After President Donald Trump threatened to send immigrants into “sanctuary cities” across the country, the mayor of Seattle responded that her city “isn’t afraid of immigrants.” On Friday, the President tweeted that he is giving “serious consideration” to sending “illegal immigrants” into sanctuary cities. Later that day, however, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan fired back in a Washington Post op-ed to tell the President that her city has “always welcomed” immigrants. “Contrary to what this President thinks, in Seattle, we have strong American values of inclusiveness and opportunity,” Durkan wrote. “Instead of threatening immigrant families and the cities that welcome them, this President should spend a little bit more time trying to learn from us.” As the President has made curbing immigration a major focus of his presidency, he has expressed a desire to punish sanctuary cities – jurisdictions which limit the cooperation of local law enforcement with immigration authorities. In 2017, he threatened to withhold law enforcement grants from such localities. Durkan, however, said that while she is not concerned about more immigrants arriving in Seattle, she is worried about the way the President is using a “law enforcement agency” as a weapon. “It’s clear he hates the fact that the very cities he scorns are engines of innovation, opportunity and economic power. But we will not be deterred,” Durkan said. Durkan wrote that immigrants, who she said make up 18% of the city’s population, make Seattle “a stronger, more vibrant place” and make contributions to business, culture, law enforcement and other parts of its society. She noted that the city already has programs in place to help immigrants succeed while living in Seattle. These include a program to offer tuition-free college to all public high school graduates – regardless of their immigration status; the Ready to Work Program, which aims to provide immigrants with case managers and English language education; and the New Citizen Campaign, a program to help legal permanent residents become citizens. Durkan wrote that Seattle will continue to stand up to the President. “So if this President wants to send immigrants and refugees to Seattle and other welcoming cities, let me be clear: We will do what we have always done, and we will be stronger for it. And it will only strengthen our commitment to fighting for the dignity of every person. We will not allow any administration to use the power of America to destroy the promise of America,” Durkan wrote. Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Contact us at letters@time.com.<doc-sep>So if this president wants to send immigrants and refugees to Seattle and other welcoming cities, let me be clear: We will do what we have always done, and we will be stronger for it. And it will only strengthen our commitment to fighting for the dignity of every person. We will not allow any administration to use the power of America to destroy the promise of America.<doc-sep>Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan responded in writing to US President Donald Trump’s Friday tweet that threatened to place undocumented migrants in US sanctuary cities by noting that Seattle is - unlike the nation’s current commander in chief - “not afraid of immigrants and refugees.” "Here's a message to President Trump: Seattle is not afraid of immigrants and refugees," the mayor stated in her op-ed article. "In fact, we have always welcomed people who have faced tremendous hardships around the world. Immigrants and refugees are part of Seattle's heritage, and they will continue to make us the city of the future," Durkan wrote in a Washington Post op-ed Friday. "What does scare us? A president and federal government that would seek to weaponize a law enforcement agency to punish perceived political enemies," she said, adding that Trump is acting like "a would-be despot who thinks the rule of law does not apply to him." The popular west coast US city boss also noted that Trump "is demonizing immigrants and refugees to incite fear and to distract the American public from his own failures." On Friday, Trump tweeted that he is considering sending undocumented migrants to sanctuary cities "due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigrant laws." — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019 ​"The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy — so this should make them very happy!" Trump tweeted. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019 ​Durkan was quick to point out how immigrant and refugee communities in Seattle contribute to the city. "In Seattle, we know that our immigrant and refugee communities make our city a stronger, more vibrant place. Our immigrant neighbors make up more than 18 percent of our population, and 21 percent of our population speaks a language other than English at home. They create businesses and jobs. They create art and culture. They help teach our kids, serve in law enforcement and the military, and lead our places of faith," Durkan wrote. "Contrary to what this president thinks," she asserted, "in Seattle, we have strong American values of inclusiveness and opportunity. Instead of threatening immigrant families and the cities that welcome them, this president should spend a little bit more time trying to learn from us." On Sunday, the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders confirmed to Fox News Sunday that Trump's threat to send undocumented migrants to sanctuary cities was under review. "Nobody thinks that this is the ideal solution," Sanders told Fox News Sunday, spinning the idea as a bipartisan win. "Whether or not it moves forward — that's yet to be determined." In a Saturday tweet, Trump suggested that his plan to send migrants and refugees to sanctuary cities would intimidate Democrats into changing their approach to US immigration "fast." "Democrats must change the Immigration Laws FAST. If not, Sanctuary Cities must immediately ACT to take care of the Illegal Immigrants — and this includes Gang Members, Drug Dealers, Human Traffickers, and Criminals of all shapes, sizes and kinds. CHANGE THE LAWS NOW!" the president frantically tweeted Saturday. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019 ​In March, Trump declared a national emergency and requested $32.5 billion for border security in fiscal year 2020, including $8.6 billion for building sections of his promised border wall. Trump insisted that the wall was needed to prevent criminals and terrorists from crossing into the United States, Sputnik previously reported. Most recently, Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican cars imported to the United States if Mexico does not deter US-bound undocumented migrants from crossing through its territory, and has also threatened to close the southern border, according to a Sputnik report.<doc-sep>Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan seems unfazed by news that Amazon plans to shift thousands of jobs to Bellevue, Wash. GeekWire reported Wednesday that Amazon is moving its Seattle-based worldwide operations team to nearby Bellevue in a major organizational shift and symbolic gesture. Durkan was asked about the report in an interview with Seattle radio station KUOW. “It’s great news for the region,” she said. “The more jobs we have in the region and the more it’s diversified, the better it is for all of us. We’ve got a housing affordability crisis, not just in Seattle, but everywhere. Talent begets talent and I think that it is a good thing for Seattle, a good thing for Bellevue.” Amazon will start relocating employees this month and expects the entire team to be in Bellevue by 2023. “I’m excited to share the news that we’re planning to migrate worldwide operations to Bellevue starting this year,” wrote Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations, in an email to his employees sent Wednesday and obtained by GeekWire. “This move gives room to grow while maintaining the campus feel that we’ve come to love around South Lake Union.” The announcement comes as tensions are rising between Amazon and its hometown. The hostility reached a boiling point last year when Seattle officials and activists pushed for a tax on big businesses to fund affordable housing, carrying “Tax Amazon” signs across the company’s campus on several occasions. The tax passed and was quickly repealed amid opposition from the business community. During the KUOW interview Wednesday, host Bill Radke asked Durkan: “Did you help drive those Amazon employees away by supporting the head tax?” In response, she suggested that Bellevue will be the new site of Amazon’s planned New York “HQ2,” a project that the company pulled out of in January in response to vocal opposition from activists and officials. “No, we helped get a branch office in Bellevue instead of New York,” Durkan said. In reality, Amazon plans to disperse the 25,000 jobs it had planned to bring to New York across its other offices. The majority of the new jobs in Bellevue will be existing Amazon employees currently working in Seattle. Amazon has been planning this relocation for a year, before the New York HQ2 drama unfolded, according to sources familiar with the plans.<doc-sep>
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) wrote that her city is "not afraid of immigrants" in response to President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE's proposal to send detained immigrants to “sanctuary cities." “Here’s a message to President Trump: Seattle is not afraid of immigrants and refugees. In fact, we have always welcomed people who have faced tremendous hardships around the world. Immigrants and refugees are part of Seattle’s heritage, and they will continue to make us the city of the future,” she wrote in a Washington Post op-ed Friday. ADVERTISEMENT “What does scare us? A president and federal government that would seek to weaponize a law enforcement agency to punish perceived political enemies. A would-be despot who thinks the rule of law does not apply to him," she wrote. "He is demonizing immigrants and refugees to incite fear and to distract the American public from his own failures,” Durkan said. Trump announced Friday that he is considering sending the migrants to sanctuary cities, or cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities through information sharing or detaining immigrants, as a way to retaliate against Democrats. “The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy – so this should make them very happy!” Trump tweeted. ....The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy – so this should make them very happy! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019 Top Democratic lawmakers were swift in their condemnation of the proposal. “I don’t know anything about it, but again, it’s just another notion that is unworthy of the presidency of the United States and disrespectful of the challenges that we face as a county, as a people, to address who we are: a nation of immigrants,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiGOP leaders face new calls to boot Greene Biden, Bass press for police reform after meeting Floyd family Kinzinger calls for Greene to be removed from GOP conference after Holocaust remark MORE (D-Calif.) said Friday. Durkan wrote that contrary to Trump’s rhetoric, immigrants improve Seattle. “In Seattle, we know that our immigrant and refugee communities make our city a stronger, more vibrant place. Our immigrant neighbors make up more than 18 percent of our population, and 21 percent of our population speaks a language other than English at home. They create businesses and jobs. They create art and culture. They help teach our kids, serve in law enforcement and the military, and lead our places of faith,” she wrote. “Contrary to what this president thinks, in Seattle, we have strong American values of inclusiveness and opportunity. Instead of threatening immigrant families and the cities that welcome them, this president should spend a little bit more time trying to learn from us,” she wrote.