Spokane, Washington moves to create 'immigration enforcement free zones' to 'combat ICE'

The Spokane City Council is weighing a proposal that would create “immigration enforcement free zones” on city property, a move supporters say is meant to limit how federal immigration agents can use Spokane facilities for civil immigration operations.

According to the Center Square, Councilmember Paul Dillon introduced the idea on Monday, the day after the Trump administration was reportedly renewing efforts to cut federal funding to so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, cities, counties, and states that restrict cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Spokane already has a related ordinance on the books. Last August, the city passed a law allowing officials to designate certain areas as “nonpublic,” a status intended to prevent federal agents from entering without permission or a warrant.

If adopted, Dillon’s “immigration enforcement free zones” would bar federal agents from using city property as a staging area for immigration purposes, prohibit agents from using covered locations for surveillance, and prohibit them from using the locations as “staging areas, coordination points, operations bases, and more.”

The measure would still allow entry under limited conditions: federal agents could enter only with a judicial warrant or with signed approval from the mayor. Dillon’s proposal comes after a man who had missed several immigration check-ins since 2023 was detained with his 10-year-old daughter.

Dillon also wants city officials to identify city-owned sites that could be covered by the policy, including parking lots, vacant lots, garages, and other facilities. Under his definition, “city property” would include “any real or personal property, land, building, facility, structure, equipment, or space owned, leased, operated, or controlled by the city.” The proposal’s description indicates it would include homeless shelters, transit facilities, public parks, and other city-controlled properties.

Councilmember Zack Zappone said he would like Spokane to expand beyond Dillon’s approach by preventing the city from hiring Trump-era immigration agents as local police officers in the future. But a similar proposal appears to be losing momentum in Olympia. House Bill 2641 would have barred law enforcement agencies in Washington from employing officers who began working for the US

Immigration and Customs Enforcement after Trump’s second-term inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, but as of Wednesday it is not expected to move forward in the Legislature this year. 

Dillon’s proposal is similar to that of Socialist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, who issued an order last week for the Seattle Police to investigate, verify, and document Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity, expand legal and financial support for illegal immigrants, and prohibit ICE agents from operating on city property. 

In response to Wilson’s order, Seattle Police Officers’ Guild President Mike Solan said, "Toothless virtue signaling rhetoric like this has already cost two people their lives. The concept of pitting two armed law enforcement agencies against each other is ludicrous and will not happen. I will not allow SPOG members to be used as political pawns."