Letter to the editor: Keep Washington Working Act does more to protect criminals than families

Gov. Bob Ferguson wants you to believe the Keep Washington Working Act protects families and law abiding immigrants. 

The truth? It keeps dangerous criminals on our streets, shields offenders from deportation and makes every community in Washington less safe.

Passed by the Legislature in 2019, the law prohibits state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. One result is that jails in Washington cannot honor Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers or notify federal agents when a criminal illegal alien is in custody unless a federal warrant is presented. 

Put simply: violent offenders sit in our jails, ICE is ready to take them, and yet sheriffs are barred from cooperating. Instead of being deported, these offenders are released back into our neighborhoods. 

And this is not just a Seattle or Olympia problem. It is happening in counties across Washington.

A few recent cases highlight the consequences:

• Time Meippen: a Micronesian criminal alien sentenced for assault, robbery and firearms charges, was released from King County Jail despite an ICE detainer. ICE had to track him down in the community.
• Miguel Mauro Avendano: a convicted child molester, was released in Spokane after serving his sentence. Instead of a secure transfer to ICE custody, federal agents had to arrest him at large.
• Edgar O. Gonzalez Barragan: with prior felony convictions throughout the state for harassment, domestic violence, and assault with a deadly weapon, plus multiple firearm charges, he was released and later reoffended in Lewis County, stealing $12,000 in Jaws of Life equipment from Riverside Fire Authority. His case shows how bad laws embolden repeat offenders.

Olympia Democrats claim ignoring federal law saves state resources. The opposite is true. Every time criminal illegal aliens are released, we gamble for more crime, more victims and higher costs to taxpayers. Local sheriffs, already stretched thin, must rearrest the same criminals, while communities bear the cost of preventable crimes.

Meanwhile, ICE offers programs with training and resources so sheriffs can safely identify and transfer dangerous offenders. Yet, Washington is one of only a handful of states with sanctuary laws that bar local participation, leaving valuable tools and resources unused.

This is part of a bigger pattern. Time and again, Democrats pass reckless laws that undermine public safety, then dress them up with polished names to deceive people into thinking they are helping. They call it the “Keep Washington Working Act,” but it might as well be the “Keep Washington Hurting Act.” 

It is the same tired game: call bad legislation good, call dangerous policies reforms and chip away at community safety while claiming progress. Washington families aren’t fooled, and we’re tired of seeing our communities slowly being destroyed.

Protecting families means removing predators who have already proven they are willing to harm others. The Keep Washington Working Act does more to protect criminals than families. The solution is simple: stop the sanctuary games, enforce the law, and deport criminals before they create more victims. Washington deserves leaders who put communities before criminals and public safety before politics.

Kristen Chilson

Winlock