Spokane Transit Authority (STA) employees lack the “authority” to either help or impede federal agents trying to enforce federal immigration laws, according to a February 10 memo circulated to transit workers by STA interim co-CEOs Karl Otterstrom and Brandon Rapez-Betty.
The Trump administration has arrested thousands of migrants in the three weeks since regaining power, including many with no criminal record. Though evidence of some local arrests has surfaced in jail records, interviews and local news stories, Spokane has not yet seen widespread immigration sweeps like those that have occurred in places like Denver, Miami and Los Angeles.
Washington is a “sanctuary state,” meaning that, by law, public employees, including police and sheriff’s deputies, are prohibited from helping federal agents enforce immigration law.
This conflict between state and federal law has led to confusion from the community, and a need for local officials to clarify their policies — recently, Police Chief Kevin Hall reassured the community Spokane Police Department officers would not cooperate with immigration enforcement, and just last night, the Spokane City Council passed a resolution reaffirming their commitment to state law.
Though STA did not mention Trump directly, the document provides guidance for how STA employees should interact with federal agents on STA property or buses, asking them to immediately contact Otterstrom and Rapez-Betty if agents try to serve a warrant on STA property.
“Employees are not authorized to accept service on behalf of STA of any warrant or other court order,” the memo reads. “Employees should not engage in further discussion.”
It also says employees should contact their supervisors if they see federal agents on buses and in STA facilities.
“If a federal immigration law enforcement agency boards a bus, which is a public space, or enters public areas of an STA transit facility, employees should remain professional and follow all operational procedures — most notably contacting a Supervisor or Transit Security Officer for immediate awareness,” the memo reads. “Employees should avoid engaging in any immigration-related enforcement activities including review of any official documentation.”
The memo did not say whether immigration enforcement agencies had recently boarded buses or visited STA facilities.
STA spokesperson Carly Cortright declined to answer specific questions and issued the following statement:
“Spokane Transit Authority (STA) is committed to providing safe, reliable, efficient, and equitable transportation for all members of our community. We are aware of some customer and community member concerns with the possibility of federal immigration law enforcement agents boarding buses and entering transit facilities.
“As a public transit provider, STA complies with all applicable laws and regulations while upholding our mission to serve the public in a way that is welcoming and accessible to everyone. Transit employees are not involved with the enforcement of federal immigration laws and have been instructed to refrain from interfering or assisting with such efforts.
“STA encourages anyone with concerns about their rights afforded to them by the U.S. Constitution to seek information from available legal resources and advocacy organizations.”
Public versus private transit
Spokane is somewhat Internet famous for its late 2010s history of immigration officials harassing people of color on buses.
In 2019, Greyhound settled a lawsuit with deported migrants over the bus line’s practice of allowing immigration enforcement onto their buses at the Spokane Intermodal Center.
Because Greyhound is a private company, it could refuse warrantless searches under Fourth Amendment protections. Then-Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who filed the suit, alleged that Greyhound’s actions allowed immigration officials to intimidate Hispanic and other passengers of color.
But STA is a public agency, rather than a private bus operator, and, the memo says, it can’t keep federal agents off its property.
During the first Trump administration, the Spokane City Council approved a law that barred immigration officials from conducting immigration sweeps on city property, like bus depots, though the mayor at the time declined to enforce it. It is unclear if this city law could be used to protect immigrants on STA bus lines.
