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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Claims by masked ‘bounty hunter’ upset Eastern WA town. Does ICE pay private trackers?

By Eric Rosane Tri-City Herald

KENNEWICK – A Seattle man claiming to be a bounty hunter made threatening comments at a press conference in Sunnyside this week, saying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to deputize and pay private civilian forces to detain undocumented immigrants.

But his comments appear to be false and misleading, local officials say, and are not reflective of actual immigration enforcement processes.

His comments, however, may be based on proposed legislation in Mississippi that wouldn’t impact Washington residents.

“You can put a price on every human being. Every human is worth a dollar amount,” said the man, who identified himself as Martin Alvarado, before being hushed by the city manager and residents in attendance.

The intense interaction underscores larger anxieties felt in the Latino community after President Donald Trump began a crackdown on immigrants illegally in the U.S.

ICE has been arresting nearly 1,000 individuals in enforcement operations each day, according to tallies the agency has begun posting to X.

Over the weekend, an agency team arrested two people in the parking lot of a Fiesta Foods store in Sunnyside, which prompted the Monday news conference hosted by the city council and staff.

As the conference began to wrap up after an hour and a half of discussion and Q&A, Alvarado took to the podium to say that ICE had called his “Tacoma squad” to conduct enforcement raids and that they would be compensated by the federal government “$1,500 to $1,000 per illegal.”

“How are you going to stop us from coming through, because we don’t have to worry about warrants, we don’t really have to follow too many of the laws and, if we’re going to be deputized by ICE, we can pretty much do anything we want,” he said.

“A thousand dollars per illegal is a pretty good price, just to do things that you kind of enjoy. How or what are you guys going to do to stop that? Are you going to pay us more? Are you going to pay us $2,000 to just leave them alone,” Alvarado continued, before getting cut off by someone who said he was stoking fears.

After a back and forth with City Manager Mike Gonzalez, Alvarado was ushered out of the room.

Does ICE use bounty hunters?

The Tri-City Herald reached out Thursday to ICE public affairs officials for clarification on immigration enforcement, but did not hear back.

But Sunnyside officials say they know the answer.

“There are no bounty hunters with ICE. That guy was a bit out of his mind and I think was trying to stir the pot,” Gonzalez told the Herald this week.

City and county law enforcement agencies in Washington state do not cooperate with ICE on immigration enforcement. Their focus instead is on keeping law and order. Gonzalez said local law enforcement officers will never ask residents about their immigration status.

Alvarado may have been mistakenly referring to some proposals floated in recent weeks in Missouri and Mississippi to help the Trump Administration.

One bill in the Mississippi statehouse, and proposed by a district attorney, would create a “certificated bounty hunter program” for licensed bail bond agents and surety recovery agents to find and detain people in the country illegally.

Individuals would be able to report undocumented immigrants in the state to a hotline for arrest and could receive up to $1,000, according to the law.

Because it’s another state’s bill and not federal policy, it would have no jurisdiction in Washington if passed into law.

State Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, says bounty hunters are “pretty much bail bond agents” in Washington state.

While they can apprehend fugitives who skip bail, they are not law enforcement officers and cannot conduct federal immigration enforcement or detention for immigration purposes, she said.

Torres believes Alvarado may have been trying to bully the city into paying him. She gave kudos to the city of Sunnyside for their response, for addressing community concerns and acting with transparency during this time.

”We’re a resilient town, we’re a town that’s heavily tied to (agriculture), and not everybody here is undocumented,” Gonzalez said.

”We hope eventually this blows over and the Trump Administration doesn’t continue this. What it really shows people is there needs to be a better path toward citizenship. It needs to be cheaper and an easier process,” he said, pointing to much-needed reforms for temporary farm workers here on H-2A visas.