Attorney claims violation of the Keep Washington Working Act after ICE arrest in Spokane Valley

An attorney representing a man accused of assault, who was arrested by immigration authorities in Spokane Valley on his way to a court hearing, says the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office likely violated state law by assisting federal immigration officers.

Kyle Madsen, a senior attorney at the Spokane County Public Defender’s Office, filed a motion to dismiss the assault case, citing government misconduct after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents broke the windows of a vehicle and forcibly removed brothers Jeison and Cesar Ruiz-Rodriguez as they were on their way to a hearing.

Madsen, representing Jeison, said ICE’s arrest raises concerns that the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office may have violated the Keep Washington Working Act and the Washington Open Courts Act.

“I think it’s pretty clear evidence that Spokane County Sheriff’s officers were inquiring into collecting and sharing immigration information and providing that to the federal government or ICE, which is a violation of the Keep Washington Working Act,” Madsen said.

Jeison remains at Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office officials say they did not violate the Keep Washington Working Act.

In a video circulating online, Kayla Somarriba, who is seven months pregnant, was in the vehicle when six unmarked cars surrounded them just a block from their home on March 10.

Her husband, Jeison, 26, and brother-in-law, Cesar, 22, were on their way to a hearing at the Spokane County Courthouse. The brothers had been charged with threatening to kill a family member in December, according to court documents.

Court documents state that Jeison went to Yelbin Velazquez-Maldonado’s house, who Somarriba said was his cousin, threatening to kill him. Jeison arrived with his brother David Ruiz-Rodriguez and three other men.

Velazquez-Maldonado saw one of the men show a gun and shoot it in the air while standing behind Jeison’s truck. He doesn’t know who it was, according to court documents. Soon after, Jeison, David and the other men, who have not been identified, fled.

Jeison and Cesar were arrested on Dec. 16 and spent about two months in jail before being released on bail. Jeison’s bond was set at $7,000 on Feb. 6, while Cesar’s bond was set at $15,000 on Feb. 20.

“The fact that, more likely than not, Mr. Ruiz Rodriguez will not have a right to a trial. He will not have a right to call witnesses on his behalf or to question the witnesses against him. He has lost all those rights, and at the moment, it’s looking like he very, very easily could be deported and never returned to Washington again,” Madsen said.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said in a written statement that the office did not violate the act.

“We are aware of the Defense Attorney’s claim. However, we did not violate Washington law, but he is welcome to his opinion as part of his client’s defense,” the email states.

Spokane County Sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Mark Gregory said the office would not comment further because it is an active investigation.

In a survey conducted by InvestigateWest and Cascade PBS earlier this year, the majority of Washington sheriffs said they wouldn’t assist in federal immigration law.

While some were clear, other responses seem to be conflicting, including from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

One of the questions asked was whether the sheriff’s office would comply with the Keep Washington Working Act.

“We will comply with state laws, including the Keep Washington Working Act. At this time, our assistance has not been requested, and no change or modification to policies or procedures is planned,” the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office statement reads.

When asked if he wanted to add anything else, Sheriff John Nowels stated that if federal authorities request his assistance and are willing to provide proper federal authority to their deputies, the sheriff’s office would assist federal agencies with identifying and detaining undocumented immigrants who are committing crimes in Spokane County.

“I would add that I urge our U.S. legislature to address our national immigration policy, which has been broken for years and throughout several administrations,” Nowels told InvestigateWest and Cascade PBS in an email. “I believe the process to LEGALLY enter our country and become a productive citizen of our country should be streamlined, providing good and law-abiding people with a reasonable pathway to citizenship.”

Last week, Washington sued the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, accusing the agency of cooperating with federal immigration enforcement and violating state law.

The lawsuit was filed by the Washington attorney general’s office in Spokane County Superior Court, alleging the Adams County Sheriff’s Office held people in custody based on their immigration status, gave immigration officials confidential information and helped federal immigration officials question those in custody.

“Adams County engaged in what we viewed as good faith negotiations in collaboration with the AG’s office, said that they were updating their policies and said that they were working to comply with the Keep Washington Working Act, and they just weren’t. But after Trump took office in January of this year, they asserted for the first time that coming into compliance with state law would violate federal law,” said Nick Brown, attorney general, in an interview with Spokane Public Radio last week.

In his own statement, Sheriff Dale Wagner said the law prioritizes ideology over public safety and that the attorney general’s lawsuit is “disappointing.”

“The claim that we are engaging in ‘illegal federal immigration enforcement’ misrepresents the reality of law enforcement in Adams County. We do not enforce federal immigration law, but we also will not turn a blind eye to criminal activity – no matter who commits it,” Wagner said in a Facebook post.

Attorneys weigh in on the Keep Washington Working Act, ICE arrest, warrants

The Keep Washington Working Act was enacted on May 21, 2019. Supporters said it would ensure and protect the rights of immigrant communities from unnecessary contact with ICE and Customs and Border Protection.

As a result of the law, local police departments and sheriff’s offices aren’t supposed to share information with ICE or Border Patrol upon request, said Aaron Korthuis, staff attorney at Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.

He said that they are also prohibited from cooperating with federal immigration authorities to transfer individuals in custody, detain individuals based solely on their immigration status, or ask about a person’s immigration status.

“If something is a criminal matter then there can be some information sharing,” Korthuis said. “But, you know, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol aren’t charged with investigating crimes.”

He said the only division of ICE involved in criminal investigations is Homeland Security Investigations. If ICE or Border Patrol are seen working with local law enforcement, Korthuis said it may raise concerns.

“You might think, ‘Oh, maybe this is a civil immigration enforcement case,’ when really, they’re just concerned about whether somebody’s unlawfully present here or not,” he said.

However, Korthuis and ACLU Washington Staff Attorney David Montes emphasized it’s hard to know the entirety of what happened in this situation, especially since it’s an ongoing investigation.

“If ICE has authority of law, in other words, a warrant or some other authority of law to arrest someone, and the person doesn’t cooperate like any other law enforcement officer, they can use force to arrest the person,” Montes said.

“But I would be remiss if I didn’t say, just because a police officer is acting like they did in that video, would never mean that anybody is required to talk to them, is required to give them information, or that they have authority to do it just because they’re doing it.”

In general, law enforcement officers can act on a judicial warrant, which grants them specific legal authority – such as entering a home to conduct a search or make an arrest, Montes said. In certain cases, officers may also arrest someone without a warrant if they have probable cause to believe the individual has committed a crime.

Korthuis added there are fewer legal protections once you are out in public spaces, where arrests don’t necessarily need a warrant.

“I think it’s appropriate for people to ask, ‘Hey, do you have a warrant for my arrest? But it might not always be the case that they need to have that warrant already in order to arrest someone,” Korthuis said. “In a planned encounter where it’s clear you’ve been targeted by ICE, you can ask for the warrant, but it might be that they had a reason to suspect you’re in the United States and will carry out the arrest regardless.”