Residents press Mount Vernon council for enforcement, accountability after farmworker activist detained

Dozens of residents addressed the Mount Vernon City Council on March 26, 2025, urging the council to adopt a resolution and implement enforceable accountability measures for the Keep Washington Working Act after a local farmworker activist, Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez, was detained and taken to the Northwest Detention Center. Rosalinda Guillen, a Ward 1 community organizer, told the council her group brought a draft ordinance and sought a public, accountable process rather than a closed task force.

The community said the goal is to ensure training, reporting and public transparency so residents know the city is enforcing the Keep Washington Working Act. “The ordinance that we presented … is important to us,” Rosalinda Guillen said. She described uncertainty about whether a Mount Vernon officer was involved in the detention and reported that an attorney was clarifying whether a Skagit County deputy was the officer who stopped the person taken by ICE.

Other…