City to hold press conference addressing immigration enforcement
January 26, 2025
Please note that this press conference will be a closed event and is not open to the public. However, it will be livestreamed for the public to watch - WATCH HERE.
The City of Sunnyside will hold a press conference on Monday January 27th inside the Sunnyside Police Department headquarters at 12 p.m. City officials, City Council members, and the police chief will be there to answer questions about immigration enforcement that has begun across Yakima County. This press conference will be streamed for the public on our YouTube page. This is not a public meeting. It is an opportunity for City Council members to address the media with their perspective on the situation.
Around noon Sunday, reports began swirling around social media showing an older woman being detained by law enforcement officials in Sunnyside, on the Fiesta Foods parking lot grounds. ICE hasn't confirmed who those individuals are. According to several inside sources that want to remain anonymous, the couple was released a few hours later because of mistaken identity. The truck was thought to be stolen; however, it turned out not to be true.
"We just ask that everyone remain calm. According to my sources, these are targeted law enforcement efforts. ICE is searching for cartel members and people involved in violent Venezuelan gangs. They are focusing on this core group that have deportation orders. For me it's frustrating to see law enforcement officers dressed in vests that say police on them. This is not our personnel. I want to assure the public that we stand by our original message. We aren't assisting ICE in these targeted law enforcement efforts. We have gained a lot of trust over the years with residents and assisting with those efforts would ruin that hard work. We also want the public to know that our police officers continue to protect the public as usual. This is certainly affected our businesses and schools, who are seeing people hiding in the shadows now. We are doing everything we can to educate and reassure our residents that the city is here to help and keep them safe," said City Manager Mike Gonzalez.
Gonzalez issued a statement on January 20th when rumors first began to swirl around Sunnyside. He also appeared on KEPR TV to answer questions about Sunnyside's position. KEPR put out a statement alleging Sunnyside wasn't cooperating with ICE. Gonzalez clarified with KEPR by saying this.
“I didn’t say we weren’t going to cooperate. I know you guys put out a poll this afternoon saying that we’re not going to cooperate. We never said we weren’t going to cooperate. What we said is we aren’t going to work with or coordinate with ICE on raids. Now I can’t control if the federal government shows up here. That’s something that is out of my control. The only thing that I can control as City Manager is to direct our police force not to aid. That is really the directive that I wanted to give in our community, because it was a real concern in our community," said Gonzalez
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If you have questions you'd like answered or plan to attend the press conference email Mike Gonzalez at mgonzalez@sunnyside-wa.gov or text 509-836-1096.