SEATTLE — Seattle leaders are pushing back against the possibility of increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in sanctuary cities, after President Trump’s border czar warned that a surge could be imminent.
Councilmember Bob Kettle, a military veteran and chair of the Public Safety Committee, said the city is working to address crime without help from Washington, D.C.
“We’re up to 24 pieces of legislation.” Kettle said. “The real time crime center, the CCTV, also the automatic license plate readers, they help system. This is making a difference for our city.”
Kettle, who criticized the Trump administration’s militarization of the National Guard in Los Angeles this summer — a move a judge struck down this week — called the federal tactics “junior varsity” compared to Seattle police.
“No face mask, no face coverings. They have to announce who they are … They don’t come in all dressed tactical, dressed with face coverings. That’s not law enforcement,” he said.
Council President Sara Nelson also criticized federal actions, saying they undermine Seattle’s approach to building trust in policing.
“Not on our watch will ICE agents undermine our efforts to ensure everyone in every community across our city feels safe,” she said in a statement this week.
Advocates with the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) say they’ve tracked ICE arrests at hotspots such as 3rd Avenue and Pike Street in downtown Seattle, often involving agents in unmarked cars. They warn the activity is creating fear that keeps immigrants from working in both urban and rural communities.
“It’s terrible because we can’t do anything without them trying to do something,” said Naomi Bailey, a White Center coffee stall manager who said she feared for her freedom after witnessing an ICE arrest in a drive-through in July. “I mean, I almost got arrested just yelling at them.”
Kettle argued federal agencies should instead focus on cutting off the flow of drugs and weapons into the city along the I-5 corridor.
“Our public safety challenges are driven by the fact that guns and drugs come into our city,” he said. “That’s what we need the federal government to be working on — ATF, FBI, DEA.”
Kettle acknowledged the city does not have a specific response planned if ICE enforcement ramps up but vowed to keep pressing federal government to “stay in its lane.”
