THERE WERE SIGNS OF LIFE earlier, fits of obstruction, but the moment when the Democratic Party officially awoke from its stupor and caught up to the reality of President Donald Trump came in the last weekend of January, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and a half-dozen places like it.
On January 27, Trump had signed an executive order halting travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries. The next morning, following an example set by a few colleagues in New York, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a member of Congress for all of 25 days, drove to SeaTac in the hopes of staging an intervention. One Somali man had already been put on a flight back to Europe before she arrived, but she feared that more deportations might be imminent.
There was a problem, though—Jayapal had no idea who or how many people were being detained, because Customs and Border Protection officials were refusing to come out and speak with her.
So after hours of haggling and waiting to no avail, Jayapal and a few allies, including fellow Rep. Suzan DelBene, piled into a Port of Seattle bus that snaked around the airport to the baggage handling area. They walked across the tarmac to the CBP office and banged on the door. When it finally opened, they told the CBP agents they had the governor on the line and needed answers. That got them the information they needed—the names of passengers set to be deported—and their intervention bought time for the courts, where lawyers had filed a challenge to the executive order. Late that night, with two would-be deportees already aboard a plane waiting to depart, a federal judge in Seattle, Thomas Zilly, issued a temporary restraining order halting the deportations. When the ordeal was over, Jayapal grabbed a megaphone to address a crowd of about 3,000 protesters inside the terminal.
This story is from the July/August 2017 edition of Mother Jones.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July/August 2017 edition of Mother Jones.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
FOOD FOR THOUGHT - CRIME OF THE CROP
Will GMOs harm my kids? Your pediatrician's response might not be grounded in science.
ECONUNDRUMS - CHATBOT QUACKS
AI was supposed to fix online health misinformation. Instead, it's making it worse.
WELL PLAYED
One man’s mission to make gaming a little less white
FIGHTING CHANCE
RUBEN GALLEGO'S BATTLE AGAINST KARI LAKE COULD DECIDE THE FATE OF THE SENATE-AND DEMOCRACY ITSELF. NO PRESSURE.
BLUUD MONEY
Tommy Alba could be a pain in the ass.
Become Ungovernable
The spectacular implosion of the Libertarian Party
Spoiler Alert
Third-party candidates never win national elections, but they can still have serious consequences.
THE DEMOCRACY BOMB
A day ahead of the third anniversary of January 6, President Joe Biden traveled to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-where George Washington encamped during the Revolutionary War-before delivering what he described as a \"deadly serious\" speech framing the stakes of the 2024 election.
OH CRAP - SLUDGE REPORT
Can Maine lead the way to a future without forever chemicals?
JERSEY BOYS - AGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Young voters are powering Rep. Andy Kim's challenge to Trenton's powers that be.