by David Mendez

On January 27, Ivan Guzman, an immigrant from Mexico, was driving to drop his two-year-old son at daycare before going to work when federal agents surrounded his car. Multiple lanes along Aurora Avenue, at 163rd Street, were blocked off as agents in four unmarked cars penned in Guzman’s car.

Guzman, who worked at a local sandwich shop, was placed in the back of an agent’s car. His son was left alone in the backseat for about 40 minutes, the Seattle Times reported.

Two weeks later, at the first Shoreline City Council meeting of February, more than a dozen Shorelinians urged the council to take a stance against the aggressive practices of federal immigration authorities.

Most of the action took place at the public’s lectern, where Shoreline residents and neighbors, like Norb Steele, called on their elected leaders to “step up and rise to the challenge” of the moment.

“I think it’s insane that my wife and I and several of our neighbors have had to come here and ask you to pass this resolution. And more importantly, have Shoreline police and government in general enforce the laws that exist,” Steele said. “Because people are getting grabbed out of their cars without warrants and their children are getting abandoned in the street.”

Guzman’s arrest came not long after federal agents shot Minnesota residents Renee Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24. Residents were rattled, and folks like Steele and his wife Nicole Solano began talking to their neighbors to rouse some rabble and prod the city council.

The speakers asked the council to adopt a model resolution that begins by supporting a package of three state legislative bills — “Banning Law Enforcement from Wearing Masks” (SB 5855 and HB 2173); “Protect Student Financial Aid Privacy” (HB 2132); and the “Immigrant Workers Protection Act” (HB 2105) — to signal Shoreline’s stance against ICE.

“After Renee Good was murdered and falsely smeared as a domestic terrorist by our government, I called here, the city council's office. When that call was not productive or helpful, I started talking to my neighbors,” Solano told the council. “People like me were scared, and we felt like our government at the local, state, and federal levels were not meeting the severity of what was already in our own backyards. Statements, words and letters simply aren’t enough.”

The model resolution, which Solano offered to the council for review, was provided by Fortify! Washington, an organization working to help build community power at the local government level.  It’s based on the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network’s 2026-’27 policy platform, according to Fortify!WA organizer Scott Menzies. While he acknowledges the work done by Shoreline’s council and staffers, he believes the city can do more.

“I want to see a collaborative acknowledgement of the moment. Yeah, they may think they’re beyond the resolution phase, but Resolution 401 was nearly 10 years ago,” Menzies said. Resolution 401, passed in 2017, prohibits city staff and police officers from asking anyone their immigration status.

“I feel like people are going to come and be more engaged, and the community is going to be more engaged when there’s a concrete task and a set of values and actions that they resonate with, that they can come in and support,” he added.

More than a dozen residents shared their feelings and stories with the council. Some, like Matthew DeAngelis, were there to support other items on the agenda until they learned about the draft resolution and joined in. Others, like Rick McClurg, are longtime residents who have watched as friends and neighbors have grown fearful.

“There are 11 neighbor households within shouting distance of our house. Eight of them have people in them that were not born in this country…and they’re saying things to me like, I’m afraid to go to the store,” McClurg told the council. “I had two friends that were picked up and abducted by masked men up at the Home Depot lot about three weeks ago. At first, we didn’t even know who picked them up. They’ve been deported. They’re just day laborers that work like you and I, like all of us. They’re gone now, and that’s a loss for our community."

Mayor Betsy Robertson told the public that the council “love[s] to see a crowd” in the chambers. Yet after the speakers were finished, council members sat silent, unable to move forward on the actions urged by speakers. Per state law, a public governing body cannot make a final decision on an item that wasn’t publicized on the night’s agenda. Instead, the public had to settle for appreciation from Shoreline’s mayor.

“Thank you everyone for being here tonight. It’s inspiring, and we hear you,” Robertson said. “Thank you.”

After the meeting, Solano told The Osprey that her frustration with the city, with federal officials like Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and with Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, led her to try organizing her neighbors.

“People are just looking for community. They’re looking for leadership. They’re looking for support and they’re not finding it from the government,” Solano said, though she noted that she had set up private meetings with members of the city council.

“It is not coming to us. We are making it ourselves,” Steele added.

Council chambers were dark on Feb. 16, in observance of Presidents’ Day. But on Feb. 17, an agenda for the Feb. 23 meeting of the Shoreline Council was posted featuring a surprise item. Resolution 560, per its title, seeks to “protect immigrant neighbors of our community.” There are no details to the item yet, but an attached placeholder document says a staff report and full council resolution will be posted by Feb. 20.

Councilmember Keith Scully is one of two sponsors on the item, joined by Deputy Mayor Eben Pobee. Per Shoreline’s rules, items can be placed on a forthcoming agenda when sponsored by either the mayor, the city manager or two council members.

“What I’m personally hearing is that many communities in Shoreline are afraid to go out in public, afraid to go to businesses, afraid to go to places that they historically have gone,” Scully told The Osprey on Wednesday. “I want to make sure that city services reach them and that folks feel safe going out.”

The resolution, he said, is not based upon what was circulated at the last meeting, but on the concerns he heard from the public. He said it affirms things that Shoreline is already doing and expresses support for some actions at the State Legislature. The item is also expected to set up a study session for staff to present further options for the council to discuss and for the public to comment on what else the city should work toward.

But he does not envision the Shoreline Police Department working to prevent federal immigration enforcement agents from making arrests.

“I don’t want to create a violent situation where there wasn’t one before. We are never going to have a situation where Shoreline police officers are engaged in actual physical conflict with ICE agents. That’s just not going to happen. I want to make sure that what we structure is about deescalating and safeguarding, not escalating and provoking,” Scully said.

When reached for comment on the Feb. 23 agenda, Solano said that she expected to be disappointed.

“I’m going to assume, based on the conversations I’ve had…it’s going to be more nice words, ‘hey, we support immigrants,’ with no material support,” Solano said. “Many have said that the best we can expect from King County Sheriff's Deputies is to not get involved in ICE activity. That’s the best. At this point, it’s hard to say I want them to direct cops to help people and stop unlawful activity by federal agents; and if a [statewide] mask ban is in place, I want them to enforce that. But they’ve made it clear that we shouldn’t expect that.”

In other words, should Seattle become the center of a federal siege like Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, Solano expects that neighbors will have to protect one another, rather than relying on local government.

“Unfortunately, it sounds like they feel they don’t have a lot of power and their hands are tied in a lot of ways. It’s hard for me to tell them what to do; I just wish they would lead and tell us what they can and can’t do,” Solano said.

“It seems like there’s no real mechanism in place to protect people at the end of the day. So after [Feb. 23] I’m refocusing on mutual aid and protecting my street,” Solano said. “At the end of the day, that’s all I have. Because none of the politicians are going to do anything.”