by David Mendez

Imraan Siddiqi has pushed for Muslim rights on a national stage through essays and articles. As the executive director of the Center for American-Islamic Relations’ Arizona chapter, he was a plaintiff suing to block the first Trump administration’s “Muslim Ban.” Now he wants to continue advocating for the rights of marginalized folks from the Washington State Legislature.

“We don’t see it on a frontline level, but a lot of the work that we do is impacted by the state,” Siddiqi, now the executive director of CAIR-WA, told The Osprey. “Most of CAIR-WA’s most effective work has been at a state legislative level, speaking out on behalf of the Immigrant Worker Protection Act, making sure that we pass state laws that ensure data protection for vulnerable immigrant communities and workers.”

Much of what the Muslim community has experienced in the decades since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks — mass surveillance, political and religious discrimination, civil rights challenges — has become something that Americans who believed themselves safe from must now be concerned about.

“I’ve been across the table arguing for state laws that your adversary in that situation might not be somebody who necessarily agrees with you on every issue, or may be opposed to you,” Siddiqi said. “I’m here to identify issues that may be harmful or may impact people unwittingly. It’s a process of negotiation and helping one another understand.”

In 1999, his older brother suffered a traumatic and debilitating brain injury during a car accident. Siddiqi was just a freshman in college at the time, and his family called upon him to help stabilize the family. So he did. He got his undergrad degree from the University of Texas, he founded businesses — including a coffee shop in Arizona, where graduated with an MBA from Arizona State University.

Then, in the Obama-era of the late-2000s, he began pushing back on the nation’s pervasive anti-Muslim sentiment.

“You saw organized hate really taking shape during that time, where hundreds of millions of dollars was being spent on spreading anti-Muslim bigotry,” Siddiqi said. “It was really an organized and well-funded effort that funnels into dark money and how it functions in our political system today.”

He began writing essays and articles, getting published in major newspapers. He started volunteering at CAIR-AZ, and in 2015 became its executive director.

In 2020, he moved to Seattle to become the Executive Director of CAIR-WA. Two years ago he ran an unsuccessful primary campaign against Rep. Kim Schrier, a fellow Democrat of Washington’s Eighth Congressional District.

The growth of federal immigration enforcement across the Seattle metro area has been disturbing to Siddiqi, and he hopes to use the state’s strength to rebuke the feds.

“Yes, the powers are limited, but I think having that overarcing spirit of fighting back against the Trump administration, wherever we can, is going to be super important,” Siddiqi said.

He’s going to push for legislation that bars ICE agents from being hired by state and local agencies. He wants to address large corporate donations for state and local elections. He’s interested in progressive taxation programs, and he’s planning to ally with fellow progressives like Rep. Shaun Scott, who currently represents the 43rd District.

His main goal is to assure voters that he’d be a fighter for civil rights, seeking to tear down bigotry and stand up for marginalized communities.

“The fact that so many laws are being broken to just pick up people based off of their appearance, based off of their perceived status, how this administration is bending all types of laws of this country, you need someone who s going to stand up,” Siddiqi said. “You need someone who is going to use their platform in the state legislature.”