Dear elected leaders of Seattle,

Moratorium on Anti-Asian targeted raids of massage parlors

Seattle has passed executive orders that prioritizes the safety of immigrants, especially in response to heightened targeting of immigrants under the Trump Administration. We call on the City of Seattle to apply this executive order similarly to immigrant Asian massage workers.

Immigrant Asian massage workers face targeting and criminalization at the hands of police. Police raid Asian massage parlors under the pretext of “busting human or sex trafficking”, but ultimately charge massage workers with unlicensed massage or sex work.

Massage licensure is often inaccessible to poor, immigrant Asian massage workers because of an English and Spanish only licensing exam — language accommodation requirements were deliberately struck in 2012 legislation — and massage training school that costs upwards of $13 - 17,000 and requires 625+ hours. Additionally, the blanket association of all Asian massage parlors with sex trafficking has roots in racist, Orientalist beliefs originating with the Page Act of 1875, the first law to ban immigration on the basis of race, which classified and therefore barred all Chinese women on the grounds that they were ‘immoral prostitutes’.

We, as concerned residents of Seattle, call for a moratorium on anti-Asian police raids of massage parlors. These raids only criminalize Asian massage workers, making them further vulnerable to violence and exploitation. These anti-immigrant raids are masqueraded as “anti-trafficking”, but only displace and traumatize immigrant workers.

We have also noticed an increase in massage parlor raids in and around the region as FIFA approaches. We highly oppose the recent escalation of raids. Raids do not make Seattle safer, protecting immigrant and workers rights makes Seattle safer for all.  

#NoRaidsForFIFA

#SafetyNotStigma