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M AY 16, 2012
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXIV, N O . 20
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
SPIRIT
Police
Reform
Lawsuit
Seattle Could Face
DOJ Lawsuit Over
Police Reforms
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
By Gene Johnson
The Associated Press
People celebrated the “Spirit of West Africa” May 12 at Seattle Center. The festival featured traditional dance and
music from artists from West African countries like Senegal, Guinea, Benin, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Congo, and Uganda.
Federal Anti-Immigration Program
Organizers successfully enlist city bureaus in fight against ICE
By Manuel Valdes
The Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — First, it
was thought the full activation
of the federal immigrant jail
check program was up to the
states. Then in Washington
State, maybe it was a county
decision.
But despite objections by
some state governors, local
police agencies and immigrant
rights groups, the federal gov-
ernment has been fully activat-
ing the program — Secure
Communities — throughout the
nation, including Washington
State.
The decision by the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security to
bypass local and state agencies
to collect the fingerprints neces-
sary has left immigrant rights
groups with few options left.
So now, to challenge the fed-
eral program, some are turning
to their local officials.
In Seattle, immigrant rights
and domestic violence groups
have begun lobbying King
County Executive Dow Con-
INDEX
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stantine to halt honoring a key
component of the program.
They want King County to stop
holding suspected illegal immi-
grants in the county jail for U.S.
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, a practice called
“detainers.’’
At least two other counties —
Cook County in Illinois and
Santa Clara County in Califor-
nia — in the country have begun
ignoring detainers. San Francis-
co is also declining to hold ille-
gal immigrants for the federal
government.
Cook County’s decision, fol-
lowed by a publicized case of an
illegal immigrant who commit-
ted a crime after being released,
prompted a sharp rebuttal from
the ICE’s director, who said the
county was compromising pub-
lic safety.
Secure Communities uses fin-
gerprint analysis to identify ille-
gal immigrants in county jails.
Local jurisdictions send the fin-
gerprints of peopled booked in
jail to the FBI. Now, ICE uses
the FBI database to cross check
See ICE on page 2
SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle’s mayor may
soon have something in common with
tough-talking Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
The U.S. Justice Department has threat-
ened to sue Mayor Mike McGinn over alle-
gations that Seattle police officers regularly
use excessive force.
McGinn is due to respond this week to
DOJ demands for reforms in the Police
Department.
If McGinn doesn’t agree to make changes
that satisfy the DOJ and agree to the
appointment of an outside monitor, he can
expect a lawsuit from the U.S. attorney in
Seattle as early as next month.
That’s the same ultimatum - standard in
DOJ reviews of police departments - that
drew an objection from Arpaio, who said he
couldn’t stomach the idea of an independent
monitor undermining his authority.
“I am not going to surrender my office to
the federal government,” he said last week
after the DOJ sued him over allegations that
his department racially profiled Latinos.
It was only the second time since the ver-
dict in the Rodney King police brutality
case and Los Angeles riots that the Justice
Department filed a lawsuit against a law
enforcement agency with which it was
unable to reach an agreement.
On Monday, McGinn said for the first
time that, in principle, he would agree to a
monitor and a court-enforced settlement.
But speaking on public radio station
KUOW, he also said the changes proposed
by federal prosecutors - including increased
training and the hiring of more sergeants to
supervise street officers - could cost the city
$41 million a year.
He said the changes could also jeopardize
the department’s ability to respond to public
safety emergencies, and the cost could
require cuts to important city services.
The DOJ disputes those points, calling the
See COPS on page 4
Parents Won’t Let Their 550 Kids Take MAPS
The schools and the district may suffer from protest’s after-effects
SNOHOMISH, Wash. (AP) — A testing
protest by parents in one western Washing-
ton school district isn’t likely to affect the
state budget, but the parents feel they got
their message out that statewide academic
testing is a waste of money.
An organized group in the Snohomish
School District kept 550 students from tak-
ing the statewide Measurements of Student
Progress this past week, the Everett Herald
reported.
The students who didn’t take their exams
represented about 12 percent of the 4,501
students between third and eighth grade
required to take the test in Snohomish. Last
year, just 12 students missed the standard-
ized tests in that district.
State education officials told The Associ-
ated Press the students won’t be punished
for refusing to take their reading, writing,
math or science exams.
“It’s up to the district how they’re going to
deal with the parents,’’ said Kristen Jaudon,
spokeswoman for the Office of the Superin-
tendent of Public Instruction.
But th e schools and the district may suf-
fer from the after-effects of the protest.
The students who did not test but were
See TEST on page 2