During an interview with NPR that took place on Wednesday and was aired on Thursday’s broadcast of “Morning Edition,” Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson (D) defended the state’s sanctuary policy and said that “We have to focus on law enforcement right here. It is not our job to do federal immigration enforcement for them.” And also discussed the possibility of losing federal funding over the policy because “we just can’t compromise our values, and that’s pretty fundamental to me as the governor for the people of Washington state.”
Ferguson said, “What we did was, in 2019, the Washington state legislature adopted a bipartisan law that says, hey, for local law enforcement, their focus is on local law enforcement. It’s not the job of local law enforcement to do the job of the federal government when it comes to federal immigration enforcement. That’s the job of the federal government. … We have to focus on law enforcement right here. It is not our job to do federal immigration enforcement for them.”
Later in the interview, Ferguson said that federal funding is about 28% of the state’s budget and co-host Leila Fadel asked, “[A]re you ready for the potential loss of that funding or National Guard coming into your state? And what would you do then?”
Ferguson responded, “Obviously, we are preparing for all eventualities, whether it’s a potential National Guard — and what’s happening, by the way, in D.C. is truly outrageous — or the withholding of federal funds. It’s all too common right now, the threat of the federal government to withhold funds on all sorts of issues: education funding, public health, FEMA funds, you name it. But at the end of the day, we just can’t compromise our values, and that’s pretty fundamental to me as the governor for the people of Washington state.”
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