Activists to gather at SF City Hall for ‘emergency press conference’ amid travel ban

(KRON) –  Immigrant-rights activists are gathering on the front steps of San Francisco City Hall on Monday at 4 p.m. for what they are calling an emergency press conference. 

The premise of the meeting is for the groups to discuss President Donald Trump’s new travel ban that goes into effect Monday. Council on American–Islamic Relations also condemned the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s use of military force in the latest Los Angeles raids, per organizers’ press release. 

Several Bay Area organizations are expected to be in attendance, including Arab Resources and Organizing Center, Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA), California Coalition for Immigrant Justice, African Advocacy Network, Haiti Action Committee, and more.

“We condemn this inhumane travel ban on Arab, Muslim, and African countries and the violent ICE raids in our communities for what they are—two tactics in a blatantly racist and white supremacist scheme by the Trump administration to bar Black and Brown people from this country,” said AROC Executive Director Lara Kiswani. 

The director also said, “These are the latest in Trump’s long list of tyrannical actions where ‘national security’ is used as a pretext for demonizing entire populations from countries and communities of color. Yet just as we mobilized thousands of people across the Bay Area to disrupt Trump’s bigoted Muslim Ban during his first presidency, and just as Los Angeles communities are currently resisting, we are ready to do the same today.”

Organizations will be issuing statements and taking questions at the press conference.