Amidst the rising immigration enforcement activity nationwide, the City of Lacey issued a proclamation Tuesday formally supporting Washington state’s “Keep Washington Working Act” and the protections it gives to local immigrants.
The Keep Washington Working Act, passed by the state Legislature in 2019, prohibits the use of state agency resources to investigate, enforce or help enforce laws that target Washington residents solely on the basis of race, religion, immigration or citizenship status. The legislation also limits how local law enforcement, public schools, courthouses and public health care facilities can engage with federal immigration enforcement.
The legislation’s goal is “ensuring the state of Washington remains a place where the rights and dignity of all residents are maintained and protected in order to keep Washington working.”
The City of Lacey’s proclamation reaffirmed the city’s “position as a compassionate and inclusive city,” pledging “to use every lawful tool available to protect community members’ rights and to stand in solidarity with immigrant communities against violence, intimidation, and discrimination.”
Gov. Bob Ferguson issued an executive order last year reaffirming the state’s commitment to protecting the rights and interests of immigrant communities and establishing an immigration sub-cabinet under the state Office of Equity.
“I can’t tell you how much this proclamation means to people,” Office of Equity Director Megan Matthews said of the City of Lacey’s proclamation on Tuesday. “We get phone calls, emails, when I’m out visiting with people — they’re terrified, and our communities aren’t good when people are terrified. Our communities are an ecosystem and when people are hurting, it impacts everyone.”
Matthews acknowledged that “sometimes just saying it, putting it on paper, affirming your commitment, means a lot to people who feel unsafe, unheard. They feel victimized and terrorized right now.”
One public commenter, however, urged the City of Lacey to make a stronger public statement supporting the city’s immigrant communities and opposing recent and ongoing actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.
“We have community members in Lacey that are afraid to go to school, afraid to go to the store, afraid to go to work, and as this proclamation states, we need all of those people. They are community members that add to the richness of our community. But I think these people need to hear from Lacey loud and clear that we support them and that we have a deep understanding of the tragedy that is here.”
Lacey City Council did not immediately respond to the public comment.
The City of Lacey established its own Commission on Equity in 2021 and has been working with the state Office of Equity on a variety of projects, including last year’s Thurston County Homebuying Expo.
“We appreciate all the good work you guys are doing in the Washington state Office of Equity and obviously it’s something that is near and dear to this council’s heart, my heart, in all the work that we’re doing with our Commission on Equity,” Mayor Andy Ryder told Matthews on Tuesday.
