Council Unanimously Approves Immigration Initiative

— by Margie Doyle —

Supporters of the Immigration Initiative come to Friday Harbor to address the County Council

After elaborate testimony by County Prosecutor Randy Gaylord, heartfelt and pointed comments from 22 county citizens, and concise questioning by County Council members, the County Council endorsed the citizens’ Initiative 2017, establishing local sovereignty and equal protection under the law for all county residents.

The Councilmen also maintain that by their approval, they support local law enforcement, the job they’re doing and the manner in which they carry out their job.

Initiative 2017 was validated last month and set to appear on the county election ballot in November. The resolution details that, except where the resolution conflicts with state and federal law [emphasis added]:

• County personnel will not ask about immigration, status, nationality or place of birth.
• County Sheriff and its officers will not be deputized to perform ICE functions.
• County personnel will not ask for documents to ascertain immigration status (ex. passports, alien registration cards, birth certificates, work permits).
• County personnel shall not provide ICE or Customs and Border Patrol access to an individual in county custody or to use county facilities, to question an individual, if the sole purpose is enforcement of federal immigration law.

(To read the full resolution, go to orcasissues.com/2017/Proposed-San-Juan-County-Resolution.pdf  )

The initiative was created from a resolution that the Immigrants’ Rights group of the Orcas Women’s Coallition (OWC) urged the County Council to pass. “We found a huge outpouring of interest with county residents,” initiative organizer and author Eleanor Hoague said.

By approving the measure into law, the Council took on both the spirit of the measure and the “pickle” that Prosecutor Gaylord described in that transfer of jailed inmates to non-county facilities would entail making the attempt to assure other jurisdictions, such as Snohomish, Whatcom or Island counties, provide the same protections, such as protecting information including immigration status and country of birth.

The protections would not extend to “generic county records that the county may accumulate in providing services to its citizens,” as Councilman Bill Watson said.

Eleanor Hoague addressed council concerns on the matter, saying the initiative “says the county shall attempt to avoid transferring any individual in its custody to another jurisdiction if such jurisdiction does not provide or agree to provide to that individual the same protections set forth in this initiative to that individual.”

She clarified that the initiative states that the county “shall make every attempt and try to qualify the circumstances in which a person is sent to another county by asking the local county to not allow ICE [Immigration officials] to interview  them.”

Longtime Service International Employees Union (SIEU) attorney Judith Scott reminded council that the initiative specifies that the county will  “attempt to avoid transfers” to such jurisdictions that do not provide or agree to provide the protections of the initiative.

“There is language that says specifically ‘you shall attempt;’ not ‘you shall require’,” Scott said.

In Council deliberations on the matter, Jaimie Stephens pointed out that the petition’s first sentence specifically asks that the council take a vote on [the initiative] prior to submission to the voters. He said, “We’re not trying to ruin the rule of law; we’re just trying to let local enforcement do their job and federal law enforcement do their job. Other than that I appreciate Randy’s presentation and all the questions that went along with it.”

Watson said that his concerns with “subverting the election process out of the hands of citizens” had been addressed, and that while “there is no such thing as perfection in writing laws, the biggest question facing us today is whether all residents of San Juan county have equal protection under the law. It is my hope, is that the ordinance accomplishes that.

“It is our duty to examine all aspects of this ordinance. Equal protection under the law is the sacrosanct aspect of this.”

County Manager Mike Thomas thanked the prosecutor and county staff for all the time that they had spent on the measure and said “This initiative does what other jurisdictions that have made similar ordinances  (Seattle, King County, Burien and Kirkland) have done: we recognize everyone and we treat everyone the same under the law.”

Stephens introduced the motion to adopt the initiative as ordinance. As he voted Stephens said, “San Juan County is an inclusive and compassionate community. People should not be afraid to seek services and have equal protection under the law.  Anything that will give people some stability and certainty as to how their government will act is in the public’s best interest.”

Council Chair Rick Hughes said that he too would support its adoption in upholding the ideals of “local sovereignty.”

“It’s the right thing for us.”

(More commentary from the hearing will be included in a future article)