Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Adams County sheriff tells House subcommittee Washington law bars honoring ICE detainers, prompting state lawsuit
Loading...
Summary
Sheriff Dale Wagner told a House Judiciary subcommittee that Washington’s Keep Washington Working Act prevents his office from holding or transferring people on ICE detainers, leaving his small sheriff’s office to contend with repeat offenders and a lawsuit from the Washington attorney general.
Sheriff Dale Wagner of Adams County, Washington, told a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on sanctuary jurisdictions that state law and local sanctuary policies have limited his office’s ability to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
Wagner testified that “these sanctuary policies prohibit law enforcement from working with federal immigration agencies such as ICE and Border Patrol,” and said the result has been “repeat offenders, drug traffickers, and violent criminals… remain[ing] in our communities instead of facing appropriate legal action.”
The issue centers on Washington’s Keep Washington Working Act, which Wagner said prevents his office from holding or transferring people on ICE detainers. Wagner described Adams County as “spanning approximately 1,925 square miles” and said his office is small — a department of roughly 18 people — with a local jail that has been closed for three years. He also said his agency shares certain public information through a state-funded Stone Garden program but that the statute prevents holding individuals beyond their release date to facilitate federal pickup.
Representative Jim Jordan, a member of the full committee who questioned witnesses, described a case he said occurred in Denver in which local officials provided only an hour’s notice to ICE before releasing a person in custody. Jordan said the detainer form “requests that you notify DHS as early as practicable, at least 48 hours if possible, before the alien in your custody is released” and argued that the practice Wagner described increases risk to officers and the public.
Wagner told members his office has been sued by the Washington state Attorney General for cooperating with federal immigration authorities in some cases; he framed the suit as a political action that places sheriffs “in an impossible position” when state law appears to conflict with federal enforcement priorities.
During questioning, Representative Pramila Jayapal asked whether Adams County had transferred personal information to federal officials; Wagner said his office participates in a Stone Garden program and provides public information but said he did not have numbers on fingerprint sharing. He also said he was not aware of the county holding people beyond their release date to facilitate civil immigration pickup.
The hearing included broader debate among members over the legal limits on local cooperation with federal immigration authorities and whether legislative or judicial action is needed to reconcile conflicts. No formal votes or committee actions were taken at the hearing.
Wagner ended his testimony urging cooperation among local, state and federal law enforcement and saying Adams County will continue to prioritize public safety even as legal challenges proceed.
