Gov. Bob Ferguson signs executive order protecting children affected by Trump deportations
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson on Monday signed an executive order creating a family-separation rapid response team amid a looming wave of mass deportations.
President Donald Trump vowed during his campaign to carry out mass deportations — a promise he’s begun to fulfill. But Ferguson on Monday morning reassured Washington’s immigrant communities that state leaders will continue defending their rights.
Ferguson’s executive order directs the “immediate creation of the family-separation rapid response team” in the state’s Department of Children, Youth and Families. He said that for many families statewide, Trump’s policies could inflict untold harms.
“And the word ‘harms’ is really not even the right word, right? It goes beyond that,” Ferguson said. “But the harms caused by those will be profound for many, many families, potentially, and we need to be prepared so we uphold our core values as Washingtonians.”
The Democrat said his administration will do what it can to ensure children and youth who are separated from their families have someone to care for them. The state also will act to ensure that they continue receiving an education without interruption.
The rapid-response team will include DCYF professionals, as well as representatives from Washington State Patrol, the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance and the offices of the governor and attorney general, Ferguson said. It will work to craft policies to help kids whose family members are deported or detained.
The team’s first meeting will occur by Feb. 14 or sooner, Ferguson said during a news conference at the Centilia Cultural Center in Seattle.
“Look, it’s worth noting a dozen years ago, it would be unimaginable we’d be having this conversation. Let’s be clear, right?” Ferguson said. “So even a state like Washington isn’t necessarily prepared for something like this, because who would imagine we’d be at this place?”
Immigrant-rights advocates’ fears of mass deportations are not unfounded. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly arrested more than 950 people Sunday amid the ongoing nationwide immigration crackdown.
The new team comes as Trump’s second presidential administration has embarked on a barrage of immigration-enforcement efforts, including via a series of executive orders. Trump vowed during his first day in office to immediately stop all illegal entry into the U.S.
Last week, a Justice Department memo detailed the Trump administration’s aims to prosecute local and state officials in sanctuary states who rebuff federal-immigration efforts. Ferguson subsequently told McClatchy about how the state is preparing for Trump-era deportation plans.
Attorney General Nick Brown also filed a multi-state lawsuit last week in response to Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. Brown called the president’s directive “cruel” and “un-American.” A federal judge in Seattle on Thursday temporarily blocked Trump’s birthright-citizenship order, decrying it as “blatantly unconstitutional.”
At Monday’s press conference, Brown said his office is ready to defend Washington state.
“Today, the immigrant community is being targeted by a lawless president who stokes hate against each other and marginalized communities in particular,” he said. “Tomorrow it will be someone else.”
Other Washington officials also have responded to Trump’s immigration designs.
The state’s schools superintendent last week revealed how Washington will continue serving students without legal status. That announcement came in response to the recent reversal of longstanding guidance that prevented immigrants from being detained in sensitive locations like churches and schools.
Ferguson on Monday said his office will connect with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and local school districts to devise strategies to help reduce disruptions in students’ learning. Such strategies will include plans for how to respond if a student’s caregiver is taken while they’re in class.
Republicans respond
Reached for comment, White House spokesman Kush Desai told McClatchy that the commander-in-chief will continue his illegal-immigration clampdown.
“President Trump received a historic mandate from the American people to secure our border, mass deport illegal immigrants, and put American citizens first,” Desai said via email. “He will use every lever of executive and legislative power to deliver for the American people.”
State Senate Republican Leader John Braun told McClatchy that the Trump administration’s deportation efforts are focused on targeting undocumented criminals.
Trump’s executive orders are only a week old, Braun noted. Federal authorities are working quickly to respond to genuine concerns about illegal immigration, and he doesn’t think that they’re doing it haphazardly.
The rapid-response team might be a bit of an “overreaction” to what’s happening at the federal level, the Centralia Republican said.
“But I certainly don’t think that being worried about families that might be separated is inherently a bad thing,” he continued. “We’ll see where it goes.”
Deputy Republican House Leader Chris Corry appreciates that Ferguson wants to help kids separated from their families. At the same time, he said, he wishes there was a rapid-response team to remove youth currently in homes with parents who are actively using drugs.
“That’s something that we as House Republicans fought for and were roundly rejected by the Democrats just last year — giving them the tools to get them out,” the Yakima Republican said. “So while I appreciate it and want to look out for any kids under state care, I am really concerned that we’re not focused on the real issues facing Washingtonians right now instead of looking for headlines.”
Washington State Republican Party Chairman Jim Walsh called the governor’s order “phony virtue signaling.” Walsh, who is also a state representative from Aberdeen, said that he’s spoken with ICE agents who say they don’t have plans to focus on public schools. Rather, he said, they are looking to deport “illegal immigrants who’ve committed violent crimes.”
Walsh said that if Ferguson wants to take real action, he should assist ICE in accessing Washington’s prisons and jails. State law doesn’t let jails cooperate with federal agencies in deporting undocumented inmates, as reported by Tri-City Herald.
“The governor set a better, more constructive, tone in his inauguration speech,” Walsh continued in a written statement. “Let’s get back to that.”
DCYF weighs in
DCYF Secretary Tana Senn said Monday that the agency will work to reduce any trauma from family separations. The department is ready to work with agencies statewide to ensure kids from mixed-status families are supported and protected should their primary caregiver be deported, she said.
“I just want families to know and to feel rest assured that if that happens, your child will be safe, will be cared for and will be loved here in Washington state,” Senn said. “And I want our youth to know that as well.”
Roxana Norouzi, executive director of OneAmerica, said Monday that Trump’s mass-deportation efforts are a humanitarian and moral “disaster,” as well as an “economic catastrophe.” But, she added, the state is ready to defend its immigrant residents.
Some families will now have to weigh whether clocking in at work is worth potential detention or being separated from their kids, Norouzi said.
“We’ve been here before, and we are ready,” she said. “This time, we will not only organize and stand up, but we will also fight for what we need to make Washington the best state in the country for all of us — and that’s no matter where we come from, the color of our skin or our immigration status.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2025 at 11:50 AM.
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