Mayor vows to keep Seattle a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants a day after Trump elected

SEATTLE -- Local Democrats in Seattle held a rally on Wednesday upset over Donald Trump’s election to the presidency.

City leaders focused on the topic of immigration and, during the rally, undocumented immigrants spoke up concerned about an uncertain future.

“Yesterday was a very dark moment and the folks that I work with are hurting,” said Wendy Martinez, of the group 21 Progress.



Mayor Ed Murray and city leaders reassured people like Martinez and others who showed up at the rally visually distraught over the president-elect.

“Don’t be afraid, be angry, be disappointed, but don’t be afraid,” Seattle City Council member Debora Juarez said.

“The city has been and will be a welcoming city, will remain a sanctuary city,” Murray said.

Trump opposes sanctuary cities.

Murray promised that Seattle will always be a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants even with the risk of losing federal money.

“We will not build a wall,” Juarez said.

But not all Latinos feel that way.

“I will do everything that it takes to help you build that wall,” Lupita Galindo said.

Q13 News met Galindo during an election party for Trump Tuesday night. She  immigrated from Mexico and says she supports a wall.

“All I ask is a little bit of time to explain to my people as to why that wall should be built, women get raped, men disappear there are no closure for the families,” Galindo said.

But Seattle Democrats say they will fight Trump on the issue, including City Council member Lorena Gonzalez, who says her parents were once undocumented immigrants who came to the United States in the 1960s.

“I am not ashamed to say that my parents made the hardest decisions of their lives to make sure they gave me opportunity,” Gonzalez said

Opportunities that  they feel will disappear with a Trump presidency.

“Demonstrated xenophobia and homophobia, nationalism and racism,” Murray said of Trump.

During a news conference on Wednesday, Murray came out swinging against Trump -- a very different tone from Hillary Clinton several hours earlier.

“Donald Trump is going to be our president, we owe him an open mind and a chance to lead,” Clinton said.

Q13 News asked Murray if his hard stance against Trump just one day after the election would only worsen the divide in the country.

“We will work with the president, we will work with the Republican-controlled Congress, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t speak out,” Murray said.