Washington state is suing one of its counties for collaborating with federal law enforcement on immigration enforcement in violation of state law.
Washington attorney general Nick Brown (D) brought a lawsuit against Adams County and its sheriff’s office for allegedly assisting federal agents in detaining people illegally because of their immigration status, allowing federal agents to question them, and giving their personal information to federal immigration officials.
The lawsuit accuses Adams County of violating Washington’s Keep Washington Working Act, a state law passed in 2019 restricting the ability of local law enforcement to participate in the enforcement of federal immigration law.
“Late last year Adams County was engaged in good faith settlement negotiations with our office,” Brown said.
“But after the inauguration of Donald Trump, the county and its Sheriff’s Office suddenly hardened their stance, broke off settlement talks, and aligned themselves with an organization founded by a top Trump aide who is among the most virulent anti-immigrant voices in the administration.”
Adams County is now working with conservative legal organization America First Legal, founded by White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, to challenge the Keep Washington Working Act rather than complying with the law.
“The State has an obligation to protect the rights of its residents and defend Washington law, even when that unfortunately requires taking enforcement against its own political subdivisions. The State cannot stand by when elected officials publicly boast that they are breaking state law and putting their own communities at risk,” Washington’s lawsuit reads.
Attorney Joe Ard, Adams County special prosecutor, wrote a letter to Brown last month asserting that the Keep Washington Working Act is an illegal sanctuary law and conflicts with Adams County’s obligations under federal law to assist federal officials. Ard’s letter notes that Adams County helped immigration officials remove an alien who is a convicted sex offender. He is working with America First Legal and Cooper & Kirk PLLC to defend Adams County.
“Federal law is supreme over state law, and Adams County cannot discriminate against the federal government and its immigration enforcement efforts, nor can the County impede these efforts, as the Sanctuary State Statute requires,” the letter states.
Washington’s lawsuit argues the Keep Washington Working Act is necessary because it enhances civil rights protections for illegal immigrants and protects its non-citizen workforce, an important component of the state’s agricultural sector. Washington also asserts that local law enforcement participating in federal immigration operations would increase costs for jurisdictions and reduce trust with local communities
Illegal alien workers make up nearly half the workforce of Washington state’s agricultural industry, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a left-leaning immigration think tank. Adams County’s population is nearly 21,000 and approximately 64 percent latino, according to the 2020 U.S. census. The county is a deep red area, having voted for every Republican president since Franklin Roosevelt almost 90 years ago.
The Trump administration is already suing New York and Illinois over their sanctuary city laws, and those two cases could determine the fate of Washington’s case against Adams County. President Donald Trump launched mass deportations and fortified the southern border on day one of his administration, following through on his plan to curtail illegal immigration.
Border crossings plunged to record lows in Trump’s first month in office, with border patrol agents recording 8,300 apprehensions and 29,100 encounters, the fewest since immigration data became publicly available 25 years ago.