Seattle Mayor, police guild spar over ICE protection directives

Seattle mayor unveils plan to prepare for potential ICE activity

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced new measures to prepare for potential ICE enforcement, including a hotline, legal funding and limits on federal use of city property.

SEATTLE - The Seattle Police Officers Guild is refusing to cooperate with a recent directive from Mayor Katie Wilson ordering officers to investigate and document ICE activity in the city.

On Thursday, Wilson announced a set of actions ahead of an expected increase in federal immigration enforcement activity. She directed the Seattle Police Department to "investigate, verify and document" ICE activity, and prohibit ICE from staging operations on city property.

If called to reports of ICE activity, Wilson directed officers to document it with video, check the IDs of federal agents and "secure scenes of potentially unlawful acts to gather evidence for transmital to prosecutors."

City and local authorities are not allowed to interfere with federal immigration, but they are also not required to assist.

The other side:

Seattle Police Officers Guild president Mike Solan said he does not intend to let union members do any of this.

"Toothless virtue signaling rhetoric like this has already cost two people their lives," wrote Solan. "The concept of pitting two armed law enforcement agencies against each other is ludicrous, and will not happen. I will not allow SPOG members to be used as political pawns."

The push for local police assistance comes just days after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis.

State lawmakers have considered measures to slow federal immigration activity in Washington, including a bill that would prevent former ICE agents from being hired into local law enforcement, as well as banning officers from wearing face coverings.

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