SPOKANE, Wash. — Amid sweeping immigration changes by the Trump Administration, The Community Building in downtown Spokane has posted signs restricting federal agents from entering without a judicial warrant.
“We are all about trying to make our community partners and neighbors feel welcome in our spaces,” said Katy Sheehan, executive director of the Community Building Foundation.
The signs state,”NOTICE: I.C.E and Homeland Security are not permitted to enter.” It goes on to say that federal agents need a properly executed judicial warrant to enter the property. According to the National Immigration Law Center, immigration agents can only enter private areas with such a warrant.
That means without a warrant, The Community Building has the right to keep the agents out.
“We wanted to show solidarity when we started hearing about ICE raids coming into spaces,” Sheehan said. “We wanted to make sure that the people that come to the Community Building feel like we can exercise our rights as much as we can to protect them.”
A few tenants inside the building say they support the signs. Jillian Joseph, who owns Kizuri, a fair trade shop in the building, is one of them.
“There’s justice ingrained in everything that we do here,” Joseph said. “It’s important for us to have that not just in the store where we offer items that are made by refugees, that are made by marginalized communities around the world. But it’s also important for us to show that to everybody coming through the door.”
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