Travel Ban, Civil Unrest, ICE and the First Amendment

SAN FRANCISCO (06-09) – On the first day that President Trump’s full travel ban and extreme visa restrictions were imposed on 19 countries, a press conference was held at City Hall by community advocacy groups, civil rights and legal organizations to condemn the racist nature of the ban along with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids that continue against immigrant communities across the country.

In addressing the travel ban, Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) Executive Director Lara Kiswani stated: “We condemn this inhumane travel ban on Arab, Muslim, and African countries and the violent ICE raids in our communities for what they are—two tactics in a blatantly racist and white supremacist scheme by the Trump administration to bar Black and Brown people from this country. These are the latest in Trump’s long list of tyrannical actions where ‘national security’ is used as a pretext for demonizing entire populations from countries and communities of color.”

“We are here to say, that no matter where, no matter how Trump and his administration targets any vulnerable community, we show up. We will resist. And we will call on our elected leaders to continue to join us and make good on their own promises to ensure that we are able to do so free of state repression.”

San Francisco Board of Supervisors member, Bilal Mahmood, the son of immigrant parents and a recipient of birthright citizenship who represents the large immigrant community located in the Tenderloin, reflected on both the travel ban and ICE raids saying, “We are here today to say we are not afraid we are fighting back.”

In speaking directly to the president, he said: “Donald Trump, you are a coward. You are a wanna be king anchored in hatred. And if you are thinking of targeting a single one of my residents in District Five…you are going to have to come through me first.” After giving his street address, he continued, “If you have a bone to pick with our people, I am right here.” And in closing, he announced that he would be working in concert with the Public Defender’s Office to expand the Immigrant Defense Unit.

San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder said that “When the government turns on its own people, it is up to the people to keep the government in check. When the government turns on its own people, it is not just a crisis but it’s a call. It’s a call for people to rise up to hold power accountable and to remind the government who it really works for.”

Aarti Kohli, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus, reflected on the Japanese-American experience of WWII as an historical example of how “the US used false claims to round up and incarcerate entire Japanese communities, including those in San Francisco. Today we are seeing this same playbook expanded. This ban weaponizes our justice system.” She went on to debunk the administration’s claim that each of the banned countries present a unique “security risk” by noting that each of the countries named in the ban are composed of Muslim majorities or have Black and Brown populations.

Regarding discrimination, she noted that one difficultly faced during Trump’s first immigrant ban was that “the majority of Supreme Court justices said that presidents have enormous power over immigration, especially when they claim national security even though lower courts found clear evidence of discrimination. That Supreme Court decision makes our legal fight today much harder.”

Among others, she said the Asian Law Caucus has now heard from Afghan translators who helped American soldiers that their family members escaping from the Taliban are being turned away. And that seeking waivers is a “sham.” She said the solution to the ban was political and “in our collective power.” History, she said, has demonstrated how dangerous presidential powers are when expanded in the name of national security.

San Francisco is a sanctuary city and will remain as such was the promise of all who spoke and that they will take positive action through peaceful protests. Kohli warned however that “agitators” will be planted in peaceful crowds to foment violence. With the objective of the administration clamping down further on our rights.

Kohli said that the courts will not resolve the ban, instead “we all need to speak up and demand that Congress pass H.R.924, the No Ban Act.”

Luis Angel Reyes Savalza, an immigrant himself and a deportation attorney from the San Francisco Public Defenders Office’s Immigration Unit, called Trump’s travel ban a war on immigrants, workers, women and the LGBQ community. He pointed out “it is no coincidence that right now as we speak, the rich are stealing from the federal budget at the expense of workers and immigrants and the people of this country.”

He promised the San Francisco immigrant community that “We will defend your constitutional rights against lawless raids,” characterizing them as an attack against our Fourth Amendment rights. We will fight this fear-mongering with people power from the courts to the streets, from the streets to the airports until we win.”

Report and photos by Phil Pasquini

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