CENTRALIA, Wash. — This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com.
Federal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a person in Centralia, a city in Lewis County, on Wednesday at around 12:30 p.m.
Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston stated, via a Facebook post, that she confirmed the arrest with Centralia Interim Chief of Police Andy Caldwell.
“Chief Caldwell just informed us that Federal ICE agents did arrest (likely for deportation) someone here in Centralia,” the mayor wrote.
According to Caldwell, the person has “a lengthy and diverse arrest record” that includes assaults and is a transient member of the community, Johnston stated in the post. The individual was arrested in the alley behind City Hall and the location was “purely coincidental.”
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Caldwell said the Centralia Police Department was not involved in the arrest but was informed by ICE officials. ICE also told Caldwell its operations in Southwest Washington are “purely focused on immigrants with criminal records.”
According to Centralia officials, ICE is not targeting or sweeping the general population.
According to The Seattle Times Monday, two people were detained in Sunnyside in Yakima County, WA.
Also on Monday, Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson signed an executive order in Seattle that creates a rapid response team to swoop in and support children and their families if mom or dad are arrested by ICE agents and suddenly deported.
More details: Ferguson signs executive order to support children if parents arrested by ICE
The Family Separation and Rapid Response Team will operate under Washington’s Department of Children, Youth and Families to develop policies in reaction to the Trump Administration’s policy to round up and send millions of illegal immigrants back to their country of origin.
However, one thing Ferguson’s order does not do is take steps to prevent ICE raids across the state. Recent immigration raids across the country resulted in close to 1,000 illegal immigrants being arrested, according to ICE social media posts. Most of those arrests happened in Chicago, Miami and New Jersey.
Contributing: Luke Duecy, KIRO Newsradio
Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.
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