Issaquah on edge after ICE arrest outside preschool

Issaquah on edge after ICE arrest outside preschool Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez October 31, 2025 / 5:17 pm

A series of immigration arrests has shaken an Issaquah preschool community over the past week. The arrests have also had a ripple effect throughout the city’s education system.

W hen Fatima Escareno — a U.S. citizen and owner of the Learning Nest Preschool in Issaquah — was pulled over by a white Ford Explorer on the highway Tuesday morning the man who stepped out didn’t identify himself. He then asked her for “documents.”

“I didn't know if it was police, state patrol, ICE, [or] who [else they would be],” Escareno said, “because [there was] no introduction at all.”

She asked the unidentified man, "Did I do something wrong?”

The man didn’t believe her REAL ID was valid. He did