Committee hears bill to bar immigration-enforcement entry into nonpublic school and early-learning spaces without judicial warrant

Senate Bill 5,906, called the SAFE Act by its sponsor, received a committee briefing and extended public comment on Feb. 26 as legislators weighed how far Keep Washington Working protections should extend beyond public schools.

Senator Drew Hansen, the bill’s prime sponsor, told the Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee the measure would prohibit early learning providers, daycare and healthcare facilities, institutions of higher education and adult family homes from allowing immigration-enforcement officers to enter designated nonpublic areas without a judicial warrant. Hansen said the bill is designed to assure families and patients that federal agents cannot enter sensitive areas "unless they go before a federal judge and convince a federal judge that there's a specific reason they have to be in a specific place." He described the proposal as a Fourth Amendment safeguard and an expansion of earlier Keep Washington Working protections.

Yolanda Baker, staff to the committee, summarized the bill’s main provisions: (1) limit early learning providers and school-district…