SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: ‘Defending’ immigrant children is all about politics

Jun 23, 2018, 8:00 AM

immigrant children...

In this photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, people who've been taken into custody related to cases of illegal entry into the United States, sit in one of the cages at a facility in McAllen, Texas, Sunday, June 17, 2018. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Rio Grande Valley Sector via AP)

(U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Rio Grande Valley Sector via AP)

As I’ve been talking about all week, Washington politicians are making a big deal of standing up for the “resistance” against Trump’s immigration policies. Mayor Jenny Durkan gallivanted off to Texas with a taxpayer-funded police security detail so that she could put on her little show for the “resistance.” And now Governor Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson have announced that they are filing a 27th lawsuit against the Trump administration over the separated immigrant children.

Hey Bob — are you going to file any lawsuits against Jenny Durkan? What about against the Seattle City Council? Or the King County Council? You say you’re going after Trump over “deplorable conditions” for kids along the Texas-Mexico border. There are deplorable conditions all around the state in which you are the attorney general. Are you going to take care of your own state before you try to take care of the nation?

RELATED: Jenny Durkan will hug kids a the border, but not baby abandoned in Seattle

You said your heart breaks for the immigrant children in these tents on the border. Does your heart break for the children who are in these drug RVs and tents in Seattle?

Can anyone explain that to me? Can anyone give me the rationale for why our attorney general would complain about conditions on the Texas-Mexico border but have no problem with crime-filled encampments in his own state?

He can’t — if he goes after any Democrat in this state, he might lose some of the party’s support when he runs for governor in 2020. It’s all about politics. It’s not about compassion, apart from compassion for those who can make him governor. It’s definitely not about children.

On Thursday night, a huge multi-faith procession was held, with hundreds of people marching from the Protestant St. Mark’s Cathedral to the Catholic St. James’ Cathedral on the other side of Capitol Hill to protest what’s going on at the border and pray for the immigrant children. The pastor at St. Mark’s, Reverend Nancy Ross, this week compared the U.S. immigration practices to terrorism.

Look, I don’t think anybody loves the sight of those kids in tents on the border. You may disagree with immigration policy. But to compare the United States enforcing its borders to Al-Quaeda or any other terrorist organization is just pure insanity. That is such a grossly irresponsible thing to say.

So after that quote, when I saw this march on Capitol Hill, I couldn’t help wondering how much this was really about faith. This protest is fine if you’re truly sincere in your Christian faith about hating seeing these kids down here. But I just don’t believe it. I don’t believe in their sincerity.

Were these people just using the churches as a cover for politics? I don’t know what the motivation is of the people who claim to care. But I don’t think that it’s about their Christian faith. I think that it is using a church as a facade for legitimacy so you can express your hatred for the president.

 

Gas Works Park...

Julia Dallas

Big-name DJ teases Gas Works Park show after more than decade-long Seattle hiatus

A Grammy Award-winning electronic DJ and producer could be making his way back to Seattle after more than a decade.

17 minutes ago

FILE - Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, left, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Co...

Associated Press

Senators still working with SEC, Big Ten on thorny issues involved in college sports bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate negotiators worked Wednesday to resolve thorny differences with leaders of the Southeastern and Big Ten Conferences over revisions to a bill designed to regulate college sports that sponsors want a vote on before the chamber goes on summer break next week. “Those conversations are ongoing,” said one of the bill’s sponsors, […]

18 minutes ago

Associated Press

Man gets 6-month sentence for ramming car into Jewish group’s NY world headquarters

NEW YORK (AP) — A New Jersey man was sentenced Wednesday to six months and a week behind bars for ramming his car into the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters, the Jewish institution in New York where his lawyer said he’d been trying to win acceptance as he struggled with psychological issues. Dan Sohail, 36, was […]

1 hour ago

Seafair...

Meteorologist Nick Allard, KIRO 7 News

Clouds could be the bigger story than rain for Seafair weekend

When people think about weather affecting Seafair weekend, rain is usually the first thing that comes to mind.

1 hour ago

Howard University interim president Wayne A. I. Frederick sits for an interview, Wednesday, July 29...

Associated Press

Howard University president says more than 200 students readmitted after mass unenrollment

WASHINGTON (AP) — The interim president of Howard University said over 200 of the more than 500 first-year incoming students who were unenrolled for the fall semester have been readmitted to the Washington, D.C. school. In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Wayne A. I. Frederick defended the way the historically Black university […]

1 hour ago

FILE - A Microsoft logo is seen on a screen as people listen at an event at Microsoft headquarters,...

Associated Press

Microsoft beats Wall Street expectations with $90B in revenue

Microsoft posted strong results for its quarterly earnings on Wednesday, beating expectations and showing strong growth in its cloud computing platform and a boost in paid AI users. The Redmond, Washington, company earned $90 billion, or $4.81 per share, in the April-June quarter. That is up 18% from the same period a year earlier. Analysts […]

2 hours ago

Dori: ‘Defending’ immigrant children is all about politics