Seattle’s new socialist mayor is opening the city’s gates to migrants and promising massive resistance against President Donald Trump’s popular enforcement of federal immigration law.
“My message to our immigrant neighbors: This is your city, you should be safe here, and I’m determined to make it that way,” Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson declared on January 8.
Her comment set the stage for a West Coast version of the Democrats’ confrontation with federal enforcement of federal law in Minneapolis.
Trump’s federal enforcement of federal laws is popular.
Legal and illegal migrants are a huge economic burden on ordinary Americans, partly because they drive down wages, push up rents, and reduce corporate investment in productivity. In December, Axios reported:
The Seattle metro area has seen one of the sharpest drops in online job postings nationwide, according to jobs site Indeed.
Why it matters: The labor market is slowing, particularly for white-collar professionals in tech-heavy cities …
Zoom in: As of late October, Seattle-area job listings on Indeed were down 35% from February 2020.
Many — not all — migrants also commit many crimes, further burdening Americans and deterring investment by companies.
But elites often gain when migrants shift wealth from ordinary people. In September 2025, for example, the Department of Homeland Security slammed local Democrats for opposing the arrest of a Pakistani migrant suspected of fraud:
[Muhammad Zahid] Chaudhry first entered the U.S. in 1998 on B-2 visitor visa—after he lied to the U.S. government about his criminal history in Australia. His criminal history in Australia includes five counts of financial deception, possession of stolen goods, and falsifying passports.
Additionally, he lied about his criminal history in Australia in order to obtain a green card in the U.S. and subsequently been denied citizenship twice —dating back to 2008, and then he applied for citizenship eight more times while continuing to lie and provide false information to immigration authorities.
Wilson is a populist progressive who narrowly beat established Democrats for the mayorship in November. Her campaign championed higher taxes to help shift wealth back to poor voters.
But she also puts the interests of migrants ahead of Americans’ civil rights to a fair labor market and the proper enforcement of their popular migration laws.
For example, she is refusing to investigate potential Seattle fraud by Somali migrants in government-funded day care programs. Those frauds have diverted hundreds of millions of dollars from poor Americans into Somali bank accounts. “This whole issue is not really about fraud,” Wilson told KOMO News:
It’s about dividing and conquering. It’s about making an immigrant community a target, right? There’s no reason to assume based on the identity of a daycare operator that their small business is doing anything wrong.
Her pro-migration position is shared by the nation’s elites, who gain from cheap labor and high rents. In November, for example, she was quickly applauded by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who strongly advocates for more Indian H-1B migration into Americans’ white-collar jobs. The CascadePBS reported:
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who represents District 7, congratulated Wilson in a statement on Wednesday, saying she wants to work with Wilson on “transit, housing, childcare and ensuring that our city remains equitable and welcoming to all people.”
In her pro-migrant speech about ICE, Wilson said:
Yesterday, armed ICE agents in an unmarked vehicle detained three North Seattle neighbors at Evergreen Washelli cemetery. Yeah, I am furious at the federal government’s abuse of power. It is unacceptable to kidnap people who are simply going about their lives. There is no place for this in Seattle.
This latest abuse comes on the heels of the murder of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis by federal agents. Renee was a poet, a caring neighbor, and a mother, someone with a family whose community is now grieving unimaginable loss. These are not abstractions. These are real people, real families, and real harm.
I know many people in our community are frightened and outraged about the way ICE and other federal enforcement agencies are being deliberately deployed across the country to intimidate and harm our communities. I am heartbroken and outraged, too. This moment demands action.
Here’s what we’re doing. Seattle is a welcoming city. We already have laws in place that forbid our local police from aiding ICE in most instances. The police will adhere to these laws. That’s an important step, but it’s also true that we have limited authority with regard to the actions of federal agencies, and I know that our existing laws are not enough to keep people safe, so I’m working with police chief Shon Barnes, City Attorney Erika Evans, immigrant rights groups and local leaders to identify every possible legal argument, public resource and creative tool we can use to keep the people of Seattle safe.
This will take all of us. I urge you to sign up for the “Washington For All” ICE mobilization alerts, and don’t stop there. I encourage you to raise your voices and demand that every elected official does what they can to actually protect the people who make our neighborhoods home.
This is a scary situation, and situations like this are when we show ourselves who we are and what we believe. Here in Seattle, we practice solidarity. Everyone should be safe in their homes, in their workplaces, and in their city. My message to our immigrant neighbors: This is your city. You should be safe here, and I’m determined to make it that way.
The city’s police chief posted a similar message on January 8 to denounce the arrest of the three migrants, saying “We are here to serve and protect all the people of Seattle.”
Alongside Wilson, city officials are also denouncing ICE.
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