The Port of Seattle is responsible for ensuring that Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) serves the needs of the public. SEA is our region’s gateway to the world and reflects who we are as a community. As a Port Commissioner, I carry the responsibility of striving to ensure that every person who passes through our facilities is treated with dignity, fairness, and respect. Our Welcoming Port Policy — established in 2018 as a response to racist travel policies directed at our Muslim neighbors — ensures that Port police, Port staff, and community leaders understand our commitment to doing everything we can to make SEA and our maritime facilities places where people feel safe, welcome, and respected. We are unwavering in our commitment to stand with immigrant communities.
In fulfilling this duty, the Commission has looked extensively at what King County and Washington state residents expect of our airport. We believe strongly that our facilities should be efficient, safe, and secure while simultaneously serving as a welcoming reflection of our community’s values.
Last week, the University of Washington Center for Human Rights released a report outlining the heartbreaking deportation accounts of those who have been removed from our region, including via commercial flights at SEA. The report sheds a light on the human impact of the devastating immigration enforcement policies and priorities of the Trump administration.
The Port has reviewed the report and offered clarifications to the author regarding SEA Airport’s operations and authority. It is important that the public understands the limitations on the Port in these situations. SEA Airport officials are not made aware of federal immigration authorities conducting deportations via commercial aircraft, nor do they authorize or disallow these actions. The Port has no jurisdiction over U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, no control over the commercial operation of airlines using our facilities, and no access to the identifying information of any passengers on commercial flights, including those undergoing deportation.
However, the Port is working to address concerns that have come to light since January 20 regarding federal immigration enforcement activities taking place in our gateway. We have engaged with our congressional delegation to communicate our concerns, as well as supported their efforts to increase accountability, transparency, and oversight of federal law enforcement. We are also in conversation with affected communities and advocacy groups to explore how our response to emergency situations can meaningfully evolve.
Additionally, Port leadership has convened an internal task force to better understand our limitations regarding federal agencies like CBP and ICE; to improve our communication with those agencies; and to improve how we convey guidance and expectations to our workforce in a quickly shifting landscape.
I'd like to reiterate our commitment to protecting members of the traveling public, including their right to due process.
We are also in the process of updating our Welcoming Port Policy due to the increased challenges and realities currently faced by travelers, especially foreign-born people visiting our airport and maritime facilities. This update includes reaffirming that no Port resources will be used to enforce civil immigration law, as well as ensuring our compliance with the Keep Washington Working Act, the state law that places limits on the extent to which local and state law enforcement may participate in enforcement of federal immigration laws.
We are a welcoming port in a nation of immigrants. We stand firm in our values, and we will keep showing up for those who are made vulnerable by unjust policies. The Port is committed to using its power and platform to protect the members of the public we so proudly serve and represent.
All the best,
Toshiko Grace Hasegawa
President, Port of Seattle Commission
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