Proposal aims to remove barriers between immigrants, King County services

Under a proposal before the Metropolitan King County Council, health facilities run by the county could not deny care based on immigration status, and sheriff's deputies could not ask people for immigration papers, or investigate, detain or arrest people for immigration violations.

Supporters say the move would reduce mistrust between immigrants and local government.

The proposal, they say, would help to safeguard against racial profiling, ensure that a big segment of the population feels safe enough to seek health care and allow more witnesses and victims of crime to go to the police without fear.

"We see this as something that really benefits the entire community, not just immigrants," said Shankar Narayan, legislative director of the ACLU of Washington.

Similar laws — generally prohibiting police and other government workers from asking a person's immigration status — have been approved in communities around the nation, including in Seattle in 2002.

"I'm surprised King County doesn't have something on this already, to tell you the truth," said Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata, a sponsor of Seattle's law.

After a measure stagnated for months in a county council committee chaired by Kathy Lambert, a retooled proposal was introduced this week by Councilmembers Bob Ferguson and Larry Gossett. Basically, it directs sheriff's deputies and other county employees not to actively enforce immigration laws.

The Committee of the Whole will take up the measure next week.

"I wouldn't say we're behind the times," Ferguson said. "Part of this is already being done by the Sheriff's Office. This would just be codifying it into law."

The Sheriff's Office, for instance, has had such a "don't ask" policy in place since 1992 to encourage immigrants' cooperation in criminal investigations.

Along with providing the certainty of law, Ferguson said, the new measure would raise public awareness.

"King County can send a strong message that no one should fear collaborating with the sheriff or seeking out health-care services, especially if you're undocumented," said Carlos Marentes, an activist with the grass-roots Committee for Immigration Reform and Social Justice.

Such fears can run rampant among immigrants, Marentes and Narayan said, when they believe local police or health officials will arrest them if they seek help.

Mark Jamieson, a Seattle police spokesman, said city police "don't want someone's immigration status to be barrier to calling 911 or getting help from police."

King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart said in an e-mail that current department policy "does not prohibit sheriff's deputies from notifying the appropriate federal authorities when we have reservations about someone's immigration status. Our policy also does not prohibit our deputies from assisting ICE (federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in a support role." Urquhart noted that deputies are required to take any documents they are offered that officers suspect are forged or altered, and contact federal agents.

Lambert, whose Law and Justice Committee did not move a similar proposal forward, did not return a telephone call Friday.

Lewis Kamb: 206-464-2341 or lkamb@seattletimes.com

The information in this article, originally published June 27, 2009 at 12:00 a.m., was corrected June 27, 2009 at 1:40 p.m. If King County sheriff's deputies suspect that immigration documents offered to them are forged or altered, deputies are required to contact federal agents, according to King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart. A previous version of the story didn't make the county's policy regarding immigration documents clear.