WA spent more than $23M to hold illegal aliens with ICE detainers in 2024

(The Center Square) – A group of Washington state Republican senators, including 31st Legislative District Sen. Phil Fortunato of Auburn, are calling for the repeal of a state law that limits law enforcement's cooperation with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

The Keep Washington Working Act, adopted in 2019, restricts local law enforcement from using local resources to help federal officials enforce immigration law and prevents local law enforcement from sharing nonpublic information with federal officials in most cases.

As previously reported by The Center Square, Gov. Bob Ferguson has vowed to defend Washington’s sanctuary policies against federal challenges.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has indicated the Trump administration will withhold federal funds from what the Department of Justice terms “sanctuary jurisdictions” and “regulations that impede enforcement of federal immigration laws.”

In a letter to Ferguson, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and others, Bondi wrote that under President Donald Trump, “full cooperation by state and local governments in immigration enforcement efforts is a top priority. This ends now.”

In his response, Ferguson said he was prepared to defend the sanctuary legislation against a potential challenge and would seek "all appropriate costs and fees."

In a press conference last week, responding to the DOJ letter, Ferguson said, “It is all posturing. That’s all it is. It’s all threats. That’s all it is.”

Fortunato had a different take.

“Here you have a guy [who] was the attorney general of Washington state,” the senator said. “The guy that's supposed to understand what the law is.”

In a Friday interview with The Center Square, Fortunato said he reached out to Ferguson’s office to find out how many illegal immigrants are currently incarcerated in Washington prisons.

“They got back to me, and they said two,” he said. “So, I asked ICE, ‘How many people do you have identified in our prisons?’ They said 310.”

Fortunato’s staff sent The Center Square an April 8 email from the Department of Homeland Security breaking down the list of Washington DOC inmates with immigration detainers and the crimes they are being held for:

Sex Offense: 130Homicide: 94Assault: 38Robbery: 22Drugs: 12Weapon Possession: 8Kidnapping: 2DUI: 1Fraud: 1Forgery: 1Arson: 1

“So basically, all around solid citizens,” Fortunato sarcastically quipped. “If you want to do this sanctuary policy and you want to pretend that these people are just mowing your lawn, you could go on and pretend that, right? But they're raping our women and our children, and these are the people that you are adamant about protecting. I don't get it. I just don't get it.”

Depending on the facility, each inmate in DOC custody costs Washington taxpayers about $75,000 a year. That translated into those 310 illegal immigrants costing Washington more than $23 million in 2024.

In a Monday email soliciting contributions, state Democrats wrote, “We need to show Bondi, Trump, and every extremist watching that Washington Democrats will NOT be intimidated by bullies and cowards.”

Fortunato said he’s not holding his breath that pressure from lawmakers or anyone else will result in Ferguson complying with the Trump administration's directive to work with ICE.

“He’s not going to change his mind,” he said. “This is about letting people know that somebody agrees that we want these criminals out of here and that this is crazy policy.”