King County Council members approved an emergency one-year moratorium Tuesday that immediately stops the county from accepting permit applications for new or expanded detention facilities, including potential ICE detention centers, in unincorporated King County.
The measure, sponsored by Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, chair of the Health, Housing, and Human Services Committee, prohibits the county from accepting applications for new or expanded detention centers, whether proposed as permanent or temporary uses. It also aims to prevent approvals obtained through vague or misleading project descriptions and to close regulatory gaps that could otherwise allow private detention facilities to move forward before updated rules are adopted.
“King County’s land and resources should be used to support the health, safety, and well-being of our communities, not to build systems that isolate, intimidate, and harm the very people who make our region strong,” Mosqueda said. “Detention facilities are being used to disappear our friends, family, and community members into inhumane conditions, often without due process, and they also carry serious consequences for the health and safety of surrounding neighborhoods. When our neighbors are afraid to seek medical care, shop for groceries, or send their children to school, they bear the immediate harm, and our communities lose the trust, connection, and stability that allow us all to thrive.”
King County cited its authority under constitutional police powers, home rule authority, and the Washington state Growth Management Act to establish a moratorium while it studies related land use issues. “This legislation is consistent with legislation that has been adopted or is under consideration by Tukwila, SeaTac, Port of Seattle, City of Seattle, Baltimore County, Kansas City, Missouri, and other jurisdictions around the country,” Mosqueda said.
The council said it took immediate action to avoid a potential rush of permit applications and to allow time for a comprehensive review of how detention facilities should be regulated. The ordinance directs the King County executive to conduct a study examining impacts, mitigation measures, and appropriate development standards, and to recommend permanent code updates within nine months.
King County Executive Girmay Zahilay said, “I appreciate Councilmember Mosqueda’s legislation to declare a one-year moratorium on siting any new or expanded detention facilities within unincorporated King County. Many friends and neighbors call King County home, and to call someplace home has deep meaning rooted in things like acceptance, opportunity, and safety. News that the federal government may be looking to site additional immigration detention facilities within our county jeopardizes that sense of home and the safety that should ideally come along with it.” A public hearing on the moratorium is expected to be held within 60 days.
