Burien City Council votes to put 'Sanctuary City' law on November ballot

BURIEN, Wash. - The Burien City Council has voted 6-1 to pass a resolution allowing voters to decide this November whether to repeal the city's sanctuary status.

The council's vote Monday night came after a lengthy public comment period at Burien City Hall.

"It’s really sad that as a community we’re here to ask you to put this hate speech in front of the voters," one person told the council.

"Why are we putting something on the ballot that has to do with human rights?" another person asked.

"Please for the safety, the true safety of this community please give the citizens a chance to reject the sanctuary misadventure, so we can protect the budget of this city," said Craig Keller. Keller is the Co-Founder of Respect Washington, the non-profit behind a petition to repeal Burien's Immigration Status Ordinance 651.

After a lengthy public comment period, the council voted to end debate among themselves without any further discussion. That upset a couple of council members who were hoping to respond to some of the comments presented by the public.

"I'm very troubled that the outside interests have come into our community and are creating divisiveness and have riled up our community with hatred and fear-mongering," Council member Nancy Tosta told the audience. "I know that we can rise above these outside interests and the forces that are dividing us and show that we are a caring and welcoming community."

"The idea of repeal that we've heard discussed would have harmed the community tremendously," added Council member Lauren Berkowitz.

The Burien Council approved the city's immigration status law back in January. It prohibits city staff from asking someone about their about immigration status or religious affiliation.

Keller insists Burien’s immigration law threatens the safety of Burien residents.

"We are dedicated to seeing laws passed in Washington state that protect workers to protect those who are truly eligible to work in the U.S.," said Keller.

In July, Respect Washington collected more than 3,600 signatures for their petition, which left the Council with two options: either repeal the law or let voters decide if they want it. Last week, the city council didn't choose either option.

By not voting, an August first filing deadline for measures to get on the November ballot came and went.

Respect Washington filed a writ of mandate in King County Superior Court last week alleging the city and Burien's City Council disregarded the law by not voting.

"They failed to do their duty under state law to send a sufficient petition to a vote of the people that is after 3,648 valid citizens of Burien signed this petition," said Keller.

Backers of the petition said they will meet the city in court on Friday. A hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in King County Superior Court in Kent.

But a city spokeswoman told KOMO News the lawsuit is now moot because of the council's vote Monday night. She plans to touch base with the city attorney on Tuesday to see if Friday's hearing will move forward.

Although the deadline for the November ballot was August 1, the a spokesperson for the King County Elections Department said its been advised by its attorneys that the department may be able to extend the deadline to August 11 in this case.