SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Dow Constantine using mafia boss tactics at Boeing Field

May 20, 2019, 3:59 PM

Boeing Field, Airlines...

An aircraft lands at King County International Airport, more commonly known as Boeing Field. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

King County Executive Dow Constantine has chosen to violate federal law — through mafia tactics. You may remember that a couple of weeks ago, he announced he would not let ICE use King County International Airport, more commonly known as Boeing Field, to deport illegal immigrants.

Over the last 10 years, we have deported 34,000 illegal immigrants out of Boeing Field. These were illegal immigrants who had gone before a judge — some were rapists, murderers, and sex traffickers.

Why would Dow Constantine want to keep rapists, murderers, and child molesters in our region? Because they were illegal immigrants. That is more noble than whatever crimes they’ve committed.

Dan Springer on Fox News broke the story that the feds have now told King County and Dow Constantine that they are in violation of federal law.

RELATED: Portland food truck threatened for simply selling lunch to ICE employees

The airport, which was deeded to the county by the federal government in the 1940s, gets tens of millions in federal grants every year; part of the deal there is that you can’t discriminate against the federal government.

In a bit of thuggery, Dow Constantine has told private contractors that if they fuel or service those ICE planes, they will lose county contracts.

This is mafia-type stuff by Dow the don.

The private companies are too afraid to service the ICE flights. So now, instead of a 40-minute bus trip from the federal detention center in Tacoma to Boeing Field, these handcuffed illegal immigrants have to sit on a bus for three hours to Yakima, where they are then put on a plane. It costs taxpayers a fortune more.

Dow Constantine won’t talk to the media — he is a coward. Boeing Field CEO John Perrott backed out of his interview with Springer, which is also cowardly and really too bad. I cannot possibly imagine what the other side’s defense would be of this. I would love to know from these guys how we can justify this.

“John Perrott said in his quote to the Seattle Times that he believes they are on firm legal ground because, he said, they are engaged in ‘just discrimination,'” Springer told me. “In other words, that the federal government is discriminating against illegal immigrants by deporting them, and that there [are] some sort of human rights abuses, but if we prevent them from flying out of our airport, that’s ‘just discrimination.'”

You have a law enforcement agency in ICE. All that those men and women do is their job. They don’t make the rules. They don’t craft legislation. They just enforce federal immigration laws.

One of our laws is that if you’re in this country illegally, and you commit another crime, you can be deported.

And Dow Constantine, to make a political stunt of a statement, says that after 34,000 deportation flights, we can no longer fly illegal immigrants out of Boeing Field. And his tool for getting that done is mob stuff.

Do the people who call Trump a dictator realize that people like Dow Constantine are worse? He goes to private companies that fuel and service airplanes at Boeing Field and threatens them with cancelled contracts if they put fuel in those planes.

A true attorney general would swoop in and begin proceedings to get Constantine out of office for that kind of thuggery. But Bob Ferguson is of course too busy suing the Trump administration.

I try to anticipate arguments on the other side, but I cannot understand this one. Dow, why do you refuse to let illegal immigrants who have committed rape, murder, and human trafficking be transported out of Boeing Field? There is no rational position for what he’s doing, and there should be no legal one.

Attendees listen to speakers at the Voto Latino "Ready, Go, Vote" rally for Democratic candidates G...

Associated Press

Latino voters swing left in midterm elections, lifting Democrats to big wins in Texas and nationwide

SAN JUAN, Texas (AP) — Latino voters moved sharply to the left in the midterm elections, propelling Democrats to an improbable electoral sweep in Texas and in battleground House races from coast to coast. It’s a remarkable pivot for a demographic that had shifted toward President Donald Trump just two years ago. “We showed our […]

28 minutes ago

FILE - President Donald Trump signs his signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts at the White...

Associated Press

New limits on federal student loans are steering many borrowers toward private lenders

NEW YORK (AP) — New limits on federal student loans filled Chloe Frabotta with anxiety as she began studying in New York City to become a physician assistant. The changes that took effect this fall include caps on loans for particular programs as well as limits on the amount parents can borrow to pay for […]

4 hours ago

Associated Press

1 officer killed and 3 wounded in a firefight with a suspect in Lakewood, Colorado

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — An officer was killed and three others were wounded during a firefight in a Denver suburb Thursday evening with a man who was fatally shot by police, according to law enforcement. The Lakewood officers had responded to a call about a suspicious person attempting to get on a public bus, police […]

6 hours ago

Mike Bourcier and his wife Jenifer hold No Data Center signs Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Mason, Mich....

Associated Press

Data centers took a beating in the midterm elections. A reckoning may be ahead for tech giants

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — After a campaign season filled with outrage against data centers, the midterm elections ushered in a wave of Democrats pledging to clamp down on the energy-hungry behemoths. A tougher regulatory environment for artificial intelligence giants and data center developers is expected to follow, even if President Donald Trump — perhaps the […]

7 hours ago

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks at the Center for American Progress (CAP) post election forum, T...

Associated Press

Republicans rammed through Supreme Court nominees. Now Democrats will have the votes to stop them

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump led a transformation of the Supreme Court that ushered in a conservative supermajority but soon he will confront an emboldened Democratic-led Senate that is preparing to play hardball on his judicial nominations. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is likely to return as majority leader next year, promised in […]

7 hours ago

A photo of Sandra Birchmore is displayed during a Stronger Together Standout gathering, where the g...

Associated Press

Closing arguments expected in trial of ex-cop accused of killing Sandra Birchmore

BOSTON (AP) — Closing arguments are expected Friday in the trial of a former Massachusetts police officer accused of killing a pregnant woman to keep her from revealing that they had been in a sexual relationship that began when she was 15. Federal prosecutors say Matthew Farwell killed Sandra Birchmore, 23, and tried to stage […]

7 hours ago

Dori: Dow Constantine using mafia boss tactics at Boeing Field