Gov. Bob Ferguson vowed Tuesday the state won't be intimidated by threats from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi of lawsuits or even criminal prosecutions against him and other leaders of so-called sanctuary states and cities.
Bondi sent a letter to Ferguson last week notifying him that Washington had been identified by the White House as a jurisdiction that “engages in sanctuary policies that thwart federal immigration enforcement.
She warned of potential consequences ranging from cutting off federal grants to prosecuting officials using their official positions "to obstruct federal immigration enforcement efforts and facilitating or inducing illegal immigration."
During a news conference Tuesday at the state Capitol, Ferguson called Bondi's letter — which listed several federal criminal statutes — a dangerous escalation by President Donald Trump's administration demanding governors and mayors "bend the knee" to the president.
“That is breathtaking, and a letter like this cannot be normalized," Ferguson said. “Let me be very clear. Washington state will not be bullied or intimidated by threats and legally baseless accusations."
A state law passed in 2019, known as the Keep Washington Working Act, limits the role local law enforcement agencies can play in aiding the federal government in arresting or deporting undocumented immigrants.
The law bars local police from arresting or detaining people based solely on their immigration status and generally bans local jails from holding someone so they can be taken into federal custody, unless presented with a warrant or court order signed by a judge or magistrate.
Ferguson said Washington's law does not violate any federal law and is confident it will survive any legal challenge mounted by the Trump administration.
The governor was joined at the news conference Tuesday by immigration rights advocates, state legislators and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, who received an identical letter from Bondi naming the city as a sanctuary jurisdiction last week.
The notices sent to Seattle and Washington state were among 32 that Bondi said she sent last week to governors and mayors of Democratic "sanctuary" jurisdictions.
"You better be abiding by our federal policies and with our federal law enforcement, because if you aren't we are going to come after you," Bondi told Fox News of the message sent by her letters.
The aggressive push against those cities comes as Trump has also asserted federal authority to seize control of law enforcement in Washington D.C., redeploying FBI agents and calling in the National Guard to patrol the streets of the nation's capital.
Bondi's letter gave jurisdictions until Tuesday to respond to her letter by submitting "immediate initiatives" to eliminate laws and policies that "impede federal immigration enforcement."
Ferguson's written response to Bondi's letter offered nothing of the sort.
Instead, the governor said Bondi "embarrasses and disgraces" her position as U.S. Attorney General by essentially threatening him and other state and local leaders, including state troopers, sheriffs and judges, with prison time.
"You seem to believe that cavalierly threatening criminal prosecution will result in me compromising the values of my state," Ferguson wrote.
"Never," he promised.
Harrell also criticized Bondi's letter in a statement, saying it targets cities like Seattle with a false narrative.
"Immigration enforcement is the exclusive responsibility of the federal government. The City neither interferes with nor carries out those federal duties," he said. He added Seattle will "remain committed to our local values, including being a welcoming city for all" and would not hesitate to defend its residents in court.
Other Democratic officials across the country have also pushed back defiantly against Bondi's letter.
In Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu responded that her city "will never back down from being a beacon of freedom, and a home for everyone," according to WCVB.
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned Bondi in a response letter that Department of Justice lawyers who file flimsy criminal charges over sanctuary policies could face ethics complaints to the state bar association.
Newsom's letter gave Bondi his own deadline of Aug. 26 to respond to his letter.
Washington state Republican Party Chairman Jim Walsh criticized Ferguson's response to Bondi, comparing its assertion of states' rights to the stance of Confederate politicians Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens during the U.S. Civil War.
"These justifications didn't end well for Davis and Stephens then; they aren't likely to end well for Ferguson now," Walsh said in a statement Tuesday
Walsh said Ferguson should "rise above petty partisan politics" and give Immigrations and Customs Enforcement access to Washington jails and prisons, "where they can focus on locating and deporting gang members, drug dealers, sex traffickers and other hardened illegal alien criminals."
State Rep. Julio Cortes, D-Everett, an immigrant and vice chair of the Latino Democratic Caucus, said at Tuesday's news conference the Keep Washington Working Act appropriately protects immigrant communities and keeps local and state law enforcement focused "where they belong."
"We will not allow fear to dictate the way we treat our neighbors, Cortes said.
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