Seattle residents tell KIRO that recent shootings by immigration enforcement officers across the country have increased fear in immigrant communities across Washington state.
Lorena Gonzalez, the former Seattle City Councilmember now with the ACLU, says her family now takes precautions when they leave the house.
“Our immigrant friends, neighbors are at risk,” Gonzalez said, “My own family members carry their passport to the grocery store in Sunnyside, WA. They are all living in fear, even with a passport. We are not just losing our civil rights; we are losing our lives.”
On July 7, a man in Texas who did not have legal status and whose family said had been living in the U.S for decades was shot and killed by federal immigration enforcement officers in Texas.
The Department of Homeland Security told KIRO the man was evading arrest.
Monday, a man who had authorization to work in the U.S was shot and killed by immigration enforcement officers in Maine. DHS says work authorization does not equate to legal status, and witnesses pushed back against the government’s description that he had used a vehicle as a weapon.
Washington Congresswoman, the Democrat representing the State’s 7th district, said they were the 10th and 11th people killed in “ICE-involved activities” in President Donald Trump’s second term.
“From Rene Good, Alex Freddie, Miramar Martinez, to Lorenzo Salgado Arajo and Johan Sebastian Guerrero, and zero, zero accountability for any of those.“Jayapal said.
The Associated Press spoke to the family of the agent at the center of the shooting in Maine, who described the agent as having a history of serious mental illness and violent behavior.
“We have been calling for background checks and training, but I’ve got to be honest and just say that I’m calling for those things for now. But. This isn’t the way we should enforce immigration law, period.” Jayapal said.
Jayapal introduced Orlin’s Law on Friday, a bill named for a three-year-old boy who was killed by his uncle after being separated from his mother, who was deported. Orlin’s mother says she requested that her son be deported with her.
The law would promote “family unity and parental rights” by creating a rule where ICE would have to prove with clear and convincing evidence that a person poses a specific public safety risk before separating them from children, according to Jayapal.
Northwest Detention Center
July 10, a judge ruled that DHS must allow the Washington Department of Health to conduct health inspections at the Northwest Detention Center, following a legal battle that began when Washington passed a law requiring health inspections of correctional centers in 2023.
“Some of the conditions that have been reported are rotten food, rat feces everywhere,” Gonzalez said. “There are also reports of people effectively being in solitary confinement and isolation.”
According to documentation, the facility has been the subject of more than 3,500 complaints of unsanitary and unsafe conditions.
“You want to talk about what’s happening in these detention centers; they are disobeying the laws, and they’re being enabled to do that by the Trump administration that is continuing to get rid of requirements that we had for people who are held in detention with basic human rights standards. Our state has said we’re going to do it differently,” Jayapal said.
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