By Hannah Saunders
On March 3, King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda brought forth an emergency one-year moratorium on ICE detention camps in the county, following the footsteps of Tukwila, which enacted a six-month moratorium on February 23. Now, the county won’t accept new or expanded facility applications for permanent or temporary uses.
“Detention facilities are being used to disappear our friends, family, and community members into inhumane conditions, often without due process— and they also carry serious consequences for the health and safety of surrounding neighborhoods,” Councilmember Mosqueda said. “When our neighbors are afraid to seek medical care, shop for groceries, or send their children to school, they bear the immediate harm— and our communities lose the trust, connection, and stability that allow us all to thrive.”
Similar to Tukwila’s, this moratorium will give the council a chance to review ways in which these immigrant detention camps should be regulated. Placing additional facilities in the region only puts residents’ feelings of safety at risk, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay said.
“This is an important first step in continuing to fight detention expansion in the Puget Sound. Grassroots efforts have led the way in making sure that expansion has not happened in our region, and we must continue to fight to protect our immigrant communities,” Josefina Mora-Cheung from La Resistencia said.
While a crucial step to preventing the growth of these immigrant prisons, municipalities are unable to prevent lease agreements for office space between DHS and private real estate firms. The most recent one in the county is with the Sabey Corporation, which is renting out space to DHS for immigration operations at its Riverfront Technical Park property in Tukwila.
But for the well-being of King County’s immigrant community, the council needs to stop waiting to be inspired by what other areas are doing and start actively listening to immigrants, taking their needs seriously. At the February 17 King County Council meeting, Superfamilia’s Rosario provided public comment and highlighted how the collective is receiving hundreds of mutual aid requests to assist with attorney fees. A councilmember then attempted to cut Rosario off at the two-minute mark.
“There’s hundreds of families that were not able to come here, so I’m going to continue talking,” she said. “We need to make sure everyone access to an immigration attorney, because it’s not okay for us to have to fund-raise for people.”
Rosario continued to be interrupted, with the council stating that others can speak. Rosario brought out a speakerphone and reiterated that immigrants need access to attorneys.
“We need access to food. You are not listening to community— you are shutting me down. This is how they treat immigrants, and then the thing they’re going to do now, they’re going to call the police on us. Then they say they’re helping immigrants. This is the way they treat us,” Rosario said.
It was then that Councilmember Jorge L. Barón turned his back to Rosario, got up, and left the room. Councilmember Barón is an immigrant from Colombia, the only immigrant on the council, who previously served as the executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project until he was sworn in to public office in 2024.
Councilmembers Mosqueda and Stephanie Fain continued sitting as the rest left the chamber. Rosario questioned the council’s decision to prevent ICE operations on King County property, and said ICE is not detaining immigrants there, that the executive order was performative.
“They’re detaining us when we’re driving to work,” Rosario said into the speakerphone. “Community cannot be here because they are afraid.”
Councilmember Sarah Perry walked back in and sat down. She raised her voice at Rosario and told her to “immediately cease this disruptive behavior.” Attendees spoke up and said they ceded their time to Rosario and shouted, “Shame!” Councilmember Perry then threatened to go to a remote meeting.
Two police officers stepped into the chambers after the remainder of the councilmembers returned. The men in uniform walked right to Rosario, who previously said she was likely the only undocumented person in the room. Several audience members stepped up and got in between the officers and Roasrio.
LISTENING TO IMMIGRANTS’ NEEDS
What Superfamilia is demanding of the county includes funding for attorneys; eviction moratoriums and a rental assistance fund; food assistance and community care funds; ending all surveillance; and more.
Meanwhile in Seattle on February 26, Mayor Katie Wilson posted a photo opp of her and Eyob from the Seattle Parks Department for installing anti-ICE signs in Chinatown’s Hing Hay Park, which read:
“Pursuant to City of Seattle policy, this property shall not be used for civil immigration enforcement staging, operations, or processing.”
Immigrants argue that this is more virtue signaling by an elected official, and that funds used to create and install those signs could have been used in direct aid efforts to those actively being impacted by ICE’s terrors. It also begs the question, who’s going to enforce it?
The Seattle Police Officer Guild’s former president, Mike Solan, responded to an executive order Mayor Wilson issued last month, which directs SPD to investigate and document ICE activity. It also directs SPD to prevent ICE from carrying out activities on city property.
“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,” Solan said.
Mayor Wilson has yet to respond to that statement. ICE operations aren’t letting up anytime soon, and community members continue to be kidnapped in the early morning hours and broad daylight. Immigrants continue to speak out on all platforms, but are going unheard by people with mass amounts of power in the city and county, with immense change needed— and quickly.
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