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A MOTION regarding the council's commitment to welcoming and actively supporting immigrants and refugees, and requesting a report evaluating the county's progress towards that commitment.
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WHEREAS, according to the 2023 American Community Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau, King County is home to approximately five hundred eighty-six thousand foreign-born residents from every corner of the world totaling over a quarter of the county's population, and
WHEREAS, immigrants and refugees enhance the county's cultural richness and economic vitality with, according to a 2020 report from the Keep Washington Working workgroup, immigrant-owned businesses in Washington State generating over $2.3 billion in annual revenue and creating thousands of jobs, and immigrant households across the state paying an estimated $9.7 billion in federal taxes and $3.9 billion in state taxes, and
WHEREAS, many immigrant residents of King County, including those who are not currently able to obtain lawful permanent residence, or live in mixed-status families, may be fearful for their lives due to federal anti-immigration laws and are especially vulnerable to discrimination, hate crimes, racial profiling, and deportation, and
WHEREAS, King County seeks to provide all of its residents fair and equal access to services, opportunities, and protection irrespective of origins or immigrant or refugee status, and
WHEREAS, in 2009, King County enacted Ordinance 16692 prohibiting a county office, department, employee, agency, or agent from using the citizenship or immigration status of any individual to condition the provision of county services, except where required by federal law, and also prohibiting the sheriff's office from requesting specific documents relating to a person's civil immigration status for the sole purpose of determining whether the individual has violated federal civil immigration laws, and
WHEREAS, in 2010, King County enacted Ordinance 16948, known as the "Equity and Social Justice Ordinance", which used the countywide strategic plan’s principle of “fair and just” to integrate equity and social justice into all the county does in order to achieve equitable opportunities for all people and communities, and
WHEREAS, in 2014, King County enacted Ordinance 17886 ending the honoring of civil immigration hold requests from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement for individuals in the custody of the department of adult and juvenile detention, and
WHEREAS, in 2017, King County enacted Ordinance 18499 appropriating $750,000 to address issues affecting immigrant and refugee communities, which included: providing culturally specific support services; shoring up funding for the Resilience Fund, which is a collaborative with the Seattle Foundation, the city of Seattle and other organizations to provide timely, flexible funding to address urgent needs of immigrant and refugee populations; and funding legal defense for immigrants with limited financial resources, and later that same year enacted Ordinance 18544 to appropriate an additional $250,000 to support legal defense for immigrants with limited financial resources, and
WHEREAS, this was one-time funding which was then made ongoing through funding from the Veterans, Seniors, & Human Services Levy that voters approved in 2017 (and renewed in 2023), so that this support for immigrant and refugee services has been continued to this day as part of that levy, and
WHEREAS, in 2017, King County enacted Ordinance 18653 establishing the Immigrant and Refugee Commission so the county can better serve its immigrant and refugee communities, including many who have come to King County because they have been persecuted or feared they would be persecuted on account of race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social or political group, and
WHEREAS, in 2017, King County enacted Ordinance 18665 establishing requirements for how county agencies, offices, and employees will provide services to immigrants; requiring all county agencies to develop plans to provide communications and vital documents in the top six non-English languages used in King County as identified by the office of equity and racial and social justice and the county demographer; and establishing an immigrants and refugee assistance fund to provide legal representation for indigent immigrants and refugees in deportation proceedings in immigration court and to support citizenship services for these residents and for English language classes for immigrants and refugees, and
WHEREAS, Chapter 440, Laws of 2019, known as the Keep Washington Working Act, in part, restricts the extent to which local law enforcement agencies may participate in the enforcement of federal immigration laws, and
WHEREAS, Chapter 37, Laws of Washington 2020, the Courts Open to All Act, among other protections for immigrants and refugees interacting with the court system, prohibits judges, court staff, prosecutors, prosecutor's office staff, and court security personnel from inquiring into or collecting information about an individual's immigration or citizenship status or place of birth, and from disclosing nonpublic personal information to immigration authorities, except as required by law, and
WHEREAS, in 2022, the council passed Motion 16106 declaring support for the Cities for Citizenship initiative and directing the executive to sign the county onto the initiative as a participating community, and
WHEREAS, King County is in the process of standing up a Human and Civil Rights Commission, which is intended to strengthen the county’s anti-discrimination policies and protections; ensure equitable allocation of county resources; and engage robustly with diverse communities in the county, and will include a representative who is active and engaged with an immigrant or refugee community, and
WHEREAS, King County is committed to continue building a welcoming, safe, and hate-free environment in communities, where all immigrants and refugees are welcomed, accepted, and valued; and to encourage business leaders, civic groups, community institutions, and residents to join in a community-wide effort to adopt policies and practices that promote belonging, inclusion and equity;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. The council remains committed to welcoming and actively supporting immigrants and refugees from all nationalities, religions, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, races, and backgrounds - regardless of political preference - with policies, programs, and dedicated resources that foster inclusion, meaningful participation, and economic opportunity for all.
B. In alignment with the Keep Washington Working Act, it is the intent of the council to consider legislation to ensure county employees will not cooperate or assist with any registration or surveillance programs or any other rules or policies that conflict with federal, state, or local laws and are targeted at immigrants and refugees, regardless of immigration status.
C. The council values the executive's partnership in supporting immigrants and refugees in King County and respectfully requests the following:
1. All county facilities post signage clearly designating areas that are not open to the public to assist county employees in implementing K.C.C. 2.15.020, which requires employees to immediately refer warrantless attempts or requests for access to county facilities, property, equipment or nonpublic databases, or nonpublic portions of otherwise public databases, or people in King County's custody to the department or agency director.
2. To increase access to timely information and diminish disinformation, create and regularly update a centralized county webpage with links to vetted resources related to immigration issues for residents, including information on civil liberties and constitutional rights and resources in multiple languages, including the top six languages identified by the tier map of limited-English-proficient persons maintained by the office of equity and racial and social justice and the county demographer. The centralized webpage should also link to existing county webpages with information for immigrants and refugees such as the sheriff's webpage with information on the U visa and T visa programs, the department of public health's webpage listing resources for residents without documentation, the department of community and human services' self-serve database also referred to as the King County resource access self-service site, and the office of equity and racial and social justice's webpage on the county's language access program.
4. Consider establishing an Office of Immigrant and Refugee Assistance tasked with working with community partners, county departments, and the Equity and Social Justice Ordinance to define and achieve desired outcomes for county investments for immigrant and refugees, including setting specific measurable outcomes related to employment, economic development, public health, student achievement, citizenship, public safety, and criminal justice, civic engagement, and protection of civil rights. The Office should also coordinate and facilitate county efforts aimed at improving services and better engaging immigrant and refugee communities. The Office should work in partnership with other county departments, government agencies, community organizations, and the private sector to advance the mission of the Office in a manner consistent with the county’s Equity and Social Justice Ordinance.
D. The council supports the superior court, district court, and prosecuting attorney's efforts to fully comply with the Courts Open to All Act and other relevant state law and encourages the implementation of policies and practices that endeavor to prevent and/or mitigate immigration consequences for immigrants and refugees at all stages of the criminal legal process, and take into consideration whether noncitizen residents may face harsher punishments than U.S. citizens solely due to their immigration status.
E. The council fully backs the county's efforts to monitor federal actions that may target immigrant communities and prepare legal strategies in response. The council will consider allocating additional resources to support this critical work.
F. The council commits to expanding investments in the county's efforts to support immigrants and refugees, including but not limited to: deportation defense, rapid response efforts coordinated with local city and Washington state agencies, citizenship programs, English language learning and workforce development programs, language access, mental and physical health services, food security, and investments to combat displacement as well as know your rights trainings for county staff, contracted community organizations, and immigrants and refugees.
G. The council reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that the county is in full compliance with the Keep Washington Working Act, the Courts Open to All Act, and chapter 2.15 of the King County Code. The council supports the efforts of elected officials and staff in local jurisdictions within the county and throughout Washington State in complying with the state laws and developing policies that further protect populations whose rights may be abrogated and interests harmed by the federal government, including but not limited to immigrants and refugees.
H. The council condemns President Trump’s deployment of federalized National Guard and federal troops into Los Angeles in response to protests for immigrants’ rights; this action is a dangerous abuse of power. The council respectfully requests that Washington’s Congressional delegation take steps to exercise oversight of the deployment of federalized troops and to take steps to rescind the deployment order and withdraw military troops from our communities.
I. The executive should file a report evaluating the county's progress in implementing section B and section C of this motion within one year of this motion's passage. The executive should consult with the Immigrant and Refugee Commission and community-based organizations contracted by the county to provide services to immigrant and refugee communities when drafting the report. The report should be filed in the form of an electronic copy with the clerk of the council, who shall retain an electronic copy and provide an electronic copy to all councilmembers, the council chief of staff, and the lead staff for the committee of the whole, or its successor.