Seattle – US prosecutor Pamela Bondi issued a severe warning to the Governor of Washington, Bob Ferguson, urging compliance with federal immigration application efforts.
In a letter dated August 13, Bondi informed Ferguson that Washington had been identified as a jurisdiction with sanctuary policies which hinder the federal immigration application.
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“You are informed by the present that your jurisdiction has been identified as that which engages sanctuary policies and practices which have thwarted the federal application of immigration to the detriment of the interests of the United States,” Bondi wrote. “It ends now.”
In the letter, Bondi says that “supposedly sanctuary competence policies have undermined this necessary and obstructed cooperation the federal application of immigration, giving foreigners cover to perpetrate crimes in our communities and escape the consequences on immigration that federal law requires.”
The letter also indicated that federal agencies will be able to assess their “power to issue subsidies, contracts and federal funds, in order to determine whether immigration terms and conditions may be added” in order to put pressure on the courts to comply with the Federal Immigration Act.
Bondi declares that Ferguson has until August 19 to submit an answer which “confirms your commitment to comply with federal law and identifies the immediate initiatives you take to eliminate the laws, policies and practices that hinder the federal immigration application”.
The letter represents an escalation in the current conflict between the federal administration and the states with sanctuary policies, in particular those led by the Democrats, above the strict immigration program of President Donald Trump.
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The United States Ministry of Justice recently listed Washington’s state as a “sanctuary jurisdiction”, a designation which could lead to the loss of federal funding if the State does not comply with the federal immigration directives.
Despite the federal pressure, Ferguson has so far resisted alignment with the mass deportation policies of the Trump administration.
In a public response to Bondi published on social networks, Ferguson clearly declared his point of view:
Washington’s state does not intend to modify our values in the face of the threats of the Trump administration.
“The incessant targeting of the federal government of respectful immigrants is wrong,” continued Ferguson.
He explicitly argued for one of the laws classified as non -compliant, the Keep Washington Working Act. The law, adopted in 2019, considerably restricts the capacity of the application of local laws to collaborate with the federal immigration application
“Keep Washington’s labor law is an important law that helps protect Washington’s families in the face of this attack. The Washington Labor Act requires that our local state and police are focusing on Washingtonian safety, rather than allowing limited resources to be used for the federal immigration application,” said Ferguson.
Ferguson concluded the public announcement by declaring that he will issue a complete response to Bondi on the 19th.
