SBA to leave Seattle because it’s a ‘sanctuary city’
The U.S. Small Business Administration will shutter its Seattle regional office due to the city’s immigrant protections and plans to cut off benefits to noncitizen business owners, marking the latest move in the Trump administration’s dramatic anti-immigration campaign.
The Small Business Administration said in a news release it seeks to “put American citizens first by ending taxpayer benefits for illegal aliens.”
Along with the Seattle regional office, five other cities will have closures in the coming months: New York, Boston, Chicago, Denver and Atlanta. The news release says the district offices will be moved to “less costly, more accessible locations that better serve the small business community and comply with federal immigration law.”
The SBA did not immediately respond to questions about when the Seattle office may close or where it would move to.
The “sanctuary city” label does not have a set definition and is unofficial. In Seattle, city employees cannot ask about immigration status, and the Seattle Police Department does not assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement nor does the state.
Washington state law mandates that local law enforcement agencies play little part in helping the federal government arrest or deport undocumented immigrants, and officers can’t arrest or detain someone in a local jail based on their immigration status.
The SBA said the office closures “support President Trump’s agenda to secure our borders – which has already resulted in the lowest rates of illegal border crossings in history.”
The news release also said in the coming days, the agency will institute a policy requiring loan applications to include a “citizenship verification provision.” Lenders will be required to prove their businesses “are not owned in whole or in party by an illegal alien.”
Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to identify all federally funded programs that “permit illegal aliens to obtain any cash or non-cash public benefit.”
In a statement Thursday night, a spokesperson for Mayor Bruce Harrell denounced the SBA announcement, saying “small businesses are critical to what makes Seattle special.”
“Too many small businesses are facing difficult challenges and struggling to keep their doors open,” spokesperson Jamie Housen said. “From threatening funding that supports public safety to closing our regional SBA office, the Trump administration is making the problem worse through divisive politics aimed at hurting small businesses and working people.”
The SBA Seattle District Office is at 2401 Fourth Ave. and it serves Washington state (with the exception of Clark, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum and Skamania counties, which are served by the Portland District Office) and 10 counties in Northern Idaho. The SBA also has an office in Spokane.
These offices help with federal grants, contracting, certification and disaster recovery.
According to SBA federal data, the Seattle District Office in 2024 approved $117 million in 504 program loans and over $965 million in 7(a) program loans. For small businesses, 504 loans are used to finance real estate purchases or renovations while 7(a) loans can provide businesses with working capital.
In microloans, about $1.4 million was approved in Washington state. The average microloan size nationwide was about $16,000.
In the aftermath of a November bomb cyclone that caused millions of dollars in damage in the Seattle area, the SBA opened federal assistance applications for homeowners and businesses.