{"id":2455366,"date":"2025-07-03T15:28:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T19:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wa-hotline-illegal-immigrants-can-report-citizens-for-legal-activity-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-07-03T15:31:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T19:31:13","slug":"wa-hotline-illegal-immigrants-can-report-citizens-for-legal-activity-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wa-hotline-illegal-immigrants-can-report-citizens-for-legal-activity-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"WA hotline: Illegal immigrants can report citizens for legal activity &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwa-hotline-illegal-immigrants-can-report-citizens-for-legal-activity-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2455366&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Washington State Attorney General&#8217;s Office has introduced a taxpayer-funded hotline in King, Clark, and Spokane counties, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >enabling residents including undocumented immigrants<\/a> to report U.S. citizens for legal activities and hate crimes. This hotline, which follows Oregon&#8217;s similar initiative, intends to address incidents of harassment and hate speech that affect community safety and well-being. Even though it will track these reports, the hotline is a non-emergency service, advising individuals in immediate danger to call 911.<\/p>\n<p>the hotline is backed by Senate Bill 5427, which originally proposed financial incentives for reporters that were later revoked. It categorizes bias incidents not necessarily amounting to legal violations and promotes documentation of experiences related to hate or bias. Critics argue that encouraging citizens to report protected speech could stifle open debate and led to self-censorship. The hotline reflects ongoing discussions about the definition of hate crimes and activities that might infringe on First Amendment rights.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">WA hotline: Illegal immigrants can report citizens for legal activity<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2165354\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square)&nbsp;&ndash; The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/washington\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Washington<\/a> State Office of the Attorney General has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/washington\/article_5f72eeba-33f1-11ef-af5a-3b9f4604608b.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">launched<\/a>&nbsp;a taxpayer-funded&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.atg.wa.gov\/report-hate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">hotline<\/a>&nbsp;in three counties that would allow residents, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-block-requiring-states-to-remove-foreign-nationals-from-voter-rolls\/\" title=\"Democrats Block Requiring States to Remove Foreign Nationals from Voter Rolls\">including foreign nationals<\/a> and illegal immigrants, to report U.S. citizens for engaging in legally protected speech and activity, in addition to hate crimes.<\/p>\n<p>The launch of the hate crimes and bias incidents hotline in King, Clark and Spokane counties occurred almost exactly a year after The Center Square&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/oregon\/article_769ed28c-38c6-11ef-8c6a-fb75b7d7abe7.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">reported<\/a>&nbsp;that Oregon&rsquo;s hate crime and bias incident hotline mostly tracks legal activities.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3462311\/scott-bessent-criticism-from-democrats-compares-to-advice-from-an-arsonist\/\">Bessent compares Democratic criticism to &#8216;firefighting advice from an arsonist&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3461725\/house-gop-passes-big-beautiful-bill-trump-victory-july-4\/\">House hands Trump his July 4 victory with passage of &#8216;big, beautiful bill&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3462026\/jen-psaki-derrick-van-orden-tax-bill-vote-makes-you-wonder\/\">Jen Psaki mocks &lsquo;defensive&rsquo; Derrick Van Orden: &lsquo;Makes you wonder&rsquo;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Referring to both legal crimes and protected speech, the hotline&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.atg.wa.gov\/hate-crimes-bias-incidents-hotline-frequently-asked-questions#what-is-hatecrime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">website<\/a>&nbsp;says &ldquo;these incidents have a devastating and long-lasting impact on individuals, families, and communities, making people feel unwelcome or unsafe where they live.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Although crimes can be reported to the hotline, the website says it is a nonemergency reporting line and that those experiencing immediate danger or an active emergency should call 9-11. The website also says the purpose of the hotline is to support those who contact them and &ldquo;inform Washington&rsquo;s legislature, governor, law enforcement, and community about the extent of the problem.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, the hotline does not collect any information about the person reporting the incident. Nor does it provide legal advice.<\/p>\n<p>According to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.atg.wa.gov\/hate-crimes-bias-incidents-hotline-frequently-asked-questions#what-is-hatecrime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">website<\/a>, a bias incident is a &ldquo;hostile expression of animus &hellip; expressing an opinion of hate or bias in a rude, unfriendly, or aggressive manner. A bias incident is an incident that does not rise to the level of a crime or criminal act.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The hotline was authorized by the state Legislature in 2024 via&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/atg.us10.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=28a64d02479d9d79402df2b20&amp;id=91f2cb55d0&amp;e=8c07412753\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Senate Bill 5427<\/a>&nbsp;sponsored by Sen. Javier Valdez, D-Seattle. The bill would have originally allowed people reporting to the hotline to potentially receive up to $2,000, but that provision was later removed.<\/p>\n<p>Like with the AGO&rsquo;s task force on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-fbi-deemed-2017-targeted-shooting-of-republicans-at-baseball-field-a-suicide-attempt-not-domestic-terrorism-scalise-responds\/\" title=\"...: FBI Deemed 2017 Targeted Shooting Of Republicans At Baseball Field A Suicide Attempt, Not Domestic Terrorism. Scalise Responds.\u00a0\">domestic violent extremism<\/a>, the hotline encompasses both activities that fall under the state&rsquo;s hate crime definition as well as speech or activity protected by the First Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When immigrant families in my network face verbal harassment that makes them afraid to send their children to school, when transgender people of color experience daily microaggressions that chip away at their humanity, when our elders are told to &lsquo;go back where they came from&rsquo; &mdash; these are acts of violence,&rdquo;&nbsp;Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network Executive Director Catalina&nbsp;Velasquez&nbsp;said in an AGO news release. &ldquo;The hotline creates space for these experiences to be documented, believed, and responded to with culturally competent, trauma-informed care.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>This year, the state Legislature&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/washington\/article_fdba083e-d297-11ef-b60e-47a8dd3b96b4.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">broadened<\/a>&nbsp;the definition of a hate crime to include crimes committed &ldquo;in part or the whole&rdquo; due to someone&rsquo;s perception.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the AGO&rsquo;s task force has struggled to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/washington\/article_aabf124f-0159-4cfb-b1c9-d314fc04069c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">define<\/a>&nbsp;&ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ago-task-force-looks-at-extremism-from-a-public-health-perspective-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"AGO task force looks at \u2018extremism\u2019 from a public health perspective ... Washington Examiner\">domestic violent extremism&#038;rdquo<\/a>; in an effort to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/washington\/article_234480b2-ab55-11ef-8872-c73ed755b538.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">combat<\/a>&nbsp;it from a public perspective, which would ostensibly include illegal activities and activities protected by the First Amendment. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3462086\/spokane-rejects-warrantless-ice-search-ban\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">SPOKANE REJECTS BAN ON WARRANTLESS ICE SEARCHES<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When The Center Square reached out to the&nbsp;Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression for comment,&nbsp;Director of Public Advocacy&nbsp;Aaron Terr wrote in an email that &ldquo;state governments, let alone their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/walsh-as-the-world-burns-our-military-focuses-on-promoting-diversity-and-inclusion\/\" title=\"WALSH: As The World Burns, Our Military Focuses On Promoting Diversity And Inclusion\u00a0\">top law enforcement officials<\/a>, should not be encouraging citizens to report speech that is fully protected by the First Amendment. Bias reporting systems have a well-documented history on college campuses of chilling open debate by soliciting reports about students and faculty who express controversial opinions on social or political issues. Now, that same misguided concept is infiltrating city and state governments, threatening to create a similar climate of fear and self-censorship among the general public. The danger is often compounded by a lack of clarity about what the governments do with the information they collect, and by the involvement of law enforcement.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He also wrote that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s especially troubling that the Attorney General&rsquo;s press release promoting the bias incident hotline equates &lsquo;microaggressions&rsquo; with &lsquo;acts of violence&rsquo; and suggests the information collected will shape law enforcement strategies. That&rsquo;s a serious category error. Speech isn&rsquo;t violence. Of course, the law rightly prohibits threats, intimidation, targeted harassment, and actual violence. Those acts can and should be reported to the police. But the First Amendment draws a sharp line between unlawful conduct and speech that merely causes offense. The last thing an attorney general should be doing is soliciting reports about controversial artwork and Halloween costumes. These hotlines are a betrayal of America&rsquo;s core commitment to free expression.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2165354\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2165354\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WA hotline: Illegal immigrants can report citizens for legal activities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2455369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/washington-statehouse-legislature-olympia.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[32165,58391,58390,58389,32076],"class_list":["post-2455366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-illegal-immigrants","tag-legal-activity","tag-report-citizens","tag-wa-hotline","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/washington-statehouse-legislature-olympia.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2455366"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2455371,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455366\/revisions\/2455371"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2455369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2455366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2455366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2455366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}