Several Mayors from across the United States didn’t attend a meeting with President Donald Trump on Wednesday after the administration threatened to withhold funding from nearly two dozen local governments that the administration believes is not following immigration laws.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan was among the mayors that skipped the meeting.
“I think this fight is not one we picked, but it is one we are willing to wage and in the end it is one we will win because we are right on the law, and we are right on the principles,” Durkan said in a phone conversation from Washington D.C. on Thursday morning.
Durkan is currently attending the annual U.S. Mayor’s Conference. She says the Trump administration’s focus should be elsewhere.
“As Mayor of Seattle I can tell you I don’t need them to spend their resources on doing ICE sweeps of people who present no danger to my community,” Durkan said. “I need them to be a good partner on challenges like the opioid crisis so that we can get more people off drugs and into safe housing. I need them to be a full partner in providing affordable housing and public housing. I need them to join the fight to make sure that we can end systemic racism that exists in so many systems in our city and in our country. That’s where the federal government, acting as a federal government, can really help with the public safety for every person in America.”
While on the East Coast, Durkan also met with the commissioner of the NHL in New York City. She also met with other Mayors to discuss apprenticeships, free college, affordable housing, and transportation solutions.
