Seattle City Council to Consider Bill to Limit Information Sharing with ICE

Following a near-unanimous vote by the Public Safety Committee, the Seattle City Council will consider legislation that places new prohibitions on the City’s ability to share civil immigration information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

The Public Safety Committee passed the proposed bill at its Feb. 10 meeting, with councilmembers Maritza Rivera, Rob Saka, and Robert Kettle all voting aye. Councilmember Eddie Lin, who represents District 2, abstained. (Councilmember Deborah Juarez did not attend.) The committee recommended the bill be placed on the full council’s agenda for Feb. 17. 

Rivera, the bill’s sponsor, said it “amends Seattle’s Municipal Code to explicitly prohibit City employees from sharing non-public information for use in the enforcement of civil immigration laws, in the absence of a judicial warrant.”

But the bill, officially called Council Bill 121158, also allows City officials to share someone’s personal information with non-City officials in the enforcement of civil immigration laws if “A. That person has provided permission with informed consent to a City officer or employee; or B. Such disclosure is required by law or court order.”

And a section of the proposed bill states that SPD officers would be exempt from the new restrictions on information sharing if an officer believes an individual: “(1) has previously been deported from the United States; (2) is again present in the United States; and (3) is committing or has committed a felony criminal-law violation.”

The council’s upcoming consideration comes as the Trump administration has ramped up ICE operations in liberal cities across the country, actions that have at times targeted residents indiscriminately and led some agents to enter people’s homes without a judicial warrant, like in Minneapolis. Communities have called on local elected officials to strengthen defenses against federal immigration enforcement through various means, including non-cooperation.

If passed, the legislation would put Seattle’s restrictions in line with other U.S. cities like Los Angeles and Baltimore.  

The committee’s Feb. 10 meeting began with a public comment period that included comments from Jonathan Moore, who identified himself as a 30-year representative of the Board of Immigration Appeals and a 16-year member of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. He commended Rivera for starting the process of updating the city’s municipal code, but stated strong reservations about some of the bill’s language. 

According to Moore, certain sections of the proposed bill need to be changed to align with the 2019 Keep Washington Working Act. In particular, he voiced concerns about a section that “has police officers somehow having a reasonable suspicion of whether someone has been deported. I think that’s beyond the purview [of] what they’re supposed to do under the Keep Washington Working Act. And of course, how are they going to know whether someone has been deported?”

Lin questioned the same section of the proposed legislation. Lin also sought clarity on how local law enforcement could potentially share information about a person's immigration status, and questioned whether city employees should be keeping a record of it in the first place

In response, council central staffer Tamaso Johnson noted current SPD policy prevents officers from inquiring about a person’s immigration status, but added that Police Chief Shon Barnes could also make exceptions to that rule. 

Rivera stressed the bill’s importance as a first step in aligning the city’s municipal code with both state law and shared values of immigrant rights. Saka agreed, saying the bill’s imperfections shouldn’t preclude acting on it. Committee chair Kettle also stressed that other legislative options were under consideration, including a staging bill, which could address some concerns brought up during public comment. 

If the proposed bill is enacted as written, its protections for immigrants would be weaker than those in cities like Chicago, which amended its Welcoming City Ordinance in 2021 to remove caveats that allowed local law enforcement to engage in information sharing with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security in cases of individuals with felony convictions.

The City Council’s next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 2 p.m.