BILL REQ. #:  H-1334.1 

Read first time 02/13/13.   Referred to Committee on Public Safety.

     AN ACT Relating to federal immigration policy enforcement; adding new sections to chapter 10.31 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds and declares all of the following:     
     (1) The United States immigration and customs enforcement's secure communities program burdens state resources by requiring local law enforcement officers to assist with federal immigration enforcement. The detainers issued as a result of the secure communities program and related immigration and customs enforcement programs request that local law enforcement agencies detain individuals for forty-eight hours. Local tax dollars are spent on these detainers and the local law enforcement agencies do not receive full reimbursement from the federal government for these costs.
     (2) The implementation of the secure communities program has not matched up with its original goal of making our communities safer by removing and deporting violent criminals. Because the program conducts mandatory immigration checks of everyone booked into local jails, it has led to the deportations of people with no criminal records. The program actually harms communities by making immigrants and communities of color less likely to report crimes. When every arrest is a potential immigration arrest, people in immigrant communities are afraid to report crimes or cooperate with investigations. The fewer crimes that are reported, the longer criminals remain on the streets of our communities.
     (3) According to immigration and customs enforcement, the secure communities program is supposed to prioritize the deportation of illegal immigrants who have been accused or convicted of serious crimes. However, immigration and customs enforcement statistics from 20ll show only twenty-two percent of the six thousand deported through the program were high level, felony offenders. Twenty-eight percent had no criminal record at all.
     (4) Immigration detainers operate at the pretrial level. These detainers require no determinations of probable cause or warrants. Complying with these detainers could cause law enforcement officers to violate individuals' constitutional rights.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 10.31 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A law enforcement officer is prohibited from detaining an individual on the basis of an immigration detainer after that individual becomes eligible for release from criminal custody, unless, at the time the individual becomes eligible for release, a criminal background check reveals the individual was previously convicted of a most serious offense or violent offense.
     (2) For the purposes of this section:
     (a) "Criminal custody" means in the custody of the state department of corrections, the state department of social and health services, a local division of youth services, or a local jail or detention facility in connection to a criminal offense.
     (b) "Eligible for release from criminal custody" means that the individual may be released from criminal custody because one of the following conditions has occurred:
     (i) All criminal charges against the individual have been dropped or dismissed;
     (ii) The individual has been acquitted of all criminal charges filed against him or her;
     (iii) The individual has served all the time required for his or her sentence;
     (iv) The individual has posted bond; or
     (v) The individual is otherwise eligible for release under state or local law, or local policy.
     (c) "Immigration detainer" means a detainer issued by an authorized immigration officer, pursuant to section 287.7 of Title 8 of the code of federal regulations that requests that the law enforcement official maintain custody of the individual for a period not to exceed forty-eight hours, and to advise the authorized immigration office prior to the release of that individual.
     (d) "Law enforcement officer" means any local agency or officer of a local agency authorized to enforce criminal statutes, regulations, or local ordinances or to operate jails or to maintain custody of individuals in jails, and any person or local agency or state governmental entity authorized to operate juvenile detention facilities or to maintain custody of individuals in juvenile detention facilities.
     (e) "Most serious offense" has the same meaning as in RCW 9.94A.030.
     (f) "Violent offense" has the same meaning as in RCW 9.94A.030.
     (3) The state, its subdivisions, officers, and employees and local governments and their subdivisions, officers, and employees are immune from civil liability for damages arising from failure to comply with an immigration detainer except upon proof of willful or wanton misconduct.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 10.31 RCW to read as follows:
     There being no legal authority for state or local law enforcement officers to enforce federal civil immigration laws, no state or local law enforcement officer shall make arrests or detain any individual based on an administrative immigration warrant in the national crime information center database of the federal bureau of investigation.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 10.31 RCW to read as follows:
     Unless an individual in the custody of a law enforcement officer or agency is provided an opportunity to have counsel present, and signs a written consent form that indicates knowledge of who the interviewer is and the possible legal consequences of providing information to any employee or agent of the United States immigration and customs enforcement agency or the United States border patrol, no law enforcement officer or agency shall make the individual available for interview by any employee or agent of the United States immigrations and customs enforcement agency or the United States border patrol, in person or over the telephone or videoconference. Such notice shall be provided in a language or manner that the individual in custody understands. Any individual who is hospitalized or on suicide watch shall not be made available for interviews with any employee or agent of the United States immigration and customs enforcement agency or the United States border patrol.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.