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Wednesday, August 23, 2017 VOL. 110, NO. 34 75¢
Fantastic fair fun
Immigration initiative passes, no citizens’ vote By Hayley Day Reporter
Staff photos
Above: Scenes from the 2017 San Juan County FAir. Check out more photos of the fair at www.sanjuanjournal.com. Did you win big at the fair? Send your winning results to editor@sanjuanjournal.com.
Immigrants may feel safer under a new county code, but it may surpass local government power. On Tuesday, Aug. 15, San Juan County Council unanimously adopted an ordinance to prevent the collection of immigration statuses. Without this information, county staff cannot share it with federal agencies to deport undocumented immigrants. “This may or may not be a perfect initiative, typically that’s what the courts are for to ultimately resolve,” said Councilman Bill Watson. “What’s really important is that our residents feel they have equal protection.” If the ordinance had not been adopted by council, an initiative proposing it would have been on the general election ballot this fall. The public hearing brought roughly 20 residents who spoke in support of adopting the ordinance that day and two against. The main unfavorable opinion at the meeting came from San Juan County Prosecuting Attorney Randall Gaylord. He said he opposed the ordinance because some sections violate local, state and federal laws and prohibit everyday county employees’ work. These violations may lead to lawsuits against the county, he added. Eleanor Hoague of Orcas, who wrote the initiative, is a retired lawyer with 40 years of immigration advocacy experience. While she was not permitted by the council to give a presentation the way Gaylord did at the meeting, she later told the Journal she
used an immigration guidance on immigration by the Washington Attorney General to write the initiative. According to a Washington Attorney General press release, the guidance was created to “help local government entities…respond to federal requests for assistance with immigration enforcement.” One section Gaylord objected to prevents county staff from releasing information to any local, state or federal government agency unless it includes a judicial order. This, he said, breaches Title 8 of the U.S. Code, which states releasing immigration statuses to government agencies cannot be restricted. The guidance, however, states Title 8 does not require agencies to collect information about citizenship. Gaylord said assisting other law enforcement agencies maintains safe communities, while Hoague said it leads to deportation. See IMMIGRATION, Page 4
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