Everett mayor issues directive outlining ICE response

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, February 25, 2026

EVERETT — Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin issued a mayoral directive during Wednesday’s city council meeting, outlining steps the city will take in response to increased immigration enforcement activity occurring in the city.

The directive, among other actions, prohibits federal immigration agents from accessing non-public areas on city property without a warrant, requires Everett police to record interactions if called to a scene of immigration enforcement activity, and instructs officers to take action if they observe egregious excessive force involving federal immigration agents.

“I’m directing staff to do everything within our legal ability to respond to federal immigration enforcement that, to the best of our ability, protects the community,” Franklin said in an interview Wednesday morning before her announcement. “We want to keep our immigrant residents safe.”

As part of the directive, staff across the city will also undergo training regarding privacy of information and access to city facilities by federal immigration agents. They will be required to report incidents of federal agents conducting immigration enforcement or staging on city-owned property, it states.

Everett staff will also meet regularly with community groups and immigrant leaders, including school districts and nonprofits, and will encourage community-based organizations to collaborate with immigrant groups to share information about the rights residents have when approached by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE.

The directive also states that Everett will ask for additional guidance from Gov. Bob Ferguson and the Attorney General’s office as to next steps the city can take and best practices it can follow.

“Think about COVID. We had coordination meetings with the Governor’s office weekly on how we were handling this crisis, and this has risen to that level,” Franklin said. “… I’m hoping the governor’s office can provide us a lot more guidance on how, statewide, cities are responding to immigration enforcement.”

Everett police do not and will not assist with federal immigration enforcement, Franklin said, per state law. She hoped to encourage residents to call local police if they need it for any reason.

“If residents see brazen immigration enforcement actions that are harming the community, where they’re not following the law, I would expect residents to call 911 and our police will respond,” Franklin said.

At Wednesday’s city council meeting, multiple council members said they support the actions of the new directive. Luis Burbano, a council member who lives in south Everett, said he has seen people in his community fearful of ICE activity in the area.

“We are afraid to speak Spanish when we go to the grocery store because we never know when we are going to be singled out by the federal officers,” Burbano, who speaks Spanish at home, said Wednesday. “I think this (directive) is a great step in the right direction.”

David Hall, Everett’s city attorney, said the city’s legal department believes the directive “does as much as the mayor can do within the constraints of federal law,” he said Wednesday.

The mayor issued the directive, which took effect immediately, after receiving a letter earlier this month from a group of businesses, nonprofits and community organizations that asked her to take action to protect immigrant communities from ICE. Other jurisdictions, such as Seattle and King County, have implemented similar policies to those in Everett’s mayoral directive.

This is the 14th mayoral directive Franklin has issued over her three terms in office.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.