King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn is sounding the alarm after being the sole dissenting vote against the County Council’s decision to reaffirm its status as a sanctuary county, despite rising crime rates, drug overdoses, and an ongoing homelessness crisis.
King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn Blasts Colleagues for Doubling Down on Sanctuary Policy
“Sanctuary laws don’t work. The county has no plan to house these folks. We’re looking at a $150 million shortfall, we’re passing tax increases left & right & now we’re telling the… pic.twitter.com/lzcl5lubG1
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) July 21, 2025
Speaking on The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, Dunn slammed the vote as both irresponsible and dangerous, calling the move “a political charade” that ignores the concerns of residents and defies common sense.
“It’s very frustrating,” Dunn said. “To go ahead and watch what voters decided in November, clearly rejecting this far-left policy of sanctuary cities, only to have the County double down with inflammatory language toward the federal government? It was a no-brainer to vote no.”
Under the reaffirmed policy, King County pledges not to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), effectively shielding undocumented immigrants, even those with violent criminal histories, from deportation.
Dunn argues this places the county’s residents at risk and burdens an already strained system.
“Sanctuary laws don’t work,” he stated. “The county has no plan to house these folks. We’re looking at a $150 million shortfall, we’re passing tax increases left and right—and now we’re telling the world, ‘Come here, we’ll take care of you,’ when we clearly can’t.”
Hoffman referenced multiple examples from ICE Seattle’s public reports of recent arrests of undocumented immigrants with long criminal records who would be protected under the sanctuary policy.
Lukasz Krzystof Smola, 44, is a citizen of Poland arrested by @EROSeattle after release from federal prison. Smola has multiple arrests with convictions for burglary, drug possession, DUI, and a federal conviction for illegal reentry, receiving a 60 month sentence. pic.twitter.com/OuWdA26dLB
— ICE Seattle (@EROSeattle) July 16, 2025
One such case involved a Polish national, Lukasz Krzystof Smola, arrested in Seattle after serving time in federal prison for burglary, drug possession, DUI, and illegal reentry into the U.S. Another involved Hamed Azami, a citizen of Iran with multiple convictions, including domestic violence, who was ordered removed from the U.S. in 2007.
A citizen of Iran, Hamed Azami, 43, was arrested by @EROSeattle in OR. Azami has multiple criminal convicts across multiple states, to include DUI, receiving stolen property, theft, and domestic violence, was ordered removed from the U.S. in 2007. pic.twitter.com/BYzUPfR7rO
— ICE Seattle (@EROSeattle) July 8, 2025
“These are the kinds of people they want to keep around,” Hoffman commented during the show. “And meanwhile, media outlets funded by our tax dollars seem more concerned about criticizing Reagan than the safety of the public.”
Dunn noted that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and counties have no business attempting to rewrite national policy.
“Not only is this unconstitutional, it’s illegal and bad policy,” he said. “We need to secure our borders and take care of our domestic population first.”
Dunn also pointed to the collapse of recent county meetings as evidence that the policy is unsustainable. He described how a large group of recent refugees demanding services overwhelmed a recent King County Council meeting, forcing its cancellation due to the council’s inability to provide answers.
“They passed this motion encouraging people to come here, and then when they show up asking for housing or social services, they cancel the meeting,” Dunn said. “This is political theater at its worst. It’s bullhorn excess, grandstanding without a plan.”
Asked whether any members of the council are engaging in serious discussions about comprehensive immigration reform, such as the newly proposed federal Dignity Act, Dunn responded bluntly.
“No. They don’t have a plan. All they have are giveaways, and then panic when people show up expecting them.”
As King County barrels forward with a growing budget crisis and five more tax proposals in the pipeline, Dunn warned the cost of these “feel-good” policies will be borne by residents already struggling to pay for basic services.
“It might sound good and feel good to vote for this,” he said. “But at the end of the day, you’re billing the taxpayer for things we can’t even afford—and ignoring their safety in the process.”
The newly passed initiative includes a broad array of expansions to King County’s sanctuary policies, including:
- Restricting county employee cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, including registration, surveillance, or deportation operations
- Increasing staffing at the Office of Equity and Racial and Social Justice for immigrant community outreach
- Creating a multilingual “Know Your Rights” web hub and rapid ICE alert system
- Expanding taxpayer-funded deportation defense and rapid response programs
- Posting signage in public buildings barring warrantless federal access
- Affirming that immigrants, including implying that non-citizens, must have access to voter information and services ahead of the 2026 election
Dunn, a former federal prosecutor and Justice Department official who has worked in terrorism prevention, ended the segment standing firm in his opposition. “I’m proud to vote no,” he said. “It’s lonely, sure. But someone has to be the adult in the room.”
