Latest news with #KeepWashingtonWorkingAct
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
With Trump's immigration crackdown, Tacoma stands for justice
It's a very scary time for immigrants and refugees in this country. Across the nation, there is more scrutiny on immigrants. Actions at the federal level are obfuscating rules and guidelines for immigrants and refugees, which raises concerns in the immigrant community around travel and civil rights. Tacoma residents experience this fear. Each of us has been pulled aside from a crowd and asked in a whisper whether individuals living in Tacoma are safe. In Tacoma, we are doing our best within our legal authority to provide safe access to city services. Public safety comes in all shapes and forms. One of these forms is access to government services. It is in our entire community's best interest if everyone feels safe interacting with the government. It should not be threatening to go to Tacoma Public Utilities and pay your water bill. We want people to feel safe calling 911 to report a car accident or seek medical help in an emergency. We want all residents to trust in the system enough to show up at court when necessary and have access to documents in languages they understand. Maintaining access to the systems that govern us is critical for those systems to operate with integrity and in service to our community. It is also important that people have access to their jobs and the day-to-day places that a society relies upon. This is not just because every person deserves to be treated with dignity — which they do — but also because it also drives our economy forward. According to a report from the Washington State Budget and Policy Center, immigrants are vital members of Washington state's bustling economy and vibrant community. Data from the Immigration Research Initiative shows that immigrant workers, which include green card holders, asylees, people with temporary protected status, and undocumented immigrants, play an outsized role in strengthening Washington's labor force and economy. We hear every day the demand that elected officials lead on protecting our immigrant and refugee neighbors. Tacoma is acting. The City Council passed Resolution 41627 to direct city resources be restricted from use for investigation and surveillance of individuals based on immigration or citizenship status without a court order. The city of Tacoma is in full compliance with the Keep Washington Working Act, which clarifies how local law enforcement engages with federal immigration law. We celebrate Pierce County's recent ordinance change to end the use of E-Verify, bringing it into alignment with Tacoma's practices. We are doing what we can locally to make city services safe and accessible, and the work is ongoing. In America, everyone has the right to due process. Everyone has the right to peacefully protest. It is fundamental to our very democracy. We champion sharing information about immigrant rights and the right to assemble. As council members, we keep abreast of court challenges to recent federal actions and how all the federal changes will have local impacts in Tacoma. Stand with us in preserving the safety of immigrants in Tacoma. Olgy Diaz and Sandesh Sadalge are members of the Tacoma City Council. Diaz was appointed as an at-large member in 2022 and elected to a full term in 2023. Her parents immigrated from Guatemala, and she was born in Pierce County. Sadalge was appointed in 2024 to represent District 4. He immigrated from India at age 6 and became a U.S. citizen as an adult.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown defends difficult decision to deploy police during Wednesday protests in order to avoid National Guard response
Jun. 12—As immigration protests broke out downtown Wednesday night, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown had to strike a balance, not wanting to appear to be assisting or condoning the actions of federal immigration agents while fearful President Donald Trump could use a weak police response to justify the deployment of the national guard, as he did recently in California. "I think we're all aware of the situation that unfolded in Los Angeles and the deployment of the National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to that city," Brown said Wednesday night as the curfew she ordered took effect. "It was fairly clear to me that if there was no Spokane Police presence, that that could be used as a justification for the National Guard or other national agents to come in and take control of the situation." Her first response earlier in the afternoon had been to call Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown to see if there were any legal steps that could be taken to assist 21-year-old Cesar Alexander Alvarez Perez, who is seeking asylum from Venezuela, and Joswar Slater Rodriguez Torres, a Columbian national , and to connect the attorney general with former City Council President Ben Stuckart, who spurred the initial protest. She insisted that Spokane police were not deployed to "assist" Immigration and Customs Enforcement in their detention and transport of the two men. Once protesters surrounded the Cataldo Avenue ICE office and blocked the exits, and unknown activists spray-painted an ICE vehicle's windshield and slashed another's tire, they were violating city law, requiring local police response, she argued. City spokeswoman Erin Hut noted that some protesters began to remove park benches to use them to add to the barricade, which "could be seen as an escalation." The mayor had reiterated throughout the evening, including to Stuckart, that the city would keep the peace while abiding by the Keep Washington Working Act. Often referred to as Washington's "sanctuary state" law, the 2019 state law prohibits local law enforcement from collaborating with federal immigration agencies, including by sharing nonpublic information, holding people on ICE's request or arresting someone solely for a civil immigration offense, among other prohibitions. Facing criticism from some activists for ultimately creating the space for ICE officials to leave the facility with the two detainees, transporting them to the state's central ICE holding facility in Tacoma, Brown argued her office was duty-bound to respond to the obstruction of any facility's public access and that it was unrealistic to imagine the situation would end any other way. "I think it's pretty clear from the observations I had of what was occurring there, and frankly from my communication throughout the afternoon with some of the protesters, that they did not expect that they would be successful in stopping ICE, a federal agency, from completing their mission," Brown said Wednesday night. "I think anybody who's observed that agency and its actions and the actions of this (federal) administration could reach the same conclusion." Stuckart and the initial protesters, before they were joined by hundreds from a separately, previously scheduled anti-ICE protest, had expressed clearly that they expected to be arrested, she added. Once Spokane police did arrive en masse and protesters refused to disperse from the immediate area surrounding the ICE offices, continuing to attempt to blockade the entrances, the use of limited crowd dispersal munitions such as smoke grenades and pepper balls became necessary, as did the eventual curfew order, she argued. Notably, the curfew was announced shortly before 8:30 p.m. and wouldn't take effect for nearly an hour, giving protesters time to disperse, and it was not aggressively enforced when it began at 9:30. The area where the curfew took effect was limited, as well — so much so that a small group of protesters gathered outside the doors of City Hall just a few blocks away, visible and audible from a 10 p.m. news conference Brown held to debrief the events of the evening. Broadly, Brown has stood behind the police department's response, but has also stated her office would review the incident to determine whether any mistakes were made and planned to be open about their assessment.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chaos erupts as ICE protesters prompt state of emergency in Spokane, Washington
Spokane, Washington has now been declared a state of emergency after protesters failed to cooperate with Mayor Lisa Brown's curfew that began at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday until 5 a.m. Brown issued the curfew amid ICE protests downtown from Boone Ave to Spokane Falls Blvd and Howard St to Division St, as well as Riverfront Park. The protests began after former Spokane City Councilman Ben Stuckart issued a call to action asking for support for the detainment of a Venezuelan man seeking asylum. "ACTION ALERT: Three weeks ago I became the legal guardian to a young man from Venezuela seeking asylum. He has turned in all paperwork and has a future court hearing. I went with him to ICE check in today. They detained him and are shipping him to Tacoma," his post read. "I am asking that if you care at all about these illegal detainers you meet me at 411 West Cataldo by 2pm. I am going to sit in front of the bus. Feel free to join me…….The Latino community needs the rest of our community now. Not tonight, not Saturday but right now!!!!" Mayor Bass Blames Trump's Ice Raids For Starting Riots While Claiming 'Things In La Are Calm' Stuckart became the legal guardian of the 21-year-old Venezuelan man 3 weeks ago. Read On The Fox News App Spokane Police Department and the county sheriff's office are currently on the scene and are also calling the gathering unlawful. Spokane County Commissioner Josh Kerns issued a statement referencing the two active riots in the City of Spokane. "The unrest we have seen in the City of Spokane is unacceptable," said Commissioner Kerns. "I stand with the dedicated men and women of law enforcement who put themselves in harm's way to protect lives, businesses, and public safety." He continued, "Thank you to our police officers, deputies, and their families tonight. We support you and have your back". Commissioner Kerns also stated, "I strongly support every American's First Amendment right to speak freely and protest peacefully—but that right does not include violence, obstruction of law enforcement, destruction of property, or putting others at risk. We must uphold both our freedoms and our responsibility to exercise them lawfully." Dozens Of Anti-ice Rioters Arrested In La As Trump Sends In National Guard To Quell Violence Brown also released a statement on the gathering. "I am aware of the situation unfolding outside of the Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Spokane. The City of Spokane respects and upholds everyone's First Amendment rights and right to be on public property. "The City of Spokane continues to uphold the Keep Washington Working Act. The Spokane Police Department will address violations of Spokane Municipal Code. "I encourage everyone to remain peaceful and safe, and my heart goes out to families being separated. Our unity is stronger than any attempt to divide us." Several protesters have been taken into custody on "failure to disperse" charge and SPD has deployed tear gas on the article source: Chaos erupts as ICE protesters prompt state of emergency in Spokane, Washington
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pierce County Sheriff Swank to Prosecutor Robnett: ‘You are my peril'
Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank's conflicts with other elected leaders made its way to court Wednesday after an attorney acting as Swank's lawyer served three county officials a demand for mediation over issues such as his desire to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. That demand, made Friday, led the county's elected prosecutor, Mary Robnett, to seek a judgment in Superior Court prohibiting the attorney, Joan Mell, from providing legal advice to Swank or other officials. According to Robnett, only the Prosecuting Attorney's Office can act as Swank's attorney. 'Joan K. Mell has unlawfully exercised the public office of the prosecuting attorney or deputy prosecuting attorney for the County of Pierce, State of Washington,' a copy of the complaint reads. Robnett argued in part that Mell's legal advice about Swank cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could expose the county to millions of dollars in potential liability. She said it's unlawful for county officials to cooperate with ICE. The state's Keep Washington Working Act, a bipartisan law passed in 2019, limits law enforcement's ability to work with ICE. Adams County was sued by the state Attorney General's Office in March for allegedly helping federal authorities with immigration enforcement. Superior Court Judge Susan Adams on Wednesday morning granted Robnett a temporary restraining order. Adams found that Mell was making legal demands on Swank's behalf and that she wasn't authorized to do so, according to a copy of the order, which expires at the next court hearing June 13. Mell, an attorney with law offices in Fircrest and Montana, was out of state at the time of the hearing. According to an email provided by Mell, she was notified of the hearing Tuesday evening via email. In a Wednesday-morning response, Mell objected to not being heard on the motion, and she said she wanted the opportunity to object to the case being litigated in front of a Pierce County judge, particularly one with ties to the Prosecuting Attorney's Office. In a phone call with The News Tribune, Mell said she believed Robnett had incorrectly advised Swank and that Robnett was duty-bound as counsel to adhere to his requests, for example, challenging the Keep Washington Working Act, which Swank has called 'unconstitutional.' Mell said Robnett had failed to adhere to Swank's requests. 'Nothing she's doing is consistent with lawyering,' Mell said. 'Fundamental to lawyering is taking the direction from your client, figuring out a way to accomplish what your client wants you to accomplish and carrying out his objectives.' Swank did not respond to a phone call Wednesday afternoon. Mell said he was out of the country and unavailable until June 8. The breakdown of Swank's relationship with Robnett appeared to begin with an executive order issued by County Executive Ryan Mello earlier this month declaring that all contracts that accept federal funding would be subject to a thorough review, and that all departments and elected officials would need to designate someone to review the contracts. Swank emailed Robnett on May 13, asking if Mello had the authority to impose an executive order on him and what would happen if he didn't abide by it, according to correspondence between Swank and Robnett filed in the court record. Robnett responded the next morning that Mello had lawful authority because Swank's elected position was created by the Pierce County Charter, which makes his position an executive department subject to executive orders. Swank disagreed and said he would be seeking legal advice elsewhere. Why Swank was upset by the executive order seemed to baffle Robnett, and she cautioned him that he wasn't authorized to seek outside legal advice, saying he would be acting at his own 'peril.' 'The Executive order from yesterday did not really change anything,' Robnett wrote. 'I am a little confused about why this has struck such a nerve with you. I am an independently elected official and I am subject to the same contracting rules.' Swank explained that if Mello could impose this order on him, it meant he would be subject to other orders and that Mello could tell him how to run his office. 'As far as 'my own peril,' you are my peril,' Swank said. He told Robnett that he had asked the artificial-intelligence service ChatGPT the same question about Mello's authority over him, and it had a 'quite different response.' 'I have no faith in your counsel,' Swank wrote in the May 15 email. 'I believe that you are either incompetent or you are trying to sabotage my office.' Swank added that he believed Robnett was trying to cause him undue stress, and that it was planned because Robnett wanted his opponent in the 2024 General Election for sheriff to win over him. 'You didn't want someone to upset the apple cart,' Swank said. 'You wanted a sheriff who would go along with the program and keep everything status quo.' Robnett responded later that day, thanking Swank for spelling out his position and suggesting that they meet with Mello to discuss where each of them fit into county government under the charter. About a week after Swank's email exchange with Robnett, Mell emailed Robnett, Mello and County Council Chair Jani Hitchen a demand for mediation under RCW 36.46.010, a state law that requires elected officials to attempt to work out a dispute before a lawsuit can be brought. Mell signed the demand letter 'lawyer for Sheriff Keith Swank.' It said Swank had reached an impasse with the three officials on six issues: Sheriff's Office independence and personnel, professional recruiting, the Humane Society, independent representation and a County Council resolution affirming compliance with the Keep Washington Working Act. In regard to the independence of the Sheriff's Office and its personnel, the letter claimed Mello could not require Swank to comply with any executive orders that conflict with Swank's authority to carry out the core functions of his office. It said the County Council's power over its personnel was limited to consenting to the number of deputies and other necessary employees. 'Sheriff Swank has the authority to adequately train his deputies,' the letter reads. 'Should he deem it necessary to obtain training outside the state to do so, the Executive may not prevent the Sheriff from achieving this core function.' Of recruiting, the letter said Mello and the County Council had undermined Swank by using funds acquired by putting dollars specified to be used for recruitment by University Place in the general fund. The Sheriff's Office is contracted by University Place to provide them police services. The letter also targeted the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County's relationship with the Sheriff's Office, stating it depleted public safety dollars and was outside the purpose of the office. According to a 2018 report from the county, it contracted with the Humane Society for sheltering and licensing animals.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Contract talks get ugly between Pierce County, deputies. Public safety at risk?
Contract negotiations between Pierce County and the union that represents the rank-and-file of the county's largest law enforcement agency, the Sheriff's Office, are getting ugly. Despite more than a year of bargaining, Shaun Darby, president of the Pierce County Deputy Sheriffs' Independent Guild, says they are nowhere near reaching an agreement that includes fair compensation for deputies' working conditions. The guild wants a contract that puts deputies' pay on par with other policing agencies in Pierce County to better recruit and retain deputies. Staffing levels at the Sheriff's Office haven't kept pace with the growth of the county's population, census and county data shows. Without sufficiently competitive pay to attract more law enforcement officers to work for the Sheriff's Office, Darby argues, deputies and Pierce County residents are less safe. That's not an uncommon conflict in law enforcement contract negotiations, but the tenor of talks between the guild and the county appear to be further chilling the relationship between the Sheriff's Office and the county's top elected leader, Executive Ryan Mello. Darby said the guild has specifically been dealing with Mello in bargaining and said the negotiations have been 'difficult and disrespectful.' On Monday, Sheriff Keith Swank chimed in with his support of the guild while also calling out Mello. 'Mello does not respect the men and women of the Pierce County Sheriff's Office,' Swank wrote on his X account late Monday night. 'He refuses to give them a fair contract. He thinks he can bully these warriors.' Asked to respond to Swank's statements, Mello told The News Tribune on Wednesday that the county's labor-relations team would continue to focus its efforts on the bargaining process with its labor partners at the Deputy Sheriff's Guild. 'I am disappointed that the Sheriff is making false and misleading statements about my position and bringing this collective bargaining out of the appropriate forum established by State law – which is the bargaining table,' Mello wrote in a statement to The News Tribune. 'He could not be more wrong – as I have demonstrated in numerous ways and numerous times, I am relentlessly supportive of our men and women who serve in the Sheriff's Department.' A Pierce County spokesperson, Libby Catalinich, said Tuesday that public safety is one of Mello's top priorities, and the current proposal to the guild includes significant pay increases — 10 percent over three years, according to Darby — and benefits that are competitive and sustainable. Swank recently clashed with Mello over limits to law enforcement's ability to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, a restriction that is enshrined through the Keep Washington Working Act, a bipartisan state law passed in 2019 that determined a person's immigration status isn't a matter for police action. Swank has called the law 'unconstitutional.' In April he traveled to Washington, D.C. — at his own expense, according to the county — with other sheriffs from across Washington to draw attention to what he sees as a conflict between state and federal law. 'I want to apologize in advance if this contract negotiation issue is going on because the executive has a personal or political issue with me,' Swank said in a video he posted Monday. 'I hope that's not the case.' In the video, Swank said he felt Mello was overstepping his authority by telling him what he can and can't do. He roped in the Prosecuting Attorney's Office, saying it, too, was mistaken 'in their interpretation of what authority the executive has.' Staffing levels at the Sheriff's Office haven't significantly increased in more than 20 years. In 2005, the office was budgeted for 228 full-time deputies among other staff, according to county budget documents. In the most recent budget, 229 deputy positions were funded. Meanwhile, the county estimates that the Sheriff's Office will need to respond to more than 200,000 calls for service in 2025, nearly double the amount the agency was getting in 2000. According to census data, the county's population has grown by more than 220,000 people since that year. 'The math is right there,' Darby said. 'We are underpaid, understaffed and overworked.' Catalinich said hiring and compensating law enforcement was very important to Mello, noting that he was in Olympia on Monday to attend Gov. Bob Ferguson signing a bill that increases state funding by $100 million for counties and cities to hire more officers. She said Mello spent a good amount of time in Olympia during the legislative session advocating for the bill. 'I have advocated fiercely for more and dedicated funding for law enforcement and the entire criminal justice system during the last state legislative session and will continue to do so and invite the Sheriff to do the same alongside me,' Mello told The News Tribune. 'I invite him to be a partner in this work and to serve the people of Pierce County together. Not to cause division where it is completely unnecessary. I will always have the back of our law enforcement officers who serve with distinction. ' The next step in contract negotiations is a June 2 vote by the membership of the Deputy Sheriffs' Independent Guild on the current proposal. The guild will have results June 7, and Darby said he's expecting an overwhelming 'no.' Darby said the guild will then file for arbitration, where a third party would look at the facts and decide what will happen. Why should Pierce County residents be concerned? '[Residents] want their money to go toward public safety, and when they call 911, they want a deputy to show up,' Darby said. He was referencing a survey of Pierce County residents conducted ahead of the county's 2024-2025 budget process. It found that 73 percent of people who completed the survey ranked public safety and crime as the top priority for the budget, ahead of transportation and roads, homeless and housing. Residents' desire to prioritize putting public dollars toward public safety is reflected in the county's most recent budget, which allocated more than $226 million to the Sheriff's Office's law enforcement work, a nearly 11 percent increase over the previous biennium and representing about a quarter of the county's $896 million budget. A supplemental budget approved in December included an additional $2.6 million for employment incentives for commissioned law enforcement officers and corrections officers. Darby pointed to the Sheriff's Office's delayed response to a noise complaint earlier this year that preceded a shooting outside a house party in the Spanaway area as one potential consequence of not having enough deputies to respond to calls. A noise complaint about the party was called in about 90 minutes before the shooting, but deputies in the area were responding to higher-priority calls and eventually arrived seconds before gunshots were fired. Two people were killed in the shooting, and four others were injured. The deputies' guild claims Pierce County has the money to approve bigger wage increases but is holding out on them. An analysis of the county's current and future financial outlook commissioned by the guild found that the county's general fund revenues exceeded expenditures in four of the five most recent years, resulting in an annual operating surplus that was $14.8 million in fiscal year 2023. It also found the county had the highest possible credit rating from Moody's, a major credit rating agency. 'The county is, they're flush with money,' Darby said. 'They have a lot of money, and they have a very good financial outlook. If they simply could prove that they didn't have the money then I would listen to them, but we've just proven the argument.' In response to questions from The News Tribune, a Pierce County spokesperson pointed out that the guild has received wage increases during previous rounds of negotiations, totaling a nearly 19 percent wage increase since 2022. The county also said it was important to clarify that compensation comparisons to smaller cities such as Bonney Lake and Gig Harbor don't accurately reflect the operational scale, staffing demands or financial realities of a countywide sheriff's office. Darby said the county is saying deputies are being paid just fine when compared to sheriff's offices in Spokane, Snohomish and Skagit counties, as well as some sheriff's offices in Florida. But he argues that if you disregard the city and county divide and instead look at demographics, crime stats and staffing, the Sheriff's Office is a mirror image of the Tacoma Police Department, with the exception of the much larger area the Sheriff's Office is responsible for. An entry-level deputy starting at the Sheriff's Office in 2024 would receive net hourly pay of $59.45, according to the guild. In Tacoma, the same entry-level candidate would be getting $69.80. The Tacoma police union's collective bargaining agreement with the city, which covers 2024 to 2026, included a 13.5 percent base wage rate increase over the first two years and an additional raise in 2026 based on a market calculation. 'There is no reason to work for the Pierce County Sheriff's Office on the south side of 96th Street when you can make 30 percent more and have twice as many officers there to help you when you're working on the north side of 96th Street, which is the Tacoma Police Department's jurisdiction,' Darby said.
