As ICE looks to expand detention facilities, several Western Washington cities consider bans

City councils in Seattle, Burien, Renton, and Tukwila are considering temporary bans on issuing permits for detention facilities.

These are all cities within what the Department of Homeland Security calls the “Seattle Area of Responsibility," where the federal government is looking to expand its footprint of detention facilities — as part of the goal to meet a million deportations a year set by President Donald Trump.

Some city councils in the "Seattle Area of Responsibility" have passed resolutions funneling funding to immigrant legal aid, but have been careful not to draw unwanted attention and retaliation from the federal government.

Seattle, for example, has frequently faced threats to have its federal funding pulled because of its so-called “sanctuary city” status.

But for Tukwila City Council member Joe Camacho, it’s time to take a more proactive approach. He’s also a high school science teacher in the Tukwila School District.

“ When I read an email that states that an elementary-age student was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in our community, we have to stick our necks out,” he said.

Over the past year, Camacho said close to a dozen Tukwila families have been impacted by immigration enforcement. Students frequently come to him about their anxieties over it.

“This is already happening in our community and we won't, we don't want to see it continue happening,” Camacho said.

For the past year, the cities surrounding Seattle have been the scene of many immigration enforcement actions. The arrests have ranged from people being taken to immigrant lockup during immigration check-ins and immigration court hearings to arrests on the street.

RELATED: As reports of ICE emerge in Seattle suburbs, neighborhood watches take shape

These are often people with unauthorized immigrant status who have criminal convictions, people who have standing deportation orders, or immigrants who are trying to get a form of legal status through an asylum claim, legal residency, or even citizenship in the U.S. The majority of people in immigrant lockup have no criminal convictions.

Tukwila is already a hub for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It’s the home of an ICE office at the Department of Homeland Security building — with a potential expansion on the way around a mile north. And at the northern edge of the city is Boeing Field, where ICE flies out privately chartered deportation flights.

RELATED: ICE eyes new Tukwila office near hub for deportation flights

Another prime location for an immigrant detention facility is in SeaTac. It houses the state’s only federal prison, the region's largest international airport, and is a short drive from Boeing Field.

For SeaTac City Councilmember Joe Vinson, that’s enough for now.

“ Before we consider any additional institutions of such, we need to just take a pause and truly assess what best meets the needs of the city,” Vinson said.

He was one of the council members that voted to pass its six-month detention facility moratorium earlier this month. Now, many cities are looking to SeaTac's example as they consider their own bans.

With what land the city of SeaTac has, Vinson said they want to focus on a local priority: building homes in a region where affordable housing is scarce, rather than following federal priorities of locking up immigrants.

“The city of SeaTac has historically always lobbied for local control and has done its best to advocate for our community, for our residents,” Vinson said.

Many of the residents of SeaTac are rideshare and other gig workers, Vinson added. Census data provided by King County shows over half of the population of SeaTac are people who were born in a different country who later became citizens of the U.S.

But these cities are just one section of ICE’s "Seattle Office Area of Responsibility." Other cities of interest include Spokane, where that city is also considering a moratorium.

Ferndale, Yakima, Wenatchee, and Richland are other cities in the area of responsibility, but they have not introduced moratoriums in recent weeks.

There are also cities in Oregon that are part of ICE Seattle's Area of Responsibility. Last year, one of those cities — Portland — passed an ordinance that would penalize landlords who lease to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE did not respond to a request for comment for this story.