There have been three incidents involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Olympia area in the past week, an Olympia City Councilman told the council during its Tuesday night meeting.
Council member Clark Gilman shared this information during council members’ reports on their committee meeting duties or other activities.
Gilman said he was part of a “debriefing” about the ICE events, adding that the incidents look just like they do on TV news.
“Multiple vehicles and a whole bunch of people getting out with masks on to grab a person,” he said.
“I’m glad to be doing my best to represent our constituents in this awful situation.”
Council member and Mayor Pro-Tem Yến Huỳnh thanked Gilman for staying connected to the refugee and immigrant community.
“I just so appreciate you keeping on top of that, especially just connecting with refugees resettling and with people that are helping on that effort with what ICE is doing in the community,” she said.
The ICE activity in Olympia and elsewhere across the country is part of the Trump administration’s controversial crackdown on immigration. The controversy stems from those who have been accused of crimes, sometimes mistakenly, and deported to other countries without due process under the law.
Olympia Mayor Dontae Payne reiterated that point after Gilman spoke.
“Everyone is entitled to due process, whether or not you are guilty of a crime,” Payne said. “And so this is something that I personally want to be watching closely and making our congressional delegation aware of these folks, so that our federal representatives can put the pressure on these agencies to make sure that they’re following the law.”
After the council meeting, The Olympian asked Gilman for more information about the ICE incidents. He said they unfolded on Burr Road Southeast at Pacific Avenue, Martin Way and in downtown Olympia.
The Olympian reached out to law enforcement on Wednesday about the ICE incidents.
Olympia Police spokesman Lt. Paul Lower said he had heard what the councilman shared on Tuesday, but he had no additional details.
“They don’t coordinate with us,” said Lower about ICE officials and their activities.
The Olympian also reached out to Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders but did not hear back from him. Sanders, though, has previously shared his thoughts about ICE operating here.
“We don’t work with ICE,” Sanders said. “I’ve made that answer pretty straight forward because I’ve been getting that question a lot lately.”
The Keep Washington Working Act of 2019 limits the ability of local law enforcement to work with ICE. Sanders had said ICE can come and go as they please to do their own work, but deputies will not inquire about citizenship or report people suspected of being undocumented to ICE, according to The Olympian’s previous reporting.
The Olympian also has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security.
Gilman also talked about an Olympia man, who works for an area manufacturer, who was detained at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and is now being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.
“I’ve been in daily contact with the family of a detained constituent who was arrested at the airport as he and his family returned from a vacation,” Gilman said.
That man’s name is Maximo Londonio, according to Gilman and various news reports.
Londonio, 42, was detained last month at the airport, organizers with the community group Tanggol Migrante Network WA said at a recent news conference, NBC News reported.
According to NBC News, Maximo, a father of three who lives in Olympia, immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines at 12 years old. A member of the group said he and his family have traveled back and forth from the Philippines in the past with no issues, according to the report.
The community group believes his detainment may be connected to nonviolent criminal convictions from when he was a young adult, according to the report.
Before he spoke about the ICE incidents and Londonio, Gilman revisited the city’s efforts to be a welcoming community.
“In 1985, council first passed a resolution declaring Olympia to be known as a city of peace, and that was focused mostly on Central American refugees fleeing from political violence.
“And then in 2016 we passed a resolution declaring Olympia a sanctuary city, making it clear that the city serves and protects our residents regardless of their immigration status, and that we remain a safe haven for those who are politically persecuted. So we’ve kept that going,” he said.
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