Mayor Wilson directs Seattle police to document immigration activity

David Kroman, The Seattle Times on Jan 29, 2026

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SEATTLE — Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced several actions Thursday to help residents worried and affected by immigration enforcement activity, as well as prepare the city for a possible surge by federal officers.

Her orders focused on creating a community hotline, disseminating $4 million for local immigrant support organizations, restricting what property immigration officers can access and requiring officers with the Seattle Police Department to investigate, verify and document any reports of immigration enforcement in the city, she announced Thursday.

Wilson said she intends to “protect city residents in the face of increased federal immigration enforcement activity.”

“The federal government is causing profound, long-term harm to so many communities, and we all have a shared responsibility to organize, practice solidarity, and do what we can to keep Seattle safe,” she said in a statement.

Although immigration enforcement activity is up in Washington state, as it is across the country, Seattle hasn’t seen anything like the surge in officers deployed to Minneapolis in recent weeks.

Nevertheless, the uncertainty of if, when and how immigration enforcement would come to Seattle and Washington has spurred local lawmakers to act.

As part of her order, Wilson said Seattle officers should use their body and dash cameras to record federal immigration operations, ask federal officers for identification and secure any scene for evidence in the event something criminal might be taking place.

Additionally, the city will work with local community organizations to push out relevant information about ongoing immigration enforcement activity. That effort will include a hotline where people be connected to resources and receive information.

Wilson will also prohibit, via executive order, federal immigration authorities from using city properties, including parks, parking lots and Seattle Center, for staging operations. She encouraged other local governments, including the Seattle Public Schools and Seattle Municipal Court, to do the same.

She’s also establishing the “Stand Together Seattle Initiative,” urging private property owners to post notice that federal agents must present a warrant to entire their premises.

Finally, she will appropriate the $4 million set aside last year by the Seattle City Council for immigrant legal defense.

The moves were cheered by members of the council, the new city attorney and her police chief Shon Barnes.

“What we’ve seen with this reckless escalation, is execution-style murders caught on camera,” Councilmember Rob Saka said of the Minneapolis operation that has resulted in officers shooting and killing two people.

At the state level, Gov. Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown both promised to explore legal action should enforcement ramp up here, particularly around the Department of Homeland Security’s use of administrative, rather than judicial, warrants to enter people’s homes.

The Legislature is also considering bills to ban immigration enforcement officers from wearing face masks and seek employment with a police department in the state.

In Seattle, there have been accounts of one-off operations, including on Aurora Avenue. Meanwhile, the mere rumor of immigration enforcement activity was enough to spur six public schools to issue a shelter in place order earlier this month.

Seattle has resisted the Trump administration’s immigration efforts dating back to his first term, dubbing itself a “welcoming city” that does not cooperate with federal enforcement action.

The city and state can’t prevent immigration enforcement from taking place within its boundaries. But Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes has reiterated to his officers that the department will “maintain its functional independence” and not assist in any operations. Barnes also said officers should not disrupt any immigration enforcement activity.

It’s unclear how willingly officers may take part in Wilson’s new directives. Mike Solan, outgoing head of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, which represents rank and file officers in the city, has shared photos of himself with Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan.

“Tom’s message that cops should back up other cops couldn’t be more truthful, and it’s based in common sense,” said Mike Solan, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, said last spring during a visit to Rochester, New York.

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