Thread by @HMAesq

The night of the first #travelban nearly two years ago, I went to Dulles Airport as a volunteer immigration lawyer. I figured some local know-how would help.

But when I heard crowds demanding "Let them see their lawyers!" the words "due process!" and officers saying they don’t accept orders from “outside” judges - something flipped inside my head.

Suddenly, the confidence that comes from working in a system for 15 years evaporated.

I had flashbacks to my clients' stories of persecution from their homelands: where laws only sometimes work. The subsequent torrent of hate from DC against fellow Americans, aspiring and otherwise, sent a message all too familiar to marginalized communities: "Stay in your place."

Thankfully, the crowds who showed up didn't listen to that message. I was moved by them. I was an immigration attorney, and a Muslim - of course I had to be there.

But most of the crowd was neither. They didn't have clients or relatives who would be detained or banned, but they came out in droves. They were the real heroes, because they showed up when it mattered most.

The ban may have eventually taken effect, albeit in a weaker form, but I have no doubt that if we keep showing up for one another, the hateful ban will be relegated to the dustbin of history.

That night shifted the direction of my legal practice. I walked into Dulles a lawyer, but walked out an advocate. Today, I'm a candidate: I'm showing up.

hassan4va.com

I'm running for the VA House of Delegates in 2019 because I want to show up to stand up for the community my family and I have lived in and served for the past 12 years.

hassan4va.com/meet-hassan/

I'm running in District 87 (eastern Loudoun/northern Prince William Co's) because I want to continue the fight to protect the rights of the marginalized and to fight for our values as Virginians, just as I've done for the past 15 years as an attorney.

hmalegal.com/hassan-m-ahmad…

We need more than just a reliably Democratic vote. We need an advocate to work within the system - but only as long as the system is working for us. If not, we bring the community together and change it.

That's what I plan to do in Richmond.

Please visit our site and join our team. It will take all of us, together, to build a Virginia that welcomes and works for everyone.