June 19, 2024 Dena Jensen
“Things are trying to suppress it, right?” That was a remark made by a Bellingham City Council Member to the City’s Immigration Advisory Board members back in 2021. The context and specific timing will be made clear later in this post, but the question evokes an atmosphere of oppression that too many members of marginalized communities dwell within.
I received a notice this week that potentially a quorum of County Council Members may be attending the 2024 All Hands Whatcom Opioid Summit. Over the last few months local government officials have issued executive orders to address community crises that are especially impacting community members who are unsheltered that have grown so severe as to require more resources and focus than officials have been able or willing to give previously.
This is on top of both Whatcom County in 2020, and the City of Bellingham in 2021, affirming that racism is a public health crisis. Last Thursday, Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund appeared in a video denouncing hate – in response to a clearly apparent hate crime the day before – as our country’s presidential election roars ever more loudly toward November with one of two candidates who spouts hate against black and brown immigrants on the regular.
In the midst of these circumstances, June 18, 2024 marked the 5th month that Bellingham’s Immigration Advisory Board has not been allowed to meet due to Bellingham City Council suspending those meetings on February 12, 2024. Besides not being able to help ensure that Bellingham is in compliance with state law that helps protect immigrants from discrimination, mistreatment, detention, and deportation for February through June, it is also the 5th month the IAB has not been allowed to promote community involvement in discussions about Bellingham’s future related to immigration. These efforts are included in the board’s official purpose.
Over the three and a half years the IAB was gathering together, their meeting materials provide a record of members continuing to prioritize not only community participation and public comment, but also providing responses to community members’ concerns.
The members of the Immigration Advisory Board have now been left to scatter away from meeting dates that disappeared, many members continuing with this priority to reach out, learn, participate, and respond to community in other roles they use to serve fellow immigrants in our community. It is unfortunate they do not have the support and influence of the City of Bellingham behind their current endeavors.
In the process of suspending IAB meetings, City officials made untrue statements about some IAB Members and the board as a whole. Some of those were included in an official document and others in official meetings. City Council Members have not responded to calls to correct these errors or to say why they aren’t doing so.
There is silence. “Things are trying to suppress it, right?”
A string of suppression begins
One of the major contributing factors to the suspension of Immigration Advisory Board meetings by Bellingham City Council Members was that in 2023, Seth Fleetwood, who was the City’s Mayor at the time, was dishonest and deliberately concealed information from IAB Members on a particular matter over the course of a number of months. That’s a story I plan to tell on a later date.
However, today’s story, from earlier in the history of the IAB, reflects aspects of the approaches of City officials which are similar. Most unfortunately, they are similarly damaging to the building of trust and constructive, transparent interactions between government officials and their communities.
From February of 2021 through February of 2022, IAB members had sought to address and follow up on community members’ concerns about past, present, and future threats to immigrants emerging from the quantity and actions of local, state, and federal law and immigration enforcement agency officers during the January 28, 2021 sweep of Camp 210.
There are details about the City of Bellingham’s handling of their displacement of around 100 people who were unsheltered and camping at and around Bellingham City Hall that day which you can read about here: https://noisywatersnw.com/2021/10/19/chapter-four-the-city-council-members-whatcom-barriers-to-equity-a-review-for-2021-candidates-noisy-waters-northwest/
According to discussions between Immigration Advisory Board members, one of the key concerns was that on top of Bellingham Police Department, Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, and Washington State Patrol officers, there were around two dozen Customs and Border Patrol officers who were photographed on the Bellingham Library lawn, many with riot gear on. Photographs and video that the IAB obtained showed at least one CBP officer using a camera at the scene. Therefore, the IAB wrote and approved a letter to send to the City Council seeking their review and response regarding their concerns.
Photos of US Customs Enforcement officers by Bodi Hallett included in Immigration Advisory Board letter to Bellingham City Council about threats posed to immigrants during sweep of Camp 210 on January 28, 2021
A year with no response
That same year of 2021 was one filled with opportunities to adopt a dour outlook on sheltering and housing availability, due to the increased instability that COVID-19 brought with it, along with the floods impacting rural and urban communities in Whatcom County brought on by the unexpected weather shifts of climate crisis, which washed and kept people from homes, other safe spaces, food, and belongings. For these and other reasons, people from immigrant communities who experience historical trauma and loss of stability faced potentially darker vistas.
The Immigration Advisory Board was one of the few bright lights shining during those foreboding circumstances and their meeting recordings show that board members carried their responsibility with earnestness and a sense of urgency. While members continued to seek solutions to many challenges and dangers immigrants were facing, they remained steadfast in pursuing an active response from the City that would prevent armed immigration enforcement officers from having access to City properties and harmful control of community members.
Below is a timeline highlighting these Immigration Advisory Board efforts that were documented in the recordings of their meetings, as well as in meeting materials of the Bellingham City Council. Date links in the timeline provide access to recordings of corresponding meetings:
Feb 16, 2021 → City of Bellingham Legislative Analyst Mark Gardner presents to IAB on Customs and Border Patrol actions during the January 28 encampment sweep. IAB has concerns for safety of immigrants in that circumstance and community members have provided them with information, photos, and videos conflicting with City agency accounts, so members propose a letter to City Council.
March 16, 2021 → The lAB draft letter to Council RE J28 is presented by a non-quorum group of IAB members to fellow members for discussion and input.
April 20, 2021 → lAB continues input on letter to City Council RE J28 and moves to send completed letter to Council ASAP. Council President Hannah Stone (as IAB Council Liaison) will bring forward letter at Old/New Business on next scheduled meeting date for Council committees.
April 26, 2021 → At City Council Committee of the Whole, during Old/New Business Council President Stone alerts other Council Members about IAB letter RE J28 and that a review and response is requested. She asks for more discussion at a future meeting. Council Member Michael Lilliquist agrees and wants to hear from Mayor Seth Fleetwood. Mayor says “we will happily restate” City’s position. This topic does not show up on future Council agendas.
June 15, 2021 → During IAB Old/New Business, Council President Stone shares she discussed IAB letter RE J28 when she met with Mayor Fleetwood on May 7, 2021. Focus was policy concerns about CBP and other law enforcement agency action on City property. Stone made formal request for agenda item on mutual aid policy to City Council. She anticipates item will come before Council Committee of the Whole for 7/12/2021 meeting. This does not show up on Committee of the Whole or City Council agendas for that month or future ones.
August 17, 2021 → IAB member Liz Darrow addresses their agenda Item on follow up to IAB letter to City Council RE J28. With Council liaison to IAB absent, the City Council Legislative Assistant confirms letter was forwarded to all Council Members. Darrow offers to send follow-up email to Council.
Sept 21, 2021 → Council President Stone responds to questions about about status of IAB letter to Council RE J28. Stone apologizes and thinks other Council Members were likely waiting on her to give a response and that they also worry a response will provoke public critique. Stone notes, “things are trying to suppress it, right?” and she will keep the board posted.
November 16, 2021 → Council President Stone says she and Mayor will have a written response to IAB letter RE J28 before the end of the year.
January 18, 2022 → No letter was received by the IAB before the end of 2021 or the January 18, 2022 IAB meeting. In discussion about getting a response from City government on potential IAB retreat and info on Immigrant Resource Center, Liz Darrow says that also hearing a response from Council to lAB letter RE J28 is a priority for her. Council President Stone says City’s position hasn’t changed from that in early 2020 but she’s trying to look into jurisdictional details, i.e. what authority do various agencies (Whatcom County Sheriff, Customs and Border Protection, etc.) have to act on City property?
February 15,2022 → Responding to questions from community members during public comment, Mayor Fleetwood says a response (consisting of a number of pages) will be coming forward. City Council President confirms this and that there is a draft copy.
There is no further mention of the IAB’s letter RE J28 in any future minutes for the IAB. I confirmed with a member who had served on the board when it was meeting that the IAB never received a written response.
Things are trying to suppress it
Below are remarks that were made during the September 21, 2021 Immigration Advisory Board meeting when the topic of the January 28 letter came up. It was during this six-plus minute period – which was not noted in the minutes – that Council President Hannah Stone in her role then as liaison to the IAB, made the observation about “things” wanting to suppress the topic of the January 28 sweep.
01:37:47 Liz asks Ada Rumford if she wants to say anything about IAB J28 letter and lack of response:
Ada Rumford: “Yeah, I don’t really have much. I mean, I did – I think Nalini, I might have emailed you just to check in. But I haven’t heard anything from the City, so I don’t really have much to get back to you guys on.”Liz Darrow: “There was a public comment while you were gone that an individual had reached out to Council Member Michael Lilliquist, and in his mind they had addressed it just by the response that – the response before we even sent the letter, which was in the media the press release. But our letter was in response to the press release, so there we are.”
Ada Rumford: “I’m curious, because we were very specific about, you know, our concerns regarding the immigration population here, not generally about what happened.” (01:38:59)
Council President and IAB liaison Hannah Stone’s response at around 01:39:09:
“First, I just want to apologize and take responsibility and ownership for the lack of response from Council. Definitely, as a member of Council myself, and as liaison to this group, and currently serving as president of the Council, in hindsight I think it was probably my job to respond. But being so close to this work as liaison to the board, I was hoping for a response and interest from other Council Members.
“And in hindsight, likely they were not responsive because they were thinking that, ‘oh, Hannah will address this.’ So I do want to apologize for that. I should have provided a formal written response to the board, and will do so.
“What I have been doing behind the scenes has been trying to bring the issues that the letter raised before the Council in an agenda bill that would look at those mutual aid agreements and try to get to the bottom of, you know, how those aid agreements are carried out and what standing, basically, the City policy has if any time we partner with the County – you know, are we going to have to assume that then Border Patrol is going to be invited, and present, and where does that leave our policy? And where does that leave our community in trusting that our policy actually has some weight?
“And there has been resistance, we will say, to having those discussions. But I am still working on that. And I hope that that will be – my goal is that will come before the Council before the end of the year in one way, shape, or form.
“So – but I do want to take the opportunity to apologize and take that responsibility and I regret that the time has passed without a more direct response. But I believe that the work and concerns that were highlighted in that letter are profoundly important and my hope is that the City is going to take that seriously.”
Also at 01:42:17:
“And I think part of the response or lack of response in moving things forward is because January 28th and what transpired that day obviously has evoked lots of criticism, and critique, and response from the community. And so some of it was concern about, like, ‘we’re going to bring all of this back up again, you know, now that it’s like where’ —
“Things are trying to suppress it, right? And not wanting to bring it up again, and saying, like, ‘well it’s not going away just because you don’t acknowledge it,’ so, yeah. So the hope is that’s coming to light soon. But I will certainly keep you posted.”
IAB meeting recordings do demonstrate that the board’s extended efforts in following up on a City Council response to their concerns about CBP invitations to or intrusions on City property, which could potentially result in immigrant families being permanently separated, and worse outcomes, did motivate the City Council president at that time to research and share some information about the topics of mutual aid between law enforcement agencies and jurisdictional authority.
In other words, board members’ persistence did yield certain results.
But suppression won out in obstructing Council discussion and access to information for the individuals serving on the City’s board tasked to advise on immigration matters. They never received any final version of what was said by the Mayor to be a multiple page document responding to their letter from nearly a year prior. Additionally, Council Member Stone never appeared to publicly consult the board for advice in her search “behind the scenes” for knowledge that could change harmful policy, and the City Council would not place directly related topics on their agenda for discussion.
We feel disrespected
I don’t often directly ask for a response from City Council Members when I email them, since I am usually either providing information they may not know, or am calling for action which I hope to soon observe is taken. But right now, I have a number of follow-up emails out to a couple of Council Members with questions regarding my concerns about untrue information that has been spread by City officials about Immigration Advisory Board members, as well as my desire to know what steps are being taken to expedite the resumption of IAB meetings. It’s been about 6 weeks with no response.
I think many community members who have sought to interact with local government officials have experienced some degree of frustration when the replies or actions they request do not come.
We make a public comment. We send an email, We make a phone call. We sometimes do all three. We follow up. We wait for signs of acknowledgement and meaningful responses. Too often, we do not hear anything at all back.
We resort to sifting through minutes, meeting recordings, social media posts, and news reports to see if we missed our answers having been hidden somewhere in – not always the most – plain sight.
We think officials are busy. We think they have a lot of important things they are doing. We notice their voicemail boxes are often full.
We think maybe they missed our email in their inbox. We think maybe they are still looking into what we spoke about at a Council meeting. We think maybe they misunderstood what we wanted when we contacted them.
But – especially as time goes silently on week after week – we also think maybe officials are shunning us. We think maybe they do not favor the people or topics or actions that are important to us and that we support. We think maybe they refuse to listen to our messages or read our emails based on this.
We feel that they think we are unimportant or unworthy of their time. We feel ignored. We feel disrespected.
As disappointing and insulting as the non-response from our representatives and other government officials may grow in feeling to us, we don’t always recognize that it can be intentional beyond that impact. We may not notice that it has become a strategy to not respond to certain concerns and inquiries and – not unlike the act of sweeping homeless encampments – this mistreatment can cast us away from government resources and send us to areas where we observe less closely what they are and are not doing.
While it might be a relief to officials who want to be left to their preferred devices, it’s not a good state of affairs when they are in a position to be broadcasting that “all hands on deck” are needed to address extreme levels of pain and suffering in their community, while new threats loom ahead in our sightline.
Currently there is a board with a capacity for 12 members that the City has disabled. The members that have served have volunteered significant time and effort that has met with numerous incidents of suppression coming from City officials. Through it all IAB members kept working to seek out a level of candor that can prevent especially the most extreme levels of trauma in the lives of local immigrants, as they also kept contributing to and moving forward the type of work that the City was willing to support.
It’s on our watch now to make sure their efforts are not abandoned or erased.
noisy waters northwest 
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