Since pledging two months ago that they don’t investigate citizenship status, Vancouver police have arrested people under a state law against “alien possession of firearms.” Local law enforcement officials say that doesn’t mean they’re going back on their word, but merely enforcing firearm crimes within their jurisdiction. State law makes it a class C felony for someone who is not a citizen of the United States to carry a firearm without a special license, unless they are a lawful permanent resident. In each of the cases, the possession charges have come alongside other felonies, such as burglary, assault and drug trafficking. One case was dismissed within a week of arrest because the person was being prosecuted federally for the alleged crimes, court records show.

Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp said it’s routine for officers to check the criminal histories of people accused of crimes involving firearms for previous convictions that could preclude them from legally possessing a gun. Sometimes, during those criminal history checks, Kapp said, officers see immigration-related charges, such as a prior deportation or an illegal re-entry. That information could be the basis for a charge of alien in possession of a firearm. “Running a criminal history is not in conflict with our immigration enforcement policy,” Kapp said in an email to The Columbian. Vancouver police and law enforcement agencies around the state have said they do not investigate people’s citizenship status, unless it pertains to the crime under investigation, such as a hate crime. Instead, the departments say immigration enforcement falls under the jurisdiction of federal agents. Vancouver police policy prohibits officers from arresting people based solely on their immigration status. Washington’s Keep Washington Working Act prohibits local law enforcement agencies from “asking for or collecting information about a person’s immigration or citizenship status, or place of birth — unless there is a connection between that information and an investigation into a violation of state or local criminal law,” the Attorney General’s Office’s website states. “Unauthorized presence in the United States is governed by federal law and is not, by itself, a crime.”

The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has also said it does not take people’s citizenship status into account when making charging decisions. But Senior Deputy Prosecutor Dan Gasperino said his office will file the alien in possession of a firearm charge if police refer it with enough evidence to support it. Prosecutors routinely file unlawful firearms possession charges against those who are not allowed to have guns because they are underage or have a previous felony conviction. Citizenship status can be another disqualifier for firearms rights, Gasperino noted. “The filing of this charge does not conflict with our office commitment to not take citizenship into account when making a charging decision, because it’s actually a required element of this particular charge that we are required to take into account,” Gasperino said in an email to The Columbian. “RCW 9.41.171 is a Washington state statute and we indeed have jurisdiction to charge.”

Clark County Chief Public Defender Christopher Swaby said he feels local law enforcement and prosecutors have been consistent with their commitment to stay out of immigration enforcement. He said as a defense attorney, he’d be more concerned in these cases about the higher level felonies — such as burglary and assault — which could mean lengthier prison terms than the alien in possession charge. “I imagine if it comes up in their investigation of some other offense, they’re not going to ignore it,” Swaby said. “I don’t believe the prosecutor’s office is looking for people to charge with such crimes, but if comes to them, having been charged with other things, I don’t think they’re foreclosed from pursuing it.”