Washington sheriffs may face pressure between federal agencies and state law under Trump administration
President Elect Donald Trump has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants on day one of his administration. Removing the approximately 11.7 million people living in the United States without authorization would take a massive operational effort -- and likely require cooperation from both state and local governments.
Right now, most Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in the U.S. happen because of a hand off from local law enforcement. But that kind of cooperation is restricted in Washington state.
2019’s Keep Washington Working Act broadly limits state and local law enforcement from assisting with federal immigration proceedings. But Trump allies are already ramping up the pressure on local leaders in places like California and D.C. with similar sanctuary laws in place:
Stephen Miller’s America First Legal Foundation announced last month that it had identified hundreds of elected officials in sanctuary jurisdictions who it claimed could be held civilly liable for obstructing federal immigration enforcement.
As the new Trump Administration takes office, Washington state’s elected sheriffs will be among those officials feeling the squeeze between federal agencies, and state law.
Guest:
Steven Strachan, Executive Director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs
Relevant Links:
WASPC Statement on local law enforcement involvement in immigration issues
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Libby Denkmann
Host, Soundside
Libby Denkmann joined KUOW in December 2021 as the host of the midday show Soundside. She’s a native Pacific Northwesterner who grew up in Redmond, graduated from the University of Washington, and covered local news as a producer and reporter with KIRO Radio.
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Sarah Leibovitz
Supervising Producer, Soundside
Sarah joined KUOW in 2019 as senior producer on The Record. She is now Supervising KUOW’s new noon time show, Soundside. Prior to working at KUOW, Sarah was lead producer at the Seattle podcast production company Larj Media, and a teaching artist with Path with Art.
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Hans Anderson
Producer, Soundside
Hans Anderson is a producer on KUOW’s Soundside, where he covers a diverse range of topics from conflicts over how to use busy streets to how the open spaces of the Palouse inspire modern musical compositions. He primarily produces segments about politics, arts and transportation.
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