Burien City Council voted to advance a resolution that would strengthen the city's existing sanctuary policy, tightening limits on how city property, employees, and records can be used in federal immigration enforcement. The council did not formally adopt the measure, known as Resolution 542, at its meeting last Monday, but instead voted to place it on the consent agenda for its October 12 meeting, setting up a near-term path to final approval.
According to KIRO 7 News Seattle, Resolution 542 would ban the use of city property for immigration enforcement and would prohibit city officials and officers from cooperating with civil immigration enforcement activities unless a judicial warrant is presented. The measure would also require city employees to report any contacts from federal immigration authorities and would restrict the collection of information on residents' immigration status.
The resolution additionally calls for optional training for all city employees on Burien's sanctuary policy and the Keep Washington Working Act, to be offered within 90 days of adoption, the station's report states. Sam Méndez told the council that Burien's existing sanctuary policy was ripe for an update because it had been passed a decade earlier, and said that ICE continues to traumatize neighbors and neighborhoods, per the same account.
What the Updated Policy Would Change
The proposed changes build on protections Burien put in place years ago, but narrow the circumstances under which city staff and police can interact with federal immigration agents. Under the resolution, cooperation with civil immigration enforcement would be prohibited unless agents produce a judicial warrant, a distinction immigration attorneys and advocates have pushed cities to adopt as ICE activity has expanded nationwide.
That distinction matters because ICE has said its officers do not need judicial warrants to make arrests and may initiate consensual encounters or briefly detain people when they have reasonable suspicion that someone is unlawfully present, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Washington's Attorney General has separately said no provision of federal law requires state or local law-enforcement officers to assist with federal immigration enforcement, including honoring administrative warrants submitted by ICE, according to the Washington State Attorney General's guidance for law enforcement.
City's Existing Stance on ICE Cooperation
The City of Burien has said its police department does not cooperate with ICE enforcement activities, including relaying information or detaining community members to facilitate immigration enforcement, according to the City of Burien. Resolution 542 would codify and expand on that stance by adding the reporting requirement for employee contacts with federal agents and new limits on collecting immigration-status data.
Burien's move follows a broader pattern across the state and country. An increasing number of states, counties, and cities have adopted policies intended to build trust between local law enforcement and immigrant communities regardless of immigration status, according to the American Immigration Council, which also notes there is no single legal definition of what makes a policy a sanctuary policy. A 2020 National Academy of Sciences study cited by the group found that sanctuary policies implemented between 2010 and 2015 did not affect crime rates or reduce deportations of people with violent convictions.
Nearby, Seattle's City Council public safety committee took up a related resolution in February concerning police values and prohibiting immigration-enforcement staging, according to a report from CHS Capitol Hill Seattle News, reflecting similar debates playing out in city halls across the region.
Burien's council is expected to take up Resolution 542 again on October 12, when it sits on the consent agenda. Whether the measure is adopted as written, amended, or pulled for further debate remains to be seen when the council reconvenes.
