PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – In response to President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed an executive order on Monday aiming to support children if their parents or caregivers are deported or detained.

Executive Order 25-04, titled "Protecting Immigrant Families and Responding to Family Separation," orders Washington's Department of Children, Youth, and Families to form the Family Separation Rapid Response Team.

The team will explore policies and actions to decrease “the harm, trauma, and other lasting effects on children who experience family separation through the deportation or detention of their parents or primary caregivers,” the order states.

The department will work with the Governor’s Office to identify members of the Rapid Response Team, which will consist of employees from DCYF and least one representative from Washington State Patrol, the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance, and the Governor’s Office.

Under the executive order, the Rapid Response Team must hold its first meeting no later than February 14.

Ferguson signed the order during an immigrant and refugee event at El Centro in Seattle, saying his goal is to reduce harm caused by President Trump's immigration policies.

“My administration will do everything possible to address the harms caused by a mass deportation and detention program,” Gov. Ferguson said. “That includes making sure kids who are torn away from their parents have someone to care for them and uninterrupted access to their education, regardless of their immigration status.”

The executive order directs the rapid response team to review policies and find suggested changes for state agencies responding to family separation.

The team is ordered to meet and carry out duties for at least one year, or until February 1, 2026, and must submit its first report to the governor’s office no later than April 30, 2025.

The executive order in Washington State comes as immigration enforcement operations ramp up across the United States and Trump declared a border emergency.

Washington has taken several actions in response to the Trump team's immigration policies -- including Washington Attorney General Nick Brown leading a multi-state lawsuit challenging Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship.

Additionally, before Governor Ferguson took office, his transition team included a committee focused on combatting potential federal policies inspired by Project 2025, a policy guidebook for the Trump Administration, written by the conservative thinktank The Heritage Foundation.

Ferguson's committee was co-led by King County Councilmember Jorge Barón, who previously served as executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project from 2008 to 2023.