Mount Vernon residents urge council to denounce anti-immigrant remarks, deliver policy response

Dozens of residents told the Mount Vernon City Council on Feb. 26 that remarks by a Ward 1 council member amounted to dehumanizing rhetoric and demanded formal action from the city.

Speakers from the immigrant and farmworker communities described feeling threatened and unsafe after comments made at a January meeting, and presented a community-drafted resolution asking the council to affirm enforcement of the Keep Washington Working Act of 2019 and to adopt local noncooperation language with federal immigration enforcement.

The issue drew multiple public commenters over more than an hour of the Feb. 26 meeting. Caroline Bachetto, who said she works in Ward 1, told the council: "If you are neutral in situations of injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor." She said immigrants make up 16% of Mount Vernon's population and urged the council to "do everything within its power to enforce the Keep Washington Working Act, protect Mount Vernon's immigrant families, and denounce hate speech." Lynn Campbell, a resident, said her neighborhood had experienced mail theft and urged the police chief be asked to notify residents; she also said officers had told her the thefts had been occurring for about a year.

Community leaders delivered a written draft resolution and asked the council to act. Rosalinda Guillen, a lifelong Skagit County resident, read the text of the proposed resolution in the meeting and said the community would continue to press the council until it acted. Several speakers described fear among immigrant families, with one parent saying children were staying home from school because of fear.

Mayor Donovan and council members addressed the public outcry during council comments. Mayor Donovan described the January remarks as a "poor and miscalculated attempt at humor" tied to widely criticized national comments and said the remarks had "opened up a door to a raging political storm" and widened division in the community. He said he had privately discussed the matter with the council member who made the remarks and expressed a desire to "slam that door closed" and preserve the nonpartisan focus of local government.

Multiple council members apologized on the record for not responding more forcefully at the time the remarks were made. Council member DeSara said, "I would just like to offer my heartfelt apology to the community. That wasn't my intention to offend… I should have thought before I spoke." Council member Mary Hudson and others also said they regretted their responses at the earlier meeting and pledged to do better.

Council members and staff did not take formal legislative action on Feb. 26. Members of the public delivered the draft resolution and requested that the council either adopt it or pursue similar measures, including an ordinance stating the city will not assist ICE or border patrol and a commitment to fund legal and advocacy services for immigrant residents. Speakers also asked the council to actively enforce the Keep Washington Working Act, which they said prohibits use of local resources for immigration enforcement.

The city indicated next steps for some related business items and said staff would make the draft resolution available for follow-up. Mayor Donovan announced multiple upcoming public meetings and said the city will continue to post items for public review. Several community members left the meeting requesting a public apology and a formal, visible commitment to the protections requested.

The council's public statements on Feb. 26 centered on regret over how the January comments were received and on a desire to restore community trust; no vote on a resolution or ordinance was taken that night.

Residents who addressed the council included immigrants, farmworkers, students and community organizers. Several said they would continue to press the city for written commitments and legal protections.

Mount Vernon council members and staff said they would review the community's written resolution and consider next steps, including whether to place an item on a future agenda for formal consideration.

For now, the Feb. 26 meeting closed with public comment recorded and council members offering apologies and expressions of intent to improve communications and outreach with immigrant communities in Mount Vernon.