Seattle police responded to 911 calls reporting a possible armed kidnapping at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery Wednesday morning and found ICE agents who had just arrested three people, an incident that highlights how federal immigration enforcement operates in Seattle without local knowledge or cooperation. The arrests at 11111 Aurora Avenue North around 10:30 a.m. prompted witnesses to call 911 reporting three people with guns on cemetery grounds. Officers arrived to verify that ICE agents had apprehended three men, but the Seattle Police Department had no prior notification of the operation and no authority over the federal agents conducting it.
Police Chief Shon Barnes used the incident to clarify Seattle’s position on immigration enforcement, emphasizing in a statement that “The Seattle Police Department is here to keep people safe, regardless of anyone’s immigration status. The City of Seattle is a welcoming city and we abide by all State laws and regulations that prohibit the Seattle Police Department’s participation in immigration enforcement.” That language, “prohibit participation,” reflects Washington state laws that limit how local law enforcement can cooperate with federal immigration operations, creating the jurisdictional divide that allowed ICE to conduct arrests at a public cemetery while Seattle police had no idea it was happening until citizens called 911.
The mechanism here reveals how federal immigration enforcement functions in sanctuary jurisdictions. ICE agents don’t notify local police before operations. They conduct arrests based on federal authority that doesn’t require local cooperation or approval. When witnesses see armed individuals detaining people, they reasonably call 911 to report what looks like a kidnapping. Local police respond and discover federal agents conducting immigration arrests. Seattle police can verify the agents’ identities and confirm the operation is federal enforcement, but they have no role in deciding whether the arrests happen, who gets arrested, or how the operation is conducted.
For Seattle residents, that creates a confusing and potentially dangerous situation. If you witness what appears to be an armed kidnapping at a cemetery, you should call 911. But if those armed individuals turn out to be federal agents conducting immigration enforcement, your call won’t stop the arrests or change how the operation unfolds. Seattle police will respond to your call, verify what’s happening, and essentially observe federal agents operating in their jurisdiction without local oversight.
Mayor Bruce Harrell addressed the arrests in a video statement on social media, expressing frustration with federal tactics. “I am furious at the federal government’s abuse of power,” Harrell said. “It is unacceptable to kidnap people who are simply going about their lives. There is no place for this in Seattle.” That characterization of immigration arrests as “kidnapping” reflects how Seattle officials view ICE operations that occur without warrants, without local coordination, and in public spaces where people aren’t expecting armed federal agents to detain them.
The cemetery location is particularly notable. Evergreen Washelli is one of Seattle’s oldest and largest cemeteries, a place where people go to visit graves of deceased family members and friends. It’s not a location typically associated with law enforcement operations. The fact that ICE chose to conduct arrests there, rather than at a residence or workplace, suggests agents were following targets who happened to be at the cemetery, possibly visiting someone’s grave. That raises questions about whether ICE is tracking people’s movements and choosing arrest locations based on where individuals go during their daily activities, rather than executing planned operations at known addresses.
The timing of these arrests, happening the same week that ICE killed Renee Good in Minneapolis and shot two people in Portland, intensifies scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement tactics. Seattle protesters marched through downtown Wednesday night in solidarity with demonstrations happening nationwide, connecting the cemetery arrests to the broader pattern of aggressive enforcement that’s producing violent confrontations in multiple cities.
The Minneapolis shooting has become a focal point for resistance to expanded ICE operations. Department of Homeland Security alleges Good tried to run over an ICE agent, with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem calling Good’s actions “an act of domestic terror.” But Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accused DHS officials of misrepresenting the facts. “People in positions of power have already passed judgment, from the president to the vice president to Kristi Noem, and have told you things that are verifiably false,” Walz said. Minneapolis city and state leaders have called for ICE to leave the city.
That dispute over what actually happened in Minneapolis affects how Seattle residents and officials interpret the cemetery arrests. If federal authorities are willing to characterize an immigration enforcement incident that resulted in an American citizen’s death as “domestic terror” and provide accounts that state officials call “verifiably false,” then Seattle officials have reason to question federal characterizations of any enforcement operation. When Mayor Harrell calls cemetery arrests “kidnapping,” he’s reflecting the same distrust of federal narratives that Governor Walz expressed about the Minneapolis shooting.
Chief Barnes emphasized his commitment to transparency: “As your Chief of Police, I will keep my promise to communicate what we learn so you are aware and to prevent misinformation.” That promise matters because immigration enforcement creates information vacuums. Federal agents conduct operations that local police don’t know about in advance and often don’t fully understand even after responding. Without clear communication from police leadership about what happened and what role local law enforcement did or didn’t play, rumors and misinformation can spread quickly through communities already anxious about immigration enforcement.
For immigrant communities in Seattle, particularly in North Seattle neighborhoods near Aurora Avenue where the cemetery is located, the arrests demonstrate that ICE operations can happen anywhere at any time without warning. A cemetery, during a weekday morning, becomes an arrest site. That unpredictability is part of what makes expanded immigration enforcement so destabilizing. People can’t identify “safe” locations or times when they’re protected from arrest, because federal agents operate based on their own targeting decisions and tactical considerations, not based on local norms about where and when enforcement is appropriate.
The 911 calls reporting “three people with guns” also highlight how ICE operations can create public safety concerns beyond the immigration enforcement itself. When armed individuals are detaining people in public spaces, witnesses don’t know if they’re seeing a legitimate law enforcement operation or a violent crime in progress. That ambiguity forces them to call 911, which pulls Seattle police resources away from other calls to verify federal operations that local authorities have no control over.
Washington state laws prohibiting Seattle police participation in immigration enforcement create the jurisdictional boundary that Chief Barnes referenced. Those laws reflect the state legislature’s decision that local law enforcement resources shouldn’t be used for federal immigration priorities. But they don’t prevent ICE from operating in Seattle. They simply mean ICE operates alone, without local cooperation or coordination, which is exactly what happened at the cemetery. Federal agents conducted arrests based on federal authority. Witnesses called local police. Local police verified what was happening but had no role in the operation itself.
That division between federal and local law enforcement creates situations where Seattle police become observers of enforcement actions happening in their jurisdiction. They can’t stop ICE arrests. They can’t demand warrants or verify probable cause. They can confirm that the armed individuals are actually federal agents rather than criminals, which provides some public safety value, but they’re fundamentally bystanders to operations they have no authority over.
Mayor Harrell’s statement that “there is no place for this in Seattle” expresses Seattle’s political position on immigration enforcement, but it doesn’t change ICE’s legal authority to conduct operations here. Federal immigration enforcement doesn’t require Seattle’s permission or approval. The city can declare itself a sanctuary jurisdiction, prohibit local police cooperation, and publicly oppose federal tactics, but none of those actions prevent ICE from conducting arrests when agents decide to do so.
The cemetery arrests, combined with the broader pattern of immigration enforcement incidents this week, show Seattle entering the same dynamic that Minneapolis and Portland are navigating. Federal agents conduct operations that local officials oppose and characterize as abusive. Residents witness those operations and report them to local police. Local police respond but have no authority over federal agents. City leaders express outrage and promise to resist. Protesters demonstrate in solidarity with other cities experiencing similar enforcement. The cycle repeats, with each incident intensifying tensions between sanctuary city policies and federal immigration enforcement authority.
Whether this escalates further in Seattle, or whether the cemetery arrests remain isolated incidents, depends on decisions federal authorities make about enforcement priorities and tactics in resistant jurisdictions. What’s clear is that ICE is already operating in Seattle, conducting arrests without local coordination, in public spaces like cemeteries, in ways that prompt 911 calls from concerned residents who witness what appears to be armed kidnappings. That’s the reality of immigration enforcement in sanctuary cities under the current administration.
