State Attorney General Nick Brown (D) has filed suit against Adams County and its sheriff, Dale Wagner, for, like two counties in New York, aiding federal immigration enforcement efforts.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Superior County Court, claims that both the sheriff and his county are violating the state's sweeping sanctuary law, the Keep Washington Working Act, which significantly limits state officers' ability to assist in immigration enforcement.
Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), however, says Sheriff Wagner is completely within his rights.
"Federal law does say that any government official at any level of government has the right and the ability to cooperate with federal immigration authorities," he cites. "That was codified back during the Clinton administration, and this sheriff in Eastern Washington has decided that he's going to do just that."
He is confident the Trump administration will support Wagner and defend the law against any effort to undermine its enforcement.
"Attorneys general like Nick Brown and other sanctuary politicians, they understand what they're doing here," Mehlman asserts. "Basically, they're trying to run the clock. The judicial system tends to work rather slowly, and even if they end up losing in the long run, they have thrown sand in the gears. And that is as much of the objective as really testing the legality in the courts."
FAIR expects the lawsuit to take significant time to resolve, and the case may ultimately wind its way to the liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals before possibly reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.
