AG Nick Brown responds to Judiciary Committee investigation into Keep Washington Working Act

In a letter to the chair of the House Judiciary Committee on Monday, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown rejected allegations that the state “actively thwarts federal immigration enforcement” and “targets local law enforcement officials for complying with federal law.”

He called such statements “plainly wrong.”

“It is also disappointing that the Committee’s request for information and materials related to our lawsuit and to our overall efforts to enforce the Keep Washington Working Act is replete with unsubstantiated and hyperbolic allegations that do not reflect the factual reality,” Brown wrote.

Brown wrote the letter in response to Rep. Michael Baumgartner and the committee chair who wrote to Brown late last month claiming the state’s “sanctuary law” thwarted cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials.

In the March 31 letter, the committee chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, requested the state attorney general’s office provide all documents and communications relating to state and local law enforcement agencies’ interactions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection dating to January 2023.

As the committee notified the attorney general’s office of its investigation, Baumgartner said Washington’s “sanctuary policies are putting the safety of its residents at risk by prioritizing criminal aliens over law-abiding citizens.”

“By obstructing cooperation with federal immigration authorities, the state is actively shielding dangerous individuals and undermining public safety,” Baumgartner said in an April 1 statement. “It’s time for Washington to rethink these dangerous policies and put its communities first.”

The committee also requested the number of ICE requests to hold someone in jail Washington law enforcement “declined to honor” during that time and the amount of “taxpayer funding” used to pursue legal action against the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.

In a case that has sparked national headlines, Brown filed suit against the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, alleging the agency illegally cooperated with federal immigration enforcement in violation of the Keep Washington Working Act.

Passed in 2019, the law forbids local law enforcement from using local resources to help federal officials enforce immigration law.

“The Keep Washington Working Act reflects our Legislature’s judgment that local police should not use their time or resources to assist in immigration enforcement, unless federal law expressly requires it, or in situations where public safety is directly implicated,” Brown wrote Monday. “Contrary to the Committee’s claims, the law does not interfere with federal immigration law.”

Brown contends that numerous courts have found the state “cannot be required to absorb the uncompensated fiscal, legal, or operational costs that come with enforcing federal immigration law.”

Brown wrote that under the Trump administration, “We have seen draconian tactics and disturbing statements from federal officials who appear willing to bypass bedrock constitutional protections like due process, or to threaten people who criticize the Administration’s policies, including even U.S. citizens or others who have a legal right to be in this country.”

Brown encouraged the committee to “use its oversight authority to investigate those actions, and to hold accountable those in the administration who are trampling on peoples’ rights.”

The Adams County lawsuit, which was filed in Spokane County Superior Court, alleges the sheriff’s office held people in custody based on their immigration status, gave immigration officials confidential information and helped federal immigration officials question those in custody, each of which the lawsuit alleges “expressly violates state law.”

During an appearance before a House subcommittee last week, Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner said the lawsuit was “not about justice or protecting communities.”

“It’s about enforcing a political agenda that restricts law enforcement’s ability to cooperate with federal authorities,” Wagner said in his testimony.

The lawsuit alleges that between May 2019 and January 2022, the Sheriff’s Office shared nonpublic information with federal immigration officials at least 212 times, which included sending a “new in custody” list to federal officials “on a near-weekly basis.”

“As the chief law enforcement officer in the state, it is deeply important to me that we foster public trust in law enforcement. I have the obligation to protect the rights of state residents and defend state law, even when that requires enforcing the law against our cities or counties,” Brown wrote Monday. “This case is not about politics or ideology, but instead simply about enforcing state law.”

In response to the chair of the Judiciary Committee asking for records relating to “investigations into local law enforcement entities in Washington for their cooperation with federal immigration officials,” Brown wrote Monday that documents are “privileged under multiple doctrines.”

“However, as soon as practicable, we will provide the Committee with the documents and materials that Adams County produced to us during our investigation,” Brown wrote.

Brown added that the request for “documents and communications referring or relating to” interactions between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials was “overly broad.”

According to Brown, the attorney general’s office also does not possess information on “the number of ICE detainers that Washington state and local law enforcement officials declined to honor” dating back to Jan. 1, 2023.

Brown said Monday that the cost of the Adams County litigation was not “readily available.”

“However, in 2024, the Attorney General’s Office brought in more than $156 million in settlements and penalties,” Brown wrote. “These funds were largely spent on restitution and paying for the operations of civil justice enforcement, including the investigation and litigation against Adams County.”

The letter Monday is the latest salvo between Washington state and the federal government. As he announced a lawsuit April 4 challenging the president’s attempt to impose federal control over elections, Brown said the lawsuit was the 11th Washington has brought against the Trump administration.

“I’m sorry to say, at the rate this is headed, we will have more cases in the future,” Brown said during the April 4 news conference.

On Wednesday, Brown is scheduled to appear alongside the attorneys general of Nevada, Colorado and Hawaii in a town hall “focused on discussing the ongoing lawsuits Democratic AGs have filed against the Trump administration and how the administration’s unconstitutional actions have harmed constituents.”