The City of Seattle has joined together with a coalition of 20 other cities and counties across the nation in submitting an amicus brief to help defeat a Trump Administration lawsuit seeking to invalidate three California state laws (US v California). Among other things, the Trump Administration is suing for access to sensitive information that state and local governments collect from persons who receive government services, including immigrant members of the community. The amicus brief was filed to support California’s effort to limit the information it turns over, arguing that disclosing the information would erode the trust it has built with residents—including in vulnerable immigrant communities—that is necessary to effectively protect the safety and health of all residents.
“The City of Seattle is proud to support California in the name of local autonomy and community safety. Neighborhoods are safer when everyone who experiences or witnesses a crime feels comfortable engaging with law enforcement, which is why it’s incumbent on local governments to maintain partnership and trust. The Trump administration’s outright hostility toward immigrant communities sets us all backward, so it’s up to cities and states to tread the path forward,” said Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes.
“We will not allow our cities or states to be bullied by this administration, who continue to threaten our shared values of inclusion, opportunity, and diversity. The Department of Justice’s actions do nothing to make our communities safer,” said Mayor Jenny Durkan. “Seattle and all the welcoming cities in the United States have both the law and justice on our side. We will keep working together to ensure that immigrants and refugees who believe in the promise of America are protected from these misguided, harmful actions.”
Councilmember M. Lorena González said, “Seattle understands the importance of protecting sensitive data and information of our immigrant neighbors, as we do not request or collect information on citizenship or immigration status for residents to access City services. Our City recognized in 2003 that everyone, regardless of status, should have a right to privacy when they share their information and data with local government. Our ‘don’t ask’ policy has helped us build trust with immigrant communities and the federal administration seeks to cause fear and instability in communities with rhetoric and action that disregards American values and civil liberties.”
Mayor Durkan and City Attorney Holmes have previously responded to Department of Justice threats directed toward the City of Seattle late last year, in which the federal government threatened with withhold federal law enforcement funds due to Seattle’s Welcoming City policy. A federal judge has recently issued a nationwide injunction, prohibiting the Department of Justice from prioritizing community policing grants to jurisdictions based on their cooperation with immigration officials. The City Council has previously adopted a Welcoming Cities resolution, in which the City states that it “refuses to allow its police officers to be compelled into service as de facto immigration officers.”