(The Center Square) – Washington state and Seattle are not changing their immigration policies despite being identified Tuesday in a Department of Justice sanctuary jurisdictions list of 35 state and local governments that have policies perceived to impede federal immigration law enforcement.
In April, President Trump signed an executive order, “Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens,” directing the Justice Department to “publish a list of States and local jurisdictions that obstruct the enforcement of Federal immigration laws” to be known as “sanctuary jurisdictions.”
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson does not plan to change the state’s immigrant protection laws. The governor said the Trump administration’s “relentless targeting of law-abiding immigrants is wrong.”
The Keep Washington Working Act limits collaboration between Washington state and local agencies and federal immigration enforcement. However, the state can’t prevent the federal government from enforcing federal immigration laws.
“Protecting hardworking Washingtonians who are abiding by our state laws and keeping families together reflect our values as a state,” Ferguson said in a statement shared with The Center Square.
In a press release, Attorney General Pamela Bondi claims that sanctuary policies, like Washington’s and Seattle’s, put citizens “at risk.”
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell remains unfazed by the Justice Department’s list, adding that it is just another attempt by the Trump administration to “strong arm cities like Seattle” into changing local policies.
Harrell dismissed the move as political theater with no teeth.
“It’s not going to work – the law is on our side – and we will not hesitate to protect our people and stand up for our values,” Harrell said in a statement emailed to The Center Square.
Seattle’s immigrant population totals more than 143,687, according to city statistics. This includes 21,000 illegal immigrants who make up roughly 2.7% of the city’s total population of 755,000. Seattle spends roughly $6.5 million a year on complementary resources for immigrants without legal status, as previously reported by The Center Square.
The city’s sanctuary status dates back to when it established its “don’t ask policy” in 2003, which barred Seattle employees from inquiring about someone’s immigration status.
According to a fact sheet from the Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, immigrants with a variety of statuses in the city paid $12.7 billion in taxes in 2019.