Immigration: Trooper should not be reviewed

Re: “Trooper’s action in ICE incident reviewed,” (TNT, 2/18).

The Washington State Patrol is sworn to serve and protect the citizens of this state. On Feb. 9, one of our state troopers did just that.

During the course of investigating a traffic accident, he checked driver’s license information for all involved parties. One license had a warning from U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement that the person was a previously deported felon and to contact the agency for confirmation. The trooper did as instructed and ICE arrived and took the felon into custody.

Now the trooper is under administrative review for doing his job. This is outrageous! Sen. Steve O’Ban has asked Gov. Inslee’s office to explain why, but his office has declined to respond. Is this another example of “sanctuary” policies?

Local and state police officers should be working with federal officials, not against them. Their duty is to U.S. citizens, not illegal felons. It is our tax money paying their salaries.

This man was a convicted felon who had been deported four times. His arrest by ICE was the proper thing to do and he should be deported, again. Inslee needs to answer this question.

This story was originally published March 6, 2017 at 6:56 PM with the headline "Immigration: Trooper should not be reviewed."