Just a week into her term, Seattle’s new mayor has stepped directly into one of the most volatile national debates, using her first major policy statement to openly confront and oppose federal immigration enforcement and rally residents against USImmigration and Customs Enforcement operations inside the city.
Mayor Katie Wilson, a self-described democratic socialist who was sworn in Jan. 2 after narrowly defeating incumbent Bruce Harrell in the November election, issued a blistering statement Jan. 8 condemning recent ICE activity in Seattle and across the country.
Her remarks followed two high-profile incidents on Jan. 7: the detention of three illegal aliens by armed ICE agents in an unmarked vehicle near Evergreen Washelli Cemetery in north Seattle, and the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman, Renee Nicole Good, by an ICE agent during an enforcement operation in Minneapolis. Video shows that Good used her car to ram an officer before being shot.
Wilson framed both events as examples of federal overreach and abuse of power, accusing ICE of “kidnapping” people “going about their lives” and declaring that there is “no place for this in Seattle.” She said the city would use every tool available to block cooperation with immigration enforcement, reinforcing Seattle’s long-standing sanctuary policies and Washington state’s Keep Washington Working Act, which limits how local governments and police may assist federal civil immigration cases.
Beyond restating existing policy, Wilson urged residents to become actively involved in opposing ICE operations.
She specifically called on people to sign up for “Washington for All ICE Mobilization Alerts,” a system operated by the Washington Indivisible Network that sends notifications about reported ICE activity, and she encouraged residents to “raise their voices and take action” to protect immigrant communities. Indivisible is also active in organizing in Alaska and across the country.
That call to mobilize has triggered an immediate backlash. Conservative commentators and critics on social media accused the mayor of effectively declaring war on ICE, obstructing federal law enforcement, and inciting harassment of agents by encouraging residents to track and publicize their movements. Some went further, claiming that alert systems could help suspects evade arrest by providing real-time warnings about enforcement activity.
Wilson did not literally declare war on ICE, nor did she announce any formal legal action against the agency. But her statement is one of the most confrontational rhetorical stances taken by a major-city mayor against federal immigration authorities, moving beyond passive non-cooperation into open public resistance and organized community alerts.
Seattle has long positioned itself as a sanctuary city, with laws and policies designed to keep local police and city agencies from participating in most civil immigration enforcement. Wilson’s statement signals that her administration intends not only to maintain those policies but to amplify them, using city influence to encourage residents and activist networks to push back directly against ICE activity.
The Minneapolis shooting that helped spark the controversy remains under investigation, with federal authorities saying the woman killed had used her vehicle as a weapon against officers. Protests over the incident have erupted in multiple cities, including Seattle, where anti-ICE activists have staged demonstrations and circulated footage and reports of local enforcement actions.
Wilson’s early move has ensured that immigration enforcement will be a defining issue of her mayoralty from its first week. Whether her approach leads to legal challenges, federal retaliation, or further escalation on the streets remains to be seen, but the tone has been set: Seattle’s new leadership is positioning the city as a frontline of resistance to federal immigration enforcement in the Trump era.
12 thoughts on “Seattle’s new Socialist mayor calls for residents to mobilize against ICE”
That’s a form of civil insurrection against federal authority. Dox her so that the law-abiding citizens of Seattle – all 10 of them – can stand outside of her home and amplify Noriega-esque heavy metal until she has a predictable emotional meltdown. Her Call to Arms will encourage Antifa and the rest of her unhinged followers to be ventilated via lead projectiles.
Brad. I was flaccid before you got all Bubba Rambo Dumbass and called for the murder of those who are more highly educated than you by using the term “ventilated via lead projectiles”. May you reap what you sow.
I would ask her, what, precisely, does she expect people to do to ICE?
“Wilson urged residents to become actively involved in opposing ICE operations”. This is clearly insurrection. She needs to be arrested and taken away.
Not an insurrection. Not close. How you can defend the murder of an innocent US citizen mother (did you notice she is white) of three suggest a moral failure in the Topher household.
What does race have to do with this tragic event?
Her statements are similar to the situation that unfolded when Police were ordered to stand down and not interfere with the protests and riots of 2020 and murder on the streets in self defense of life and property ensued. Does she think that private citizens using their own weapons defending their own lives and property is really a smart way to handle the murdering and raping thugs she is attempting to protect. Everyone I know in the state of Washington is packing up and leaving Washington for common sense territory mostly choosing South Dakota. New York city will soon become the murder capital after Muslem Mamdami replaces the police with guidance counselors.
The only guy I know that lived in Seattle sold his house, moved to suburban Texas with his family, and kept the chunk of money he profited on the difference. His new place is twice the property for less than half the price . he had job offers well before he finished the move( he’s a,medical technical guy, and a veteran) congratulations!, Seattle, you drove off a taxpaying productive citizen with family.
Good for her. I wish the carpetbagger and the Third would take a stand, say ANYTHING questioning the utility of murdering American citizens in the name of safety. This is no immigration plan. It’s NRA’s Wayne Lapierre’s “jack booted thugs” terrorizing US citizens taking away many of the freedoms that conservatives sleep with under their pillows.
Singh Lad, All of the comments you present escape logic, common sense and reality. One would hope the medications kick in soon, however if not may you suffer 100 toothaches of an old camel, and the bites of 1000 fleas.
Cheers.
He’s a troll,just like a certain dog who lurked at the old site. Dismiss his lunatic rantings
The dog goes by a new name here, but he hasn’t learned any new tricks.