Seattle Restricts Use of City Data
The Seattle City Council unanimously approved a bill prohibiting all city employees from sharing sensitive information for civil immigration enforcement. Authored by Councilmember Maritza Rivera, the measure is designed to prevent city resources from being used to assist federal immigration efforts. The new law will apply to all city departments, including the Seattle Fire Department.
- This new ordinance repeals a 1986 section of the Seattle Municipal Code that had directed city officers and employees to "cooperate with...enforcement of federal immigration laws." - The measure, Council Bill 121158, aligns city law with the statewide "Keep Washington Working Act," which was passed in 2019 to limit state and local agencies' involvement in federal civil immigration enforcement. - Seattle has a history of "sanctuary city" or, as it prefers to be called, "Welcoming City" policies, with the first such ordinance passed in 2003 to prohibit city employees from inquiring about immigration status in most situations. - The new law explicitly prohibits the sharing of non-publicly available personal information for civil immigration enforcement unless required by a judicial warrant or court order. - While the bill applies to all city employees, it includes an exemption for Seattle Police Department officers if they believe an individual has been previously deported and is committing or has committed a felony. - Councilmember Rivera stated the legislation is necessary to provide clarity and protect residents from what she described as "brutal, dehumanizing and, I believe, unconstitutional behavior by ICE officials." - The unanimous 8-0 vote by the City Council followed a recommendation for passage from the Public Safety Committee, which approved it on a 3-0 vote with one abstention. - This local legislation comes amid broader concerns about how federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), access and use data from various sources, sometimes circumventing local sanctuary laws by purchasing data from brokers.
