The ACLU of Washington membership has dramatically increased since the election of Donald Trump.
The organization is now caught in the middle of President Trump’s immigration ban, in supporting some travelers who were being held by customs authorities at SeaTac Airport.
ACLU of Washington spokesman Doug Honig says membership in the organization has undergone a transformation the November presidential election. “Our membership has gone from more than 18,000 to more than 32,000 and still climbing. It's really unprecedented,” Honig said.
He says the organization has a long 100-year tradition of upholding constitutionally guaranteed liberties,
“We’ve held every president responsible, regardless of party, and the same holds true for President Trump, if he violates the constitution, we’ll see him in court,” he said.
Honig says ACLU of Washington lawyers worked over the weekend to file a motion in federal court to prevent two people from being sent back home who had arrived at SeaTac from countries on the banned immigration list. Their request was granted and two were allowed to enter the country, one to visit his family, the other to attend an engineering conference.