Spokane Valley passes ‘not a sanctuary city’ resolution meant to show allegiance to Trump

The Spokane Valley City Council voted Tuesday to reaffirm the municipality is “not a sanctuary city,” in what was likely the most well-attended and raucous meeting of the year.

Tuesday’s meeting at Spokane Valley City Hall had two banner issues on the agenda that drew supporters and detractors from across the Inland Northwest: a public hearing on a public safety sales tax the council is considering and a vote on a resolution seeking to reiterate the city’s stance on immigration for a federal audience.

The latter item, approved in a 5-2 vote, replaces an invalid 2016 resolution approved by the council before state legislators passed the Keep Washington Working Act, which supporters said sought to prevent disruptions to the state’s economic sectors that largely rely on immigrant labor, like agriculture. Councilman Ben Wick and Deputy Mayor Tim Hattenburg were the two “nay” votes.

In passing the act, the Washington Legislature determined it is not the primary purpose of law enforcement, and a misuse of local resources, to enforce federal immigration law. Local police departments and sheriff’s offices are only allowed to assist or share information with federal agents in limited circumstances since the law took effect in 2019.

While its previous iteration was more direct in compelling the city’s police force, which is contracted from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, to assist federal forces with immigration enforcement, the resolution will not lead to any practical changes in how city staff members or sheriff’s office deputies within city limits conduct their duties, said Deputy City Manager Erik Lamb and Undersheriff Dave Ellis, chief of the Spokane Valley Police Department.

Instead, its purpose was to send a message to President Donald Trump that the council does not agree with the state’s sanctuary law, said Councilwoman Jessica Yaeger, the board member who brought the resolution forward.

“Quite frankly, it’s because we put grants out there all the time, and what it means is we will not have money that comes to this city, in this state, because we are a sanctuary state,” Yaeger said.

Yaeger said she and fellow council members Laura Padden and Mayor Pam Haley were discussing the resolution with White House officials in their advocacy visit to the nation’s capital last week, and that without it, the city “will not get millions upon millions of dollars for the roads you drive on, for other grants that come to our city that actually feed hungry mouths.”

The majority of residents at the meeting, hailing from within Spokane Valley’s borders and from neighboring towns, testified in opposition to the resolution. They voiced concerns that the measure would condone discrimination against immigrants and people of color residing and working in Spokane Valley, and is naked political posturing and could lead to a costly legal battle.

Haley had to make multiple warnings that she would end public comment if decorum was not upheld as the crowd clapped, snapped and laughed, at times, during the meeting.

“I can tell you that there is great fear already among the immigrants and refugees who are here legally,” said Christi Armstrong, executive director of World Relief Spokane. “… World Relief wants to be a part of the solution, but I just think that putting those words that Spokane Valley is not a sanctuary city is really, really hurtful.”

Yaeger admonished members of the public who said or insinuated the resolution would send the wrong message to marginalized communities, stating that they were the ones who brought “skin color” up and that she was trying to protect young women and “prevent an issue like Laken Riley.”

The 22-year-old was murdered in Athens, Georgia, by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant, and has become the namesake of a federal law seeking to tighten detention requirements for immigrants who commit crimes. Her death has become a rallying cry among conservatives critical of the prior administration’s handling of immigration and border security.

Yaeger also decried those same speakers for the lack of positive statements and “standing up to thank us” for code changes the council is considering to crack down on illicit massage parlors and sex trafficking.

“How can you guys say that you’re defending women and defending minorities when these women are being sex-trafficked and raped every day of their lives?” Yaeger asked.

Councilman Al Merkel said while he does not support the resolution since it lacks any real teeth and is a “complete political waste of time,” he heard from multiple Valley residents ahead of the meeting who desired it, so he voted in favor.

“I’m saddened to hear that we were discussing this with the White House, because if this is what the White House thinks we spend our time on, that’s a little disappointing,” Merkel said.

He added that his mother is from Honduras and said he doesn’t believe racism is driving immigration policy. He said would have preferred an ordinance that allowed for more enforcement.

Haley pushed back on Yaeger’s characterization of the resolution’s timing and purpose, saying she did not think it had “anything to do with politics,” and was simply an update to the resolution to correct the sections invalidated by the Keep Washington Working Act.

“It has to do with making our resolution that was passed in 2016 comply with both the federal law, which has changed, and the state law, which has also changed since then,” Haley said. “This particular resolution allows us to comply with both. It doesn’t give a directive to our police to do anything.”