The King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) has released new guidance outlining how deputies respond to incidents involving federal immigration enforcement, following an executive order from the King County Executive focused on protecting immigrants and refugees.
KCSO provides contracted police services to Burien and 11 other cities, serves more than 500,000 residents in unincorporated King County, and supports several regional and special jurisdictions.
The new guidance is intended to address community concerns about safety, trust and how local law enforcement interacts with federal agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Ensuring the safety of people in King County is our top priority,” KCSO said. “We aim to do this based on our core values of leadership, integrity, service and teamwork.”
The document explains that sheriff’s deputies are local law enforcement officers who enforce Washington state criminal laws, respond to 911 calls and investigate crimes, but do not have authority to direct or oversee federal immigration officers.
According to police, deputies do not participate in federal civil immigration enforcement and do not honor detainer requests, also known as administrative warrants, from federal agencies unless they are signed by a judge.
The guidance also outlines how deputies respond when called to incidents involving suspected immigration enforcement activity. Deputies are instructed to assess the situation, verify law enforcement credentials when appropriate, use interpretation services if needed and document the incident through reports and body worn camera video.
Community members are advised to call 911 if there is an immediate threat to public safety, if a crime is occurring or if someone may be impersonating an officer.
The sheriff’s office said it will document the reason for the call, efforts to verify identities and the outcome of each incident, and will report any potential criminal violations by federal agents to the King County Executive’s Office and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Officials also emphasized that federal immigration officers operate independently under federal authority and are not supervised or managed by the sheriff’s office.
The guidance is currently available in English and Spanish, with additional translations planned in multiple languages to better serve King County’s diverse communities.
For more info, click here: https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/sheriff
Video
Below is a video explainer released by KCSO:
Why not comply? I don’t get it.
i do not support the command to not help and support ICE and immigration inforcement. ALL LAW INFORCEMENT should be supporting our protection from illegal imagrants. They must go through the legal process of intering our Nation. This rap put on by the dems is rediculas. The dems just want to do the opposit of the Republicans, which makes no sense, just childish actions.
If King County truthfully want to protect the citizens they should help ICE by detaining and informing them of criminals instead of releasing them to do more harm. The common sense in doing what’s right and prudent.
It is not legal for any city or state representative to tell law enforcement how to do there job. If the KCSO gets calls of citizens interfering with federal officials it is their duty to respond and arrest those who do such. Not doing so puts the county and state up for liability and failing their sworn oath to the US constitution.
I don’t think you said one factually true thing in that comment. Nobody is telling ICE how to do their jobs. KSCO is not interfering with anything, unless there is a crime being committed.
And, since you bring up the constitution, you shouldn’t ignore the fact that there is sworn, public testimony before Congress from an ICE whistleblower that the agency has been training cadets to violate the constitution as a matter of practice. A direct quote is, “I received secretive orders to teach new cadets to violate the Constitution by entering homes without a judicial warrant.” (And, of course, there is live footage of ICE doing exactly this in Minneapolis, not to mention footage of ICE agents killing two US citizens in the street.)
The Supremacy Clause of the 10th Amendment says that Federal law only prevails when the Federal government is acting within its authorized powers. If ICE is violating the constitution, as alleged, then in fact no, local government does NOT have to comply.
The fact that KCSO is taking an observational role, unless there is a crime being committed, pretty much seems like they are directly upholding their oaths both to the US constitution and to the constituents in their jurisdiction. In brief: KCSO is upholding YOUR right to due process.
Tom,
Your argument collapses under basic scrutiny.
You’re mixing real legal principles with speculation and presenting it like settled fact. It’s not. Any corruption inside any entity should be brought out/investigated and if there has been, I hope to see it handled swiftly and justly. (Just like your opinionated speculation not proven by court, one could easily say the same wild speculation by assuming this agent was purchased by outside interests and/or was asked to present this information to support a certain national narrative but that’s a wild, non proven statement.)
But lets start with your Constitution claim: invoking the Supremacy Clause doesn’t give local agencies the authority to decide, on their own, that a federal agency is acting unconstitutionally and therefore can be ignored. That’s not how the system works and never will be. Courts decide constitutionality, not county sheriffs, not activists, not commentators. Until a court rules otherwise, federal law enforcement actions operate under a presumption of legality. THAT IS THE LAW.
Next, your whistleblower claim. Allegations, even sworn testimony, are not proof. They trigger investigations; they don’t establish that an entire agency is systematically violating the Constitution. You’re taking a single, disputed claim and inflating it into a blanket conclusion. That’s a giant leap, not an factual argument.
The Minneapolis footage point is the same problem. Individual incidents, especially ones under investigation, do not prove widespread unlawful conduct, let alone justify local governments treating federal agencies as illegitimate. If misconduct occurred, that’s for internal discipline, inspectors general, and the courts to handle (Not Tom’s from Burien).
And the “nobody is telling ICE how to do their jobs” line? That’s technically true but misses the point. When local agencies position themselves to monitor, second-guess, or selectively cooperate based on their own constitutional interpretations, they’re not neutral observers, they’re inserting themselves into federal operations in a way that can absolutely affect outcomes and does.
Finally, the claim that KCSO is “upholding your due process rights” is rhetorical, not legal. Due process is enforced through courts, warrants, and judicial review, not by local agencies informally deciding when federal officers are acting properly.
Bottom line Tom:
You’re taking unproven allegations, disputed incidents, and complex constitutional law, and packaging them into a confident opinionated conclusion that simply hasn’t been established or proven by facts in court.
I may be misreading the author’s intent but it seems that this is just another piece to cast aspersions on our ICE agents. Thanks to progressive politics and Americans who buy every progressive talking point ICE agents have become the most hated and feared LEO’s in the country. Shame!!!!!
I support ICE 100%