vandals, while his critics question the project’s transparency and cost.

DW’s Brent Goff and Washington correspondent Janelle Dumalaon unpack the whole fiasco.

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Social media reacts to former BYU star AJ Dybantsa going No. 1 in 2026 NBA draft

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23 hours ago

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June 23, 2026

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Social media reacts to former BYU star AJ Dybantsa going No. 1 in 2026 NBA draft


Former BYU basketball star AJ Dybantsa fulfilled his dream of going No. 1 overall in the 2026 NBA draft.

The Washington Wizards selected Dybantsa with the first pick.

Immediately after the pick, reactions poured in on social media about the Wizards drafting Dybantsa.

Social media reactions to the Washington Wizards selecting BYU star AJ Dybantsa

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSL and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.

Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.

Want more coverage of BYU sports? Take us with you wherever you go.

Download the new and improved KSL Sports app from Utah’s sports leader. Allows you to stream live radio and video, keeping you up to date on all your favorite teams.

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