Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Federal Deportation

The federal government can deport foreign nationals who are in the U.S. illegally even if local authorities object, three judges on the 9th Circuit of Appeals unanimously ruled, the Washington Examiner reported.

The case was based on an executive order issued by King County in Washington that directed county officials to prohibit allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement airspace to charter flights used to deport illegal foreign nationals, the Examiner said.

The executive order, from King County Executive Dow Constantine, said King County International Airport was barred from supporting "the transportation and deportation of immigration detainees in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, either traveling within or arriving or departing the United States or its territories."

The Trump administration sued in February 2020, arguing Constantine's order violated the Supremacy Clause's intergovernmental immunity doctrine and a World War II-era Instrument of Transfer agreement, the Examiner said.

A district court had previously sided with the federal government.

Deportation flights have been ongoing at the airport since May 2023, shortly after the district court overruled Constantine's order attempting to stop the flights, the Seattle Times reported. There have been 79 such flights since, including 45 this year, Cameron Satterfield, a county spokesperson, told the Seattle Times.

The 9th Court said Constantine's order violated the intergovernmental immunity doctrine because it "improperly regulated the way in which the federal government transported noncitizen detainees by preventing ICE from using private FBO contractors at Boeing Field, and on its face discriminated against the United States by singling out the federal government and its contractors for unfavorable treatment."

A King County spokesperson told the Seattle Times the county will not seek further appeals.

"The 9th Circuit's decision allows a raw assertion of federal power to overcome an expression of local values even absent any actual impact," wrote Amy Enbysk, a spokesperson for Constantine. "Although King County disagrees with the court's decision, it will of course follow the court's dictates."

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