Adams County Sheriff accuses state of ‘fearmongering,’ pressuring authorities to ignore federal law amid lawsuit

Washington state filed a lawsuit against the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and Adams County last month, accusing them of violating the Keep Washington Working Act—a law that designates the state as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants.

On “The John Curley Show” Thursday, Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner explained why authorities feel stuck between state and federal law and the impact of “fearmongering.”

John Curley, host of “John Curley,” first referenced Wednesday’s congressional hearing, where Wagner said both sides are contributing to fearmongering and that the situation is “very political.”

“Let’s talk about both sides,” Curley said. “So, what’s happening on the right? First, what are they doing to politicize this?”

“It’s not politicizing on the right,” Wagner responded. “It’s basically trying to cure a problem, we have an open border situation that is now being secured. We have people that are coming from all over the world, and that’s the biggest thing that affects my county.”

Adams County sheriff emphasizes ‘fearmongering’ regarding ICE

Wagner added that his county has a large Hispanic population and “fearmongering” is seeping in.

“The right is saying, ‘Hey, we’re trying to fix this problem that has been created over the past few years, and it’s happening,'” he said. “Where the other side, it’s the fear mongering. It’s coming into the small counties like mine, who are high Hispanic population, telling my community that ‘You need to fear that the local law enforcement is going to come and round you up and ICE is coming in with buses, and we’re going to load these people up’ and things like that.”

Wagner said the sheriff’s office works with people in the community who are in the country illegally.

“We actually tell the people, ‘Hey, you’re here illegally, but you have to understand that if you break the law here, that’s what puts you in a bigger light to ICE and local police, and so that’s the fearmongering that goes on from the left,” he shared. “And I think that that’s what has been driving a lot of these issues across the state of Washington and probably other communities.”

The AG’s Office claims that since 2022, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office has consistently defied state law.

“Sheriff’s deputies have unlawfully held people in custody based solely on their immigration status,” the lawsuit states. “They have gone out of their way to enable federal immigration agents to interview or question people in custody, including transporting people in county vehicles expressly for that purpose. And they have proactively and routinely shared the nonpublic, personal information of hundreds of Washingtonians—including birth dates, home addresses, driver’s license numbers, and fingerprints—with federal immigration officials. All of this conduct expressly violates state law.”

Washington state law vs. federal law

Wagner rebutted that he has a duty to uphold public safety and argued that Washington state is, in effect, asking the sheriff’s office to disobey federal law.

“The reality is that the law enforcement across the country, no matter where you are, has a responsibility as best that we can to keep people that are harmful to our community in custody, if that’s the case, or at least try and protect them as best we can,” he said.

He added, “The state is saying one thing the federal government says another. And the state’s trying to force us to break, somewhat, of federal law in saying that you can’t give them information. Don’t even answer the phone if ICE calls. Well, that’s just not realistic. That’s not something that we’re able to do. And I don’t believe, in my opinion, I would never speak for another sheriff—but the reality is this is probably happening all over the country, and Adams County is being focused on just because of the narrative that’s being pushed to the fear mongering.”

Wagner then questioned the state’s stance, saying he doesn’t understand the pushback against cooperating with federal authorities.

“When we arrest a bad guy, when they have committed a heinous crime, we want them not to be back in our community, and me personally, I don’t understand why anybody would even fight that,” he said.

Listen to the full conversation below:

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