WA governor, AG vow to ‘use every tool at our disposal’ to push back against ICE

OLYMPIA – State officials have begun preparations in case the federal government boosts immigration enforcement in Washington, Gov. Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown said during a news conference Monday.

The federal government has faced increasing scrutiny in recent weeks as the Trump administration has sent more than 3,000 federal agents to the Minneapolis area in what is believed to be the largest immigration operation ever. Ferguson’s and Brown’s news conference was planned before the shooting of intensive care unit nurse Alex Pretti on Saturday.

“We all have a responsibility to speak out, peacefully make our voices heard, and assist our fellow Washingtonians,” Ferguson said. “We will not allow this administration to turn our country into an authoritarian regime. That is not our America, and we will not allow this administration to change that.”

Ferguson said Monday there is “no specific information” that a similar operation is planned for Washington, though state officials have prepared for one if it does arrive.

“Attorney General Brown and I cannot stop ICE from being in our state. We don’t have that power. No governor has that power, and no attorney general has that power,” Ferguson said Monday. “On the other hand, we are not passive bystanders to what is happening, and we are prepared to use every tool at our disposal to mitigate against the harms inflicted by ICE.”

During Monday’s news conference, Ferguson outlined some of the steps the state has taken to prepare for an influx of immigration enforcement officers.

Sarah Peterson, chief of the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance, will begin attending the governor’s cabinet meetings, which Ferguson said will “ensure that we are coordinating as a state, and between agencies, to respond quickly and thoroughly to new threats from the federal government.”

The governor has also hired a senior adviser, David Kim, who will focus on immigration and refugee issues.

On Sunday, Ferguson met with Maj. Gen. Gent Welsh of the Washington National Guard, to “discuss what is happening in Minnesota.” Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota activated 1,500 National Guard agents in the state following the shooting of Pretti this weekend.

“I will not go into details about that conversation for reasons I hope you understand, but I want the people of our state to know that I’ll take whatever steps are necessary to keep our residents safe,” Ferguson said.

The decision to call up the National Guard is an “important one” Ferguson said, and he wouldn’t “be shy about doing that if I think it’s necessary to help protect the people of our state.”

“That’s the criteria for me,” Ferguson said.

The governor planned to meet with statewide elected officials on Monday to “ensure that we are all coordinated and using our respective tools” to protect residents. Ferguson said he also planned to meet with mayors, law enforcement, local officials and members of the state’s congressional delegation.

“What we’re seeing right now coming from Washington, D.C., is motivated by hate and bias, and is guided by the whims of the president,” Brown said. “Not the facts, not the courts and certainly not the United States Constitution.”

Ferguson and Brown sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem Monday that the governor said “makes clear” an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo that directs agents to forcibly enter a home without a judicial warrant is “certainly unconstitutional.” The memo allows ICE officers to enter homes with force with an administrative immigration warrant, which is signed by officials at the agency, not judges.

“If ICE agents attempt any such unconstitutional measures in the state of Washington, we will do everything in our power to oppose it,” the letter states. “Our state will consider all legal options to hold the U.S. Government and individual ICE agents accountable for violating Washingtonians’ constitutional rights.”

Ferguson said the letter also makes clear that the state will “use every legal option available” to hold individual officers accountable. Brown said the memo “basically instructs agents to ignore the fourth amendment of the United States Constitution.”

The fourth amendment bars unreasonable searches and seizures and requires that warrants be supported by probable cause.

The governor also pushed state lawmakers to pass legislation that would bar law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings. The proposal has cleared the Senate Law and Justice Committee and is under consideration by the Rules Committee.

“Think about it for a moment, in the United States, federal agents are roaming around with masks. I mean, it’s third world country stuff. It is,” Ferguson said. “And I realize it gets normalized, you see it and there’s some sense of, seeing it and kind of getting used to it, but we just can’t get used to that.”

Ferguson also has requested legislation that would bar members of the public who are not law enforcement, from making, providing or possessing badges or law enforcement insignias. The bill has passed out of the House Community Safety Committee.

“If you’re not a law enforcement officer, it needs to be illegal to wear something that gives the impression that you are,” Ferguson said.

Brown is pushing lawmakers to pass the Immigrant Worker Protection Act, which would require employers to notify employees when the federal government has requested their employment eligibility information and remind employers they are not required to give federal immigration officials access to their nonpublic places of business without a warrant.

The bill also would require that employers only share employees’ personal data when an agent has a subpoena or judicial warrant.