SPOKANE—Washington Attorney General Nick Brown has filed a lawsuit today, March 10, against the Adams County Sheriff’s Office for allegedly “illegally collaborating with federal immigration officials and aiding the Trump administration’s efforts to enlist local officials for federal civil immigration work.”
The lawsuit filed in Spokane County Superior Court says the Adams County Sheriff’s Office has illegally held people in custody based only on their immigration status, helped federal agents question people in custody, and routinely given immigration officials confidential personal information of hundreds of Washingtonians. “All of this conduct expressly violates state law,” the lawsuit says.
Washington law does not interfere with the ability of federal officials to enforce immigration law. Under the Keep Washington Working Act, state law prohibits local law enforcement from providing local aid in that work. Courts have ruled multiple times that states have the ability to restrict such activity with the federal government. The suit is asking for the Adams County Sheriff’s Office to follow Washington law.
“Late last year Adams County was engaged in good faith settlement negotiations with our office,” Brown said. “But after the inauguration of Donald Trump, the county and its Sheriff’s Office suddenly hardened their stance, broke off settlement talks, and aligned themselves with an organization founded by a top Trump aide who is among the most virulent anti-immigrant voices in the administration.”
In February 2025, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office retained attorneys from America First Legal, an organization founded by Stephen Miller. Miller is an aide and homeland security advisor to President Donald J Trump.
America First Legal (AFL), supported by Cooper & Kirk PLLC and Ard Law Group, is taking action to defend Adams County against what it calls “the unlawful and abusive effort by Washington state officials to enforce illegal and dangerous sanctuary laws and policies and compel Adams County to violate federal immigration laws.”
“Last year, Washington state officials threatened to sue Adams County for refusing to comply with the harmful, dangerous, and illegal sanctuary jurisdiction law fraudulently titled the ‘Keep Washington Working Act,'” America First Legal stated in a press release. “Now, these officials are unlawfully attempting to force Adams County to sign a “consent decree” that will compel it to violate federal law for the next four years.”
In recent weeks America First Legal issued a press release and launched a social media campaign attacking Washington’s law and topped its website with a scrolling banner saying it was “fighting back” and “combatting Washington State’s Illegal Sanctuary Scheme.”
“Washington has the right and the responsibility to decide for itself how to use its own resources to keep residents safe and the economy strong,” the attorney general’s lawsuit says. “The State cannot stand by when elected officials publicly boast that they are breaking state law and putting their own communities at risk.”
The Attorney General’s lawsuit is to enforce the Keep Washington Working Act, which the Legislature passed with bipartisan support in 2019. The act is based on a simple premise that it is not the job of state law enforcement, county sheriffs, or local police departments in Washington to enforce federal immigration law. Lawmakers were concerned that, if local law enforcement were aiding federal immigration efforts, victims of crimes could be reluctant to call police for help or to report crimes that they witnessed.
The vast majority of law enforcement agencies in the state abide by the law. The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) sent a letter to its members in February 2025 reiterating that federal and state law must both be followed, and that “no one in our state should fear calling 911 for help due to their immigration status.”
“To protect American citizens and our Constitution, Adams County is standing up in opposition to this egregious abuse of state power,” America First Legal wrote. “AFL is defending Adams County so that state officials and their anti-American open-border allies may not bully, coerce, or compel pro-American communities with dangerous sanctuary laws and policies that shield criminal illegal aliens and endanger law-abiding citizens.”
AFL has previously warned Washington Governor Jay Inslee and other Washington state officials that sanctuary policies are illegal, and that state officials who attempt to compel local jurisdictions to enforce them may face very direct consequences. On December 23, 2024, AFL sent letters to 250 state and local officials, notifying them of the legal consequences they could face for interfering with or impeding federal immigration enforcement and for concealing, harboring, or shielding illegal aliens.
Author: Lynnwood Times Staff
