‘There are aspects of our job we have to do’: ICE Seattle director breaks silence on protests

Two weeks after a series of large-scale anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests in Seattle, the region’s ICE field director is now weighing in.

ICE Seattle Field Office Director Cammilla Wamsley has been in her role for less than two months and seems unbothered by the public opposition. She told KIRO Newsradio ICE agents are aware of the growing scrutiny, but are unwavering in their agency directive.

“I think the biggest part of being an American is being able to enjoy your rights, and being able to protest is one of those rights. I completely think that people ought to be able to do that,” Wamsley said. “We’re a political agency. I know it doesn’t seem like that when people have such strong views about immigration enforcement, but at the end of the day, regardless of who’s in the White House, there are aspects of our job we have to do.”

Her comments come as President Donald Trump continues to press for mass deportations. Agents are conducting the largest deportation push in American history. It’s widely reported that the Trump administration aims to meet an ICE arrest quota of 3,000 people per day. An objective shared between 25 ICE field offices.

ICE Seattle director says office has daily arrest goal

Wamsley maintains that there is no mandated quota, but said her office does have a daily arrest goal. One that is sometimes unmet.

“It’s between 30 and 50,” she said. “It depends on what we’re doing that day and how our teams are broken down. But again, it’s an aspirational goal.”

This week, CBS reported that 59,000 people are currently detained in immigration detention facilities across the country. Their report noted that nearly half of those detained did not have criminal backgrounds.

The president and ICE officials have long maintained that undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds were top priorities for deportation, but that all non-citizens were also at risk of removal. Wamsley agreed.

“I think many of our cases have criminality that are involved with them, or they also have a final order of removal, or they qualify for expedited removal processing,” Wamsley said.

She added, “There’s a lot of folks that we’ve arrested are sex offenders, child molesters, rapists, murderers.”

Wamsley said because of the state’s sanctuary policies, agents are 100% making arrests in neighborhoods.

‘Lovely facility’: ICE Seattle director disputes human rights concerns at Tacoma detention center

Many of those arrested by local ICE agents will be detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC).

It’s a facility that’s faced years of complaints about alleged human rights violations. The facility is the focus of a series of reports by the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights. Its 2024 report outlines an increase in reports of suicide attempts at the facility, as well as concerns about cleanliness and health conditions. A stark contrast to how Womsley describes their current conditions.

“I have been in a lot of detention centers. I’ve worked in several states and several field offices. This is a lovely facility,” Wamsley said. “There are requirements under the performance-based national detention standards that the contractor is held to. There are inspections that happen weekly and daily inspections that happen.”

Wamsley told KIRO Newsradio she plans to make the facility available to tours for Washington lawmakers later this summer.

Immigration was a driving issue in November’s presidential election and continues to remain divisive. A June Reuters poll shows 44% of Americans support the current immigration policy, a fall of three percentage points from the month prior.

“I know that there is a sentiment that people who come to this country shouldn’t be necessarily removed,” Wamsley said. “I don’t think it’s accurate to say that we’re ripping families apart. We’re removing people who have final orders of removal from this country back to their country of citizenship. It doesn’t always feel like that. I understand that, but that’s what our job is.”