logo
Here's what WA sheriffs said when asked about Trump administration's immigration plans

Here's what WA sheriffs said when asked about Trump administration's immigration plans

Yahoo20-02-2025
President Donald Trump has identified state and local law enforcement agencies as being pivotal in his plans to deport millions of undocumented people from the U.S. But the extent of how his undertaking will play out on the ground remains unclear, especially in Washington and other 'sanctuary states' that have local laws prohibiting such collaborations.
Washington's 'sanctuary law,' formally called the Keep Washington Working Act, restricts the extent to which local law enforcement agencies may participate in federal immigration enforcement actions. The law prohibits the use of county jails for immigrant detention and does not allow local law enforcement to interview or detain those suspected of being an undocumented immigrant.
In a survey conducted by InvestigateWest and Cascade PBS, the majority of Washington sheriffs said they would focus their resources on public safety and local laws, not federal immigration enforcement.
'We recognize that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and not a part of my elected office or sworn duty. Therefore, we focus our resources and efforts on local law enforcement matters just as we have always done,' Pacific County Sheriff Daniel C. Garcia wrote in a statement. 'We will not detain or arrest individuals solely based on suspected immigration violations.'
But some responses were less clear-cut.
'The Pierce County Sheriff Office will abide by all enforceable U.S. immigration laws and legal mandates,' wrote Sheriff Keith Swank, who took office on Jan. 15. 'Law enforcement agencies are obligated to honor applicable federal detainers. I believe there will be more legal guidance in the near future.'
In the same vein, Grant County Sheriff Joe Kriete said in his statement that while his office is aware of the Keep Washington Working Act, his office 'will not impede federal operations,' providing no further clarification.
While other local law enforcement agencies across the country have formal agreements with the Department of Homeland Security under the federal 287 (g) program that allows jails to be used for immigrant detention, Washington doesn't have any such formal agreements on the books.
Still, nothing is stopping federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials from conducting immigration raids or arrests in Washington or tapping in local law enforcement to help if the person of interest is suspected of committing a crime — which could be as simple as a traffic violation.
InvestigateWest and Cascade PBS reached out to all of Washington's 39 sheriffs, inspired by similar work done by CalMatters, and asked how they plan to balance conflicting local, state and federal laws. Nine county sheriffs did not respond to multiple requests for comments, and nine others did not respond to our specific questions, instead forwarding a statement released by the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs in December. Our questions:
What role does the Sheriff's office believe local law enforcement should play in federal immigration enforcement?
Will the Sheriff's office change or modify any of its policies or procedures related to immigration enforcement, while still complying with the state's Keep Washington Working Act?
Anything else you'd like to add?
While no sheriffs in Washington outright said they would work hand in hand with federal immigration enforcement, Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer, who considers himself a constitutional sheriff and did not respond to our requests, posted a video on Facebook on Dec. 11 telling federal ICE officials to 'put me on speed dial.'
Here is what the sheriffs who did respond to our requests said:
View Link: https://www.datawrapper.de/_/lqeVR/
InvestigateWest (investigatewest.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Visit investigatewest.org/newsletters to sign up for weekly updates.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Disgraced former Rep. George Santos reports to prison for seven-year sentence
Disgraced former Rep. George Santos reports to prison for seven-year sentence

NBC News

timean hour ago

  • NBC News

Disgraced former Rep. George Santos reports to prison for seven-year sentence

WASHINGTON — Disgraced former Rep. George Santos reported to prison on Friday, beginning a more than seven-year sentence after pleading guilty to a laundry list of federal charges that included wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering. He is in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution Fairton in Fairton, New Jersey, the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed Friday. The flashy New York Republican, who stormed onto the national stage when he unexpectedly won a congressional seat in 2022 and was expelled by his colleagues the very next year, didn't go quietly this week. He appeared on an hour-long podcast, engaged with his followers on X Spaces and posted a series of farewell tweets on X. He also continued to post videos for supporters on the Cameo platform through Friday morning, charging a minimum of $300 per video, according to the site. 'Well, darlings …The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed. From the halls of Congress to the chaos of cable news what a ride it's been! Was it messy? Always. Glamorous? Occasionally. Honest? I tried… most days,' Santos wrote on X. 'I may be leaving the stage (for now), but trust me legends never truly exit," he continued. In his hour-and-a-half Spaces live broadcast, Santos, a Donald Trump ally in Congress, said he had been asked by many people whether he would get a presidential pardon or commutation that could cut short his 87-month sentence. 'The answer to that is, I don't know. You're asking the wrong person,' he said on Thursday. 'The only person that can answer that question is, you know, whoever the president of the United States is — in this case, President Donald Trump.' The White House has not commented on the matter. Santos' political career was one of the shortest and most tumultuous in recent memory. Even before he was sworn into office, the New York Times and other outlets revealed that he had fabricated parts of his resume, and the personal narrative that he shared with donors and voters on the campaign trail began to fall apart. The House Ethics Committee issued a scathing investigative report about Santos, finding he'd likely committed multiple federal crimes, and the Justice Department indicted him on 23 counts, including embezzling contributions from supporters, illegally obtaining unemployment benefits and lying on House financial disclosures. In the 2022 midterm elections, Santos had been one of four Republicans who had flipped Democratic-held seats in New York. But after the indictment and Ethics report, it was those same New York GOP colleagues who led the charge to oust him from Congress. On Dec. 1, 2023, the House voted 311-114 to expel Santos, making him just the sixth person in U.S. history to be expelled from the House of Representatives. After his guilty plea, Santos was sentenced to 87 months behind bars this past April and ordered to pay almost $374,000 in restitution and over $200,000 in forfeiture. During his appearances this week, Santos repeatedly expressed remorse for his lies and actions, even as he tried to settle political scores with those who ousted him from Congress. "I think we can all attest that I've made a string of s--- choices in my life, and for that, I'm sorry to those I've disappointed, to those I've let down, to those that I have caused irreparable damage. I'm sorry. I mean it. I'm not— I'm not placating. This isn't for show," Santos said on Spaces.

Lumbee tribe of North Carolina sees politics snarl recognition by Washington

timean hour ago

Lumbee tribe of North Carolina sees politics snarl recognition by Washington

Since the 1980s, the Lumbee Tribe has lobbied Congress to acknowledge it as a sovereign nation. There was renewed hope last year when both major party candidates in the presidential election promised to intervene on behalf of the Lumbee. In his first week in office, President Donald Trump appeared to be making good on his endorsement. He issued an executive order directing the Interior Department to create a plan for federal recognition, a move Lumbee Chairman John Lowery called a 'significant step forward.' But several months later, it remains unclear if Trump will take further action. The plan was submitted to the White House in April, according to the Interior Department. However, a White House official told The Associated Press last week that the Lumbee will have to achieve its goal through legislation — which the Interior Department also confirmed. 'We anticipate the tribe will work with Congress on a path forward to be formally recognized,' Interior spokesperson Elizabeth Peace said in a statement. Federal acknowledgement comes with a bevy of resources owed to tribal nations through treaty rights and acts of Congress, including health care through the Indian Health Service, access to certain federal grants, and the ability to create a land base such as reservations through the land-to-trust process. Many of the 574 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. have been acknowledged through legislation. Dozens more have been recognized through the Office of Federal Acknowledgement, which determines if applicants have a documented history of political and social existence as a tribe. Critics of the Lumbee Tribe, including several tribal nations, argue that it has not been able to prove its historic and genealogical claims and it should do so through the formal federal process. The tribe is recognized by the state of North Carolina. 'The gaps in the Lumbee's claims are staggering,' said Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Principal Chief Michell Hicks. He said the Lumbee have yet to show who they descend from and that recognizing them through legislation would open the door for fraudulent groups to gain federal acknowledgement. 'Congress wouldn't be recognizing a tribe, it would be manufacturing one,' he said. Lowery argues that the Lumbee can prove who they descend from but that the application and vetting process through the Office of Federal Acknowledgement is too long and arduous and could take decades complete. He has been working closely with U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina to pass a bill that would federally recognize the Lumbee Tribe. 'For anyone, from any tribe, to somehow think that a tribe that receives federal recognition via legislation is somehow circumventing the process,' Lowery said, 'is being disingenuous.' The Lumbee Tribe applied for recognition in 1987. But Arlinda Locklear, a Lumbee attorney who has worked on the issue for decades, said staff at the Office of Federal Acknowledgement offered conflicting opinions because a 1956 congressional act acknowledged the Lumbee exist but denied them access to federal resources. She said they asked the office to issue a formal opinion regarding the 1956 bill. 'If we're not eligible then tell us at the beginning so we can ask for it from Congress,' she said. The Office of Federal Acknowledgement determined the Lumbee Tribe was ineligible for recognition, but that decision was reversed in 2016 by Interior's Office of the Solicitor. Despite being allowed to reapply since 2016, both Locklear and Lowery said that process remains too lengthy and have opted instead to urge Congress to pass legislation. That could prove difficult in the current climate, as Trump and Republicans lawmakers are slashing federal spending. In 2011, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that recognizing the Lumbee Tribe and providing the necessary federal resources would cost the U.S. more than $840 million in the first four years. A 2022 CBO estimate put that number at more than $360 million. This month, a Brookings Institution report found that the Trump administration's directive to freeze federal grants could disrupt $24 billion that go to tribes. Tillis, the author of the bill, has also been the subject of the Trump's ire recently, after he voted against the president's tax bill in June. Trump threatened to campaign against him, and Tillis said he would not seek reelection. His bill, the Lumbee Fairness Act, was referred to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in January. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who chairs the committee, said she will work with Tillis on the bill. David Wilkins, a Lumbee author and professor at the University of Richmond, has advocated for federal recognition for decades. But, he said the Lumbee face opposition across Indian Country, and he's concerned that gaining it with Trump's endorsement will add to that. 'The way he's battering Indian Country with his cuts or with his layoffs,' Wilkins said. 'If we do slip through because Trump convinces his Secretary of Interior to either expedite the acknowledgement process or get Congress to find a move on the Lumbee bill and get it through, I worry about how that's going to be received in Indian Country.'

Trump flees Washington controversies for golf-heavy trip to Scotland
Trump flees Washington controversies for golf-heavy trip to Scotland

CNN

time2 hours ago

  • CNN

Trump flees Washington controversies for golf-heavy trip to Scotland

Fleeing Washington's oppressive humidity and nonstop questions over heated controversies, President Donald Trump is once again taking weekend refuge at his golf clubs — this time more than 3,000 miles away in Scotland. While the White House has called his five-day trip a 'working visit,' it's fairly light on the formal itinerary. Trump is poised to hold trade talks Sunday with the chief of the European Union and is scheduled to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday. But he's expected to spend most of his trip out of public view at two of his golf resorts – Trump Turnberry in the west and Trump International about 200 miles away in the north, near his mother's ancestral homeland. 'We have a lot of things in Scotland,' Trump said as he left the White House on Friday, noting his familial ties to the land. 'I have a lot of love.' Even with protesters threatening to disrupt the visit, Trump's four nights in temperate Scotland come as a summertime respite after six months back in office. His administration is engulfed in a deepening political crisis over its handling of disclosures around the case of Jeffrey Epstein, accused sex trafficker and former friend of the president's. Nearly every time Trump has spoken with reporters in recent weeks, he's been pressed with new questions about the Epstein scandal, many of which are fueled by deep suspicions that he and his followers have been stirring for years. New revelations about his personal ties to the disgraced financier have kept the matter alive. The Scotland trip schedule allows Trump to focus instead on areas where he's more comfortable: trade deals, his family businesses and golf. Trump often speaks fondly of his ties to Scotland, the birthplace of his late mother, though the feeling has been far from mutual — his development of luxury golf resorts over the last two decades has ignited objections from many local residents. Thousands of demonstrators marched in the streets here in 2018 during his first presidential visit. The centerpiece of this trip is a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday for a new 18-hole golf course in Aberdeenshire on the windswept coast of the North Sea. It's named the MacLeod Course in honor of Trump's mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born in 1912 outside of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. She left for New York in 1930 at the age of 18, emigrating to the United States following World War I. She married Fred C. Trump, the son of German immigrants, in 1936 and died in 2000. A black and white photograph of her sits prominently behind the president's desk in the Oval Office. Authorities in Scotland have spent weeks preparing for Trump's arrival. Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond told reporters the security operation would be the largest the country has mounted since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, including local officers, national security divisions and special constables. The overall tone toward Trump has been markedly less fond, however. The Friday edition of The National, a liberal-leaning newspaper that supports Scottish independence, rolled out a not-so-welcoming message to Trump with a blaring and bold front-page headline: 'Convicted US Felon to Arrive in Scotland.' A group called Stop Trump Scotland, a coalition of demonstrators, said it planned to organize protests at Aberdeen and outside the US consulate in Edinburgh as part of a 'Festival of Resistance.' Photographs of a sign outside one of his golf clubs that said 'Twinned with Epstein Island' were circulated online and published in UK newspapers. As he left the White House on Friday, Trump made no mention of the disapproval awaiting him. He said he eagerly anticipated meeting left-leaning Scottish First Minister John Swinney, who has been an outspoken critic and last year endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. 'He's a good man,' Trump told reporters. 'I look forward to meeting him.' With trade talks intensifying, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen announced Friday that she planned to meet with Trump in Scotland on Sunday 'to discuss transatlantic trade relations and how we can keep them strong.' Trump said earlier there was a '50-50' chance he would reach a trade deal with the EU, adding as he departed for Scotland that his administration was 'working very diligently' with Europe. Trump's meeting with von der Leyen — whom he has not yet hosted at the White House — comes as the EU rushes to clinch a trade deal with its largest trading partner that would stave off a threatened 30% tariff set to take effect August 1. In the past, Trump has adopted a hostile attitude toward the European Union, claiming it was formed to 'screw' the United States. He has maintained a somewhat distant relationship with von der Leyen, who was close to former President Joe Biden, adding another complexity to their Sunday meeting. 'That would be, actually, the biggest deal of them all if we make it,' Trump said of a potential agreement with the European Union after he landed in Scotland Friday. It's the first visit Trump has made to the country since 2023, when he broke ground on the golf course dedicated to his mother. But returning this weekend as the sitting American president has roused critics, including Green Party leader and member of parliament, Patrick Harvie. 'Donald Trump is a convicted criminal and political extremist,' Harvie told reporters in Scotland this week. 'There can be no excuses for trying to cozy up to his increasingly fascist political agenda.' While golf is the primary item on Trump's weekend schedule, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described the trip as 'a working visit that will include a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Starmer to refine the historic US-UK trade deal.' Starmer has worked to develop a warm relationship with Trump, visiting him at the White House in February and holding conversations since then on trade, military support for Ukraine and other global challenges. It's paid off, at least somewhat — Starmer is one of a handful of country leaders who have secured a trade deal with Trump. The deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, officials said, is expected to be among the topics discussed, but British officials have generally been working to lower expectations for the Monday meeting, suggesting it is a prelude to an official state visit in September. Trump is set to return to the United Kingdom at the invitation of King Charles III for a ceremonial welcome at Windsor Castle. He was hosted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019 at Buckingham Palace. 'This is really special,' Starmer said in February when he extended the invitation to Trump in a letter from the King. 'This has never happened before, this is unprecedented.' The Scotland visit is the fifth international trip Trump has taken since returning to office. He briefly visited Rome for Pope Francis' funeral in April, toured the Middle East in May, met with G7 leaders in Canada and attended a NATO summit in the Hague in June. 'President Trump's affinity for Scotland is real, regardless of what people think of his politics,' Anas Sarwar, the Labour Party leader in Scotland wrote in an April essay in The Times of London. 'His family's investments in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire are real and significant.' This is the first trip overseas that is built nearly entirely around a weekend of golf. For a president who repeatedly railed against his predecessors for golfing – and called last week on the Republican Senate to cancel its annual August recess and 'long weekends' to keep working on his agenda – Trump hits the links without apology, no matter the season. From his regular winter visits to two of his courses in Florida to his spring and summer trips to his clubs in Virginia and New Jersey, seldom does a weekend go by that Trump doesn't spend time at one of his golf courses or resorts. On this trip, Trump is scheduled to spend three nights at Trump Turnberry, a luxury resort that he has owned since 2014 on the west coast, overlooking the Irish Sea. 'It's the best resort in the world, I think,' Trump boasted of his club. He will also spend one night at his course in Aberdeenshire, on the northern coast, and take part in the only public event expected on his itinerary: a dedication ceremony for a second 18-hole course. The president voiced optimism that one day the British Open would return to Turnberry. It was last held at Trump's course on the Scottish west coast in 2009, five years before Trump purchased the resort. 'I think they will do that,' Trump said Friday. 'Turnberry is rated the No. 1 course in the world.' The organizers of the Open have said concerns over lack of hotel space and some local road infrastructure challenges have prevented the championship from being played there. Politics is also at play, which was underscored by a full-page advertisement in the National newspaper on Friday that urged the public to sign a petition against it. 'Don't let the divisiveness of Donald Trump hijack and overshadow this great event,' the advertisement said. 'Do the right thing. Don't give The Open to Trump Turnberry.' Alejandra Jaramillo contributed to this report.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store