Gov. Bob Ferguson defends Washington state's immigration policy from White House attacks

Kai Uyehara, The Seattle Times on Aug 18, 2025

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SEATTLE — In a Saturday post on X, Gov. Bob Ferguson defended Washington state's immigration policy amid threats of federal crackdowns on so-called sanctuary jurisdictions.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote a letter to Ferguson last week, which he shared on social media, saying Washington state had been identified by the White House as a jurisdiction that “engages in sanctuary policies and practices that thwart federal immigration enforcement to the detriment of interests of the United States.

But Ferguson said “Washington state has no intention of changing our values in the face of threats from the Trump administration.”

A state law passed in 2019, known as the Keep Washington Working Act, limits the role law enforcement agencies can play in aiding the federal government in arresting or deporting undocumented immigrants.

Most law enforcement agencies across the state have said they would not be working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest or deport undocumented immigrants, in accordance with the law. At least one law enforcement leader positioned his jurisdiction as an exception.

Immigration enforcement has been on the rise in Washington, most sharply in June, but not as much as it has been nationwide. Immigration authorities raided at least two worksites, smashed car windows, roamed immigration court hallways and detained people suddenly summoned to the Department of Homeland Security’s Tukwila office building.

President Donald Trump ordered Bondi and the secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, to identify jurisdictions like Washington and notify them of their “unlawful sanctuary status and potential violations of federal law,” Bondi said in her letter to Ferguson.

As a lever to force compliance, Trump directed federal agencies to "identify and evaluate their statutory authority to issue grants, contracts, and federal funds, to determine where immigration-related terms and conditions may be added to combat sanctuary policies that violate federal law,” Bondi wrote.

Ferguson said the “federal government’s relentless targeting of law-abiding immigrants is wrong” and assured that “protecting hardworking Washingtonians who are abiding by our state laws and keeping families together reflect our values as a state.”

Attorney General Nick Brown similarly defended the state’s commitment to the Keep Washington Working Act in April after the law came under fire from members of Congress including Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane.

Bondi told Ferguson he must submit a response by Tuesday committing to compliance with federal law and detailing initiatives that the state would use to eliminate its laws, policies and programs that “impede federal immigration enforcement.

Ferguson said he would share a more detailed response to Bondi on Tuesday.

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