Washington state Attorney General sues Adams County for assisting ICE detain criminal illegal migrants

On Monday, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown filed a lawsuit against Adams County for assisting Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE). The attorney general accused the county of repeatedly violating the Keep Washington Working Act, which is the state's sanctuary statute that prohibits local law enforcement from aiding and cooperating with federal immigration-related matters. Adams County is a small conservative rural county located in Eastern Washington.

Attorney General Brown, a Democrat, claimed in the lawsuit that Adams County and the Adams County Sheriff's Office had violated the KWW "at least 212 times" after it went into effect in May 2019. The Sheriff's Office has been accused of cooperating with ICE detainers and warrants by notifying ICE when an illegal immigrant charged with a crime is scheduled to be released from jail so federal immigration authorities can take them into custody, rather than them being released into the community to potentially re-offend.

Under the KWW, local law enforcement and jails are prohibited from cooperating with ICE detainers.

Additionally, the lawsuit states that the Sheriff's Office provided ICE with the names of hundreds of illegal immigrants, which included "their dates of birth, home addresses, fingerprints, and driver's license numbers."

"All of this conduct expressly violates state law," Brown wrote in the complaint, filed in Spokane County Superior Court, which seeks to block the county and its sheriff from aiding federal immigration enforcement.

Adams County has long stated its strong opposition to the state's sanctuary laws, which officials described as "dangerous" in a letter sent to Brown last month. County officials made it clear that it intended to comply with federal immigration laws instead of the state's, claiming that Washington's sanctuary policies compel the county to violate federal law which is "supreme over state law."

The county first came under investigation in November 2022 for not complying with the Keep Washington Working Act. Democrat Governor Bob Ferguson, the former state Attorney General, sent a letter to Adams County at the time threatening legal action if it continued aiding ICE, according to the lawsuit.

Last month, attorneys for Adams County asked the state to drop the pending legal action. Instead, Brown followed through on suing the county. He claimed in a press release that Adams County stopped "good faith settlement negotiations" following President Donald Trump's inauguration, which resulted in the county and Sheriff's Office "hardening their stance" on complying with ICE and defying the sanctuary statute.

"Adams County simply desires to follow federal immigration law and to cooperate with the lawful requests of federal officials," wrote attorney Joel Ard to the state, who has been appointed as Special Deputy Prosecuting Attorney to represent Adams County in this case. "Federal law is supreme over state law, and Adams County cannot discriminate against the federal government and its immigration enforcement efforts," said Ard.

Ard wrote in the letter that the Keep Washington Working Act violates federal law by "harboring, concealing, and shielding" illegal aliens. Additionally, the sanctuary statute, said Ard, obstructs and impedes federal immigration enforcement operations.

Adams County Prosecutor Randy Flyckt previously provided examples to the state of its cooperation with ICE that he said has made the county "a safer and more prosperous community for Washingtonians." This included providing information to federal immigration officials about a convicted sex offender illegal migrant who was residing in the county, which resulted in the criminal alien being taken into custody by ICE ERO Seattle and removed from the county.

The county's lawsuit is being spearheaded by the America First Legal Foundation, a conservative legal group founded by President Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller. Attorney General Brown slammed Miller in the press release as one of the most "virulent anti-immigrant voices in the administration."

"According to Miller," Brown wrote in the suit, "'America is for Americans and Americans only.'"

The attorney general also said that Adams County's non-compliance with the KWW "is an anomaly." Brown explained in the suit, "Hundreds of Washington law enforcement agencies across the state have successfully implemented KWW's basic and commonsense policies without incident."

Ard wrote in the letter, "Cooperating with federal immigration officials makes Adams County a safer and more prosperous community for Washingtonians." He then referenced the US Department of Justice's lawsuits against New York and Illinois, saying they may provide clarity on whether sanctuary statutes, such as the KWW, "are lawful."