Washington state will hold line on sanctuary law, governor says
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Washington state won't roll back its law limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities, despite the Trump administration's threats to criminally charge state and local officials who follow it, Gov. Bob Ferguson said Tuesday.
The big picture: Ferguson's public statement came in response to a letter he received last week from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, telling him to submit a plan by Tuesday to end Washington's so-called "sanctuary" policy.
Catch up quick: The state law, called the Keep Washington Working Act, largely prevents state and local police from assisting federal authorities with civil immigration enforcement.
- Among other changes, the 2019 law banned local police from detaining people based on civil immigration warrants and barred police officers from asking about a person's immigration status in noncriminal cases.
- The law also cracked down on information sharing between state, local and federal agencies.
The latest: "Washington State will not be bullied or intimidated by threats and legally baseless accusations," Ferguson wrote in a letter formally responding to Bondi on Tuesday.
- At a news conference Tuesday, the Democratic governor called Bondi's letter threatening criminal prosecution of public officials "breathtaking" and something that "cannot be normalized."
- Bondi "seeks to have Washington state bend the knee to a Trump administration that day by day drags us closer to authoritarianism," Ferguson said. "That's not going to happen."
- Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell joined Ferguson at Tuesday's press conference, after Ferguson said the city received a similar letter.
The other side: In the letter from Bondi, which Ferguson shared on X last weekend, the attorney general wrote that policies like Washington's have "obstructed federal immigration enforcement" for too long, "giving aliens cover to perpetrate crimes in our communities."
- Bondi referenced President Trump's order threatening to withhold federal funding from jurisdictions that "obstruct" federal immigration enforcement — something Washington state and others are already challenging in court.
What we're watching: Ferguson said he's confident that, if the federal government files a lawsuit challenging Washington's statute, "we will be successful in defending it."