Mon | Jul 27, 2026

Travelers detained at Seattle airport released from custody

Published:Sunday | January 29, 2017 | 12:00 AM
AP
More than 1,000 people gather at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, to protest President Donald Trump’s order that restricts immigration to the United States, Saturday in Seattle. Trump signed an executive order Friday that bans legal US residents and visa-holders from seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the US for 90 days and puts an indefinite hold on a programme resettling Syrian refugees.

SEATTLE (AP):

Individuals who were detained at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport as a result of United States President Donald Trump's executive order have been released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a Port of Seattle spokeswoman said yesterday.

Kathy Roeder said DHS told port officials the individuals can continue their travels. She didn't know how many people had been released.

US Representative Pramila Jayapal said in a news release yesterday that two individuals were released. She said one is a citizen of Sudan and the other a citizen of Yemen, both countries named in Trump's 90-day travel ban to the US. She said one is attending a convention in Las Vegas and the other is visiting relatives.

Attorneys from the ACLU and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project said Saturday a Somali national was not allowed to enter and two other people were detained at the airport.

 

PROTESTS

 

About 3,000 protesters holding signs and chanting "no hatred, no fear, immigrants are welcome here" and "let them in" gathered Saturday evening and continued demonstrating into Sunday morning.

Roeder said the crowd dispersed shortly after midnight but about 30 to 35 were arrested during the demonstration and face various misdemeanour charges. She said there were no injuries and no damage to the facilities. She said she wasn't aware of anymore protests planned at the airport yesterday, but that protests might happen in downtown Seattle.

US District Judge Thomas Zilly in Seattle issued an order Saturday halting any deportations related to Trump's order after immigration advocates filed an emergency motion arguing that the president's actions violated the due process rights of the immigrants.