Spokane council eyes icing ICE out of more public property

Most of Spokane’s public property may soon become off limits to federal immigration agents attempting enforcement actions without a judicial warrant after Councilman Paul Dillon introduced an ordinance expanding a more limited law passed in August.

Immigration officers already need a warrant to enter a permitted event on most public property in Spokane, as long as organizers request protection and go through the proper steps to receive it, under protections created by the City Council last summer.

Dillon’s “Immigration Enforcement Free Zones” would ban the use of any city-owned or - controlled property – such as parking lots, vacant lots, garages and other buildings – for immigration enforcement operations. This includes using the property for staging, surveillance, processing, interviewing or temporarily detaining people for civil immigration enforcement, among other prohibited activities.

This ban would not prevent agents from serving a valid judicial warrant.

The law also requires the city to post signs around its properties stating in both English and Spanish that: “This property is owned and controlled by the City of Spokane. It may not be used for civil immigration enforcement, including use as a staging area, processing area, or operations base.”

The law does not apply to open spaces such as parks. The City Council last year eyed barring immigration enforcement from city parks, but pivoted following pushback from the independent Parks Board and concerns that open spaces could not be regulated in this way.

Violations of this new law, like the law approved in August, would not be enforced by local law enforcement. Instead, it grants private individuals the right to sue if the law is violated.

The council is set to vote on it Feb. 23.

Police Chief Kevin Hall has repeatedly stated he does not want to see his officers attempt to arrest armed immigration officers.

“If you have one armed law enforcement agency confronting another armed law enforcement agency, there are going to be problems,” Hall said Monday during a separate presentation.

Asked by Councilwoman Sarah Dixit whether police could arrive on scene to document immigration actions, Hall expressed reservation.

“If we’re present, our body-worn cameras will be on,” he said.

“My caution with that is, Washington state’s a little bit different, because (our officers) have a duty to intervene law, meaning the officers, if they see another law enforcement officer … state, local, federal, doing something that they believe is unethical, criminal or excessive force, they are duty-bound to intervene.”

Hall reiterated that could force local police to have to confront armed federal officers.

“It becomes a perilous path,” he said.

Kaylee Jackman, who also sits on the city’s Transportation Commission, praised the law Monday afternoon but questioned the effectiveness if police won’t arrest violators. What good are lawsuits and settlements to injured parties, Jackman asked, once they’ve been deported “or killed due to the deplorable, unsafe, unsanitary detention centers.”

“I’d be in support of towing vehicles that try to stage on city property, but I doubt there’s willingness to do that either,” Jackman said. “No settlement can undo the trauma and harm of being detained by ICE.”

Introducing the law Monday, Dillon said that it served as a “preventative measure” making sure the public is aware that “we are not consenting to the use of city resources .”

The city’s latest attempt to defy the federal government’s ramped-up campaign of mass deportation comes on the heels of numerous other cities, including Chicago, approving similar bans. Not long after Dillon introduced the law, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson adopted a similar policy via an executive directive to Seattle police, among other instructions for responding to civil immigration actions.

This also likely won’t be the last attempt from Spokane. Even as the council mulled the “Immigration Enforcement Free Zones,” members brainstormed other levers they could pull.

Councilman Zack Zappone suggested banning ICE agents from seeking employment with the city of Spokane. Councilman Michael Cathcart questioned whether such a ban would violate an applicant’s civil rights or infringe on the city’s civil service commission, which is meant to create neutral hiring processes.