Council passes Mosqueda’s emergency ban on ICE detention centers

March 3, 2026

The King County Council on Tuesday approved an emergency one-year moratorium that immediately blocks acceptance of permits for new or expanded detention facilities in unincorporated King County, preventing the siting of publicly or privately operated facilities, including potential ICE detention centers.

Sponsored by Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, Chair of Health, Housing, and Human Services, the measure prohibits the county from accepting applications for new or expanded detention centers, whether proposed as permanent or temporary uses. The ordinance also prevents approvals obtained through vague or misleading project descriptions and closes regulatory gaps that could otherwise allow private detention facilities to move forward before updated rules are adopted.

“King County’s land and resources should be used to support the health, safety, and well-being of our communities — not to build systems that isolate, intimidate, and harm the very people who make our region strong,” Mosqueda said. “Detention facilities are being used to disappear our friends, family, and community members into inhumane conditions, often without due process — and they also carry serious consequences for the health and safety of surrounding neighborhoods. When our neighbors are afraid to seek medical care, shop for groceries, or send their children to school, they bear the immediate harm — and our communities lose the trust, connection, and stability that allow us all to thrive.”

King County has the authority under constitutional police powers, home rule authority, and the Washington state Growth Management Act, to establish a moratorium to preclude the acceptance of certain new development applications while the county studies related land use issues.

“This legislation is consistent with legislation that has been adopted or is under consideration by Tukwila, SeaTac, Port of Seattle, City of Seattle, Baltimore County, Kansas City, Missouri, and other jurisdictions around the country, and ensures that King County’s land use regulations can continue to focus on strengthening public health and community resilience. Thank you to my King County Council colleagues for their input, to Councilmembers Jorge Barón, Rhonda Lewis, Rod Dembowski, and Claudia Balducci for their co-sponsorship, and to Executive Zahilay for his partnership on this,” Mosqueda said..

The Council took immediate action to avoid a potential rush of permit applications and to allow time for a comprehensive review of how detention facilities should be regulated. The ordinance directs the County Executive to conduct a study examining impacts, mitigation measures, and appropriate development standards, and to recommend permanent code updates within nine months.

Girmay Zahilay, King County Executive: “I appreciate Councilmember Mosqueda’s legislation to declare a one-year moratorium on siting any new or expanded detention facilities within unincorporated King County. Many friends and neighbors call King County home and to call someplace home has deep meaning rooted in things like acceptance, opportunity and safety. News that the federal government may be looking to site additional immigration detention facilities within our county jeopardizes that sense of home and the safety that should ideally come along with it.”

Alexis Mercedes Rinck, Seattle City Councilmember, Position 8: "I applaud King County Councilmember Mosqueda's work to pass a moratorium on new detention centers in King County. This regional collaboration between our governments serves our communities well as we look to use every tool at our disposal to push back against the illegal actions of a federal administration focused on causing harm to our residents. This legislation is the result of collaboration between the City of Seattle and King County, and Seattle.”

Josefina Mora-Cheung, La Resistencia: “This is an important first step in continuing to fight detention expansion in the Puget Sound. Grassroots efforts have led the way in making sure that expansion has not happened in our region, and we must continue to fight to protect our immigrant communities.”

A public hearing on the moratorium will be held within 60 days.