May 14, 2025 Dena Jensen

Coming up tomorrow, Thursday 5/15/25 at 5:30 p.m is the second meeting of Bellingham’s Keep Washington Working Act Work Group. There is currently only one way for community members to witness these meetings and that is in person at Bellingham City Hall, 210 Lottie St., Suite 227. There is no Zoom option available, no recordings being made, and no minutes have been posted yet from the work group’s first meeting in March. After tomorrow’s meeting, the work group won’t likely meet again until July, since their proposed schedule of meetings is every two months. The only point of contact provided for the work group is the Bellingham Mayor’s Office.

The Bellingham City Council ultimately disbanded their Immigration Advisory Board, which they prohibited from meeting beginning in February of 2024. This KWW work group, which is just starting to organize itself, is currently the only local government body that will be starting to take a look, at some point, at Bellingham police policy and actions related to immigrants and if these are in compliance with the Keep Washington Working Act, which states in part:

“Immigrants make a significant contribution
to the economic vitality of this state, and it is essential that the
state have policies that recognize their importance to Washington’s economy.

“In recognition of this significant contribution to the overall prosperity and strength of Washington state, the legislature, therefore, has a substantial and compelling interest in ensuring the state of Washington remains a place where the rights and dignity of all residents are maintained and protected in order to keep Washington working.”

Meanwhile, ICE raids have happened locally and across the nation. Many immigrants’ lives have been upended and their due process ripped from them, while other immigrants feel a growing daily governmental threat to their presence in this country.

It really seems like we, as a country and as local communities are beyond the place of needing just a commitment from law enforcement to try to do no harm. We need everyone actively protecting the rights of our friends, neighbors, and families who are immigrants.

If you haven’t read this NBC Boston article or watched the videos about the ICE actions in Worcester, Massachusetts recently, they show how unhelpful and damaging police presence can be when they are asserting at the same time that they are not assisting ICE: https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/family-breaks-silence-after-chaotic-ice-operation-in-worcester/3709939/