Kent Police weren’t part of ICE raid at local business

Kent Police were not part of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and three other federal agencies raid that arrested 17 people at a local business.

ICE did not ask Kent Police to assist in the May 20 incident at Eagle Beverage and Accessories Products, 19220 64th Ave. S., according to an email from Assistant Chief Jarod Kasner.

“We were notified via dispatch of a warrant service in our city by Homeland Security,” Kasner said.

Police Chief Rafael Padilla said the department will follow state and federal laws when it comes to immigration raids.

“The Kent Police Department remains committed to ensuring public safety through adherence to both federal and state law,” Padilla said in an email. “The operation conducted by ICE was done so under the authority of federal law. In this case we were not asked to assist.

“State law prohibits local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration authorities with matters of civil immigration issues. At the same time, state law allows for local law enforcement to assist with criminal matters. Should federal immigration authorities request assistance in a criminal matter in the future, particularly if it involves violent crime, we will provide the assistance we can.”

Officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division joined ICE in executing a federal search warrant at Eagle Beverage, based on an ongoing criminal investigation into the unlawful employment of people without legal work authorization in violation of federal law, according to a May 21 email from an ICE spokesperson.

“As a result of the operation, 17 (people) who had fraudulently represented their immigration status and submitted fraudulent documents and/or information to seek employment were administratively arrested,” according to an ICE spokesperson.

Nine men and seven women, in handcuffs and ankle restraints, were escorted out of the business and onto an unmarked white bus, according to a video posted on Facebook by local immigration attorney Luis Cortes-Romero. A 17th person arrested could not be seen in the video.

ICE, as of noon Friday, May 23, have not released any further information about the people arrested.

Back on Jan. 27, Padilla and Mayor Dana Ralph released a YouTube video about how the city plans no changes in addressing immigration despite executive orders signed by President Donald Trump shortly after he took office.

Trump’s executive orders signed in January opened the door for immigration authorities to arrest immigrants in schools, churches and hospitals; and cleared the way for authorities to begin removing more than a million migrants who were legally admitted to the U.S. under the Biden administration, according to a report on npr.org.

“We will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,” said Trump during his inauguration speech as he blamed undocumented migrants for crime across the nation.

Padilla emphasized in the video message that Kent Police will continue to follow state law about immigration in one of the nation’s most diverse cities. Padilla discussed the state laws about immigration.

• Immigration enforcement is not the primary purpose of state and local law enforcement.

• Officers may not inquire into or collect information about an individual’s immigration or citizenship status or place of birth.

• State and local law enforcement agencies may not provide personal information about an individual to federal immigration authorities in a noncriminal matter except as required by state or federal law.

Padilla also addressed whether the federal government can force local police to conduct immigration enforcement. He said he checked with City Attorney Tammy White and was told that authority does not exist.