Washington Pushes Back – Governor and Attorney General Warn Homeland Security Against Violating the Law

The tone from the states is growing sharper. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nicholas Brown state that unconstitutional actions by immigration authorities will not be tolerated. Should operations occur that violate fundamental rights, the state will exhaust all legal means to hold the federal government and individual officers accountable.

In the letter, the signatories point to numerous documented cases of aggressive conduct by federal agents, intimidation of peaceful observers, and practices that are incompatible with freedom of expression. Particularly explosive is the reference to an internal Homeland Security document that, according to whistleblowers, is intended to allow home searches without a judicial warrant. Washington makes clear that the constitutional right to protection from arbitrary searches is inviolable. No officer may enter a residence without a judicial warrant. The Constitution allows no leeway on this point. The letter ends with an unequivocal message: escalation will not be accepted, and violations of the law even less so.